Since Genghis Khan unified Mongolia, the Mongol Iron Horse has begun a bloody road of expansion, with its strong combat strength all the way to the break, invincible, sweeping across eurasia, no country can stop their progress. As a nomadic people, the Mongol army was not very large, but why was it always able to win more with less and defeat the enemy army? The Mongol army is not invincible because it believes in the blessing of immortality, and the reason why the Mongol army is so powerful is mainly that it has the following four points: excellent tactics, sophisticated weapons, brave warriors, and strong Mongolian horses with superior endurance.
Mongol cavalry charging
First, wonderful tactics
The Mongol army has formed a variety of effective strategies and tactics in successive years of conquest, such as long-range arrow rain strikes, two wings of encirclement, luring the enemy deeper, the center blossoming, the capture of the thief first, etc. These tactics are not the first of the Mongolian army, but the Mongolian army that has experienced harsh tactical training and actual combat experience can flexibly use them and play them perfectly. The various branches of the Mongol army were able to resolutely carry out their predetermined tactics and cooperate closely with each other, thus forming a strong fighting force.
Mongol light cavalry attacked the enemy with bows and arrows
Second, sophisticated weapons
The Mongol army was well equipped, and every Mongol soldier was armed with a frightening Mongolian machete and a powerful Mongol bow. The body of the Mongolian knife is generally made of high-quality steel, ranging from more than ten centimeters to tens of centimeters in length. The Mongolian machete has been continuously improved to make it more mechanical, does not require the soldier's own strength, and it is easy to cut off the armor of the enemy with people by the impact of the horse alone. It also saved the cavalry itself physical strength. This compensates well for the physical strength deficiencies of the Mongols and the Central Asian and Europeans. The Mongolian bow is specially made by hand craftsmen, and the craftsmanship of the bow is very exquisite, and the bow system is made of leather bands with excellent toughness. The tighter the bow string, the larger the bow shape of the bow arm changes, the stored energy is large, and when the string is loosened, the accumulated energy is released suddenly, and the arrow that is fastened on the bow string is shot out. This allows for long-range attacks on the enemy's preemptive strikes, and heavy casualties have already occurred before the enemy can be engaged in hand-to-hand combat. The Mongol army is also equipped with a weapon called bone duo, which is specially used to deal with European heavy armor, general weapons are ineffective against the heavy armor of European armies, and bone duo, which seems to be a simple weapon, has a very good effect on broken armor, which can cause great damage to heavy armor.
The famous Mongolian machete
Powerful Mongol bows and arrows
3. Brave warriors
Mongolia as a nomadic people, every Mongol grew up on horseback, began military training at a very young age, superb riding and shooting technology is the necessary skill they are good at, so each adult Mongolian soldier has a very high individual quality, combat ability is very brave and strong. In addition, the military discipline of the Mongolian army is very strict, and the army's tactical execution ability is very in place, no matter what situation they encounter, they can obey the command and persist in fighting to the end.
Heavily armed Mongol cavalry
Fourth, the Mongolian horse with excellent endurance
The reason why the Mongol army can sweep through Europe and Asia is inseparable from the support of horses, the Mongolian army is mainly cavalry, strong mobility, good at long-distance long-distance raiding operations, which has high requirements for warhorses. The Mongolian horses equipped by the Mongol army are physically strong and have strong endurance, which is very suitable for the Mongolian army's way of fighting, and each Mongolian soldier is equipped with three to five Mongolian horses for exchange riding when carrying out long-range raid operations, so that it can ensure that after a long journey, each horse can maintain sufficient physical fitness, and when encountering the enemy, it can immediately enter the battle in the strongest state.
A Mongolian horse with extremely strong endurance
In April 1241, the Mongol army and the mighty European heavy cavalry fought an unprecedented battle on the banks of the Sayo River, a tributary of the Danube River. The Hungarian king's brother Koroman commanded a hundred thousand European troops composed of the strongest heavy cavalry of Hungary, Germanism and Austria against 60,000 Mongol iron horses, which was a war without suspense in Koroman's view, and his European heavy cavalry could sweep any powerful opponent, but after the decisive battle began, the war situation did not develop as Koroman expected.
European heavy cavalry
In order to make a quick decision, Coroman dispatched all their heavy cavalry to attack the Mongol army, but the Mongol cavalry did not engage it head-on, the power of a heavy blow from Koroman did not show its due power, the Mongol army adopted the tactic of two wings roundabout, avoiding the front of the European coalition army, but constantly using bows and arrows to consume the enemy's living strength at a long distance, the heavy cavalry that had been moving forward in the European battlefield in the past fell into an unprecedented predicament, and the lightly armored Mongol cavalry never came into contact with the European heavy cavalry. It was their heavily armored spears and knightly swords that had no targets for engagement, while the bows and arrows of the Mongol armies posed a great threat to the European allies at all times. Soon the Mongol light cavalry on both wings began to launch a counterattack, they kept shooting at the European coalition heavy cavalry and infantry phalanx with bows and arrows, the European coalition camp began to waver, then the hidden heavy cavalry in the Mongol formation appeared, they rushed straight to the European coalition commander's phalanx, countless Mongolian machetes reflected the glare of the European coalition army completely collapsed, under the repeated charge of the Mongol army, 100,000 of the strongest European troops were killed all over the field, the European coalition casualties reached more than 70,000 people in this battle, and the losses of the Mongol army were very small. Some historians believe that this is perhaps the largest casualty ratio in the cold weapons era.
The Mongol cavalry engaged the European heavy cavalry
The Mongol cavalry continued to move forward in the history of fighting with the European heavy cavalry, and the Mongol army that swept everything in the past slowly disappeared, but the glorious achievements they created will always be remembered by future generations.