The Ancient World’s Special Force

They rode out from barren wastes of central Asia like men possessed and vanquished all before them without mercy. They developed the blitzkrieg centuries before the Germans, and were experts at keeping their enemies off balance.  They’d overcome the Great Wall of China push into 12^th century Europe and the Middle East and butcher Christian and Muslim alike.  They prized loyalty to their clans above all else and were a mixture of Iranian and Turkish descent, and while they might not have been tall they were full of fight.  They grew up in an unforgiving environment where every day survival was a fight, so when they came to the battlefield they’d go all out.  The Mongols may have been simple tribesmen, but they became one the world’s greatest fighting groups.

The Mongols were barbarians who could neither read nor write and wandered a region where the weather went from extremes of subzero winters with heavy snow to summers of intense heat with powerful thunderstorms.  They were nomads organized into clans who looked to Shamans for spiritual advice and believe in magic and demons.  Their code of honor called for loyalty to their aul or clan, and shared many similar ethics with westerners.  They hunted and ate virtually anything, and the warriors would always eat the best food before women and children.

On campaign in extreme circumstances they’d drink horse blood to sustain themselves, and if the need arose they’d slaughter their prized beast.  They enjoyed a brutal form of wrestling and horse racing for entertainment. A young boy would learn how to ride early, and would only be considered a man when he got drunk and was still able to function.  Though they’d end up fighting many different groups their neighbors the Tatars were their main enemy for generations.  It was a hard life and it was survival of the fittest, but one man would unite these savage horsemen and build an empire.

Temujin was born into a powerful clan in the year 1161, but by the age of 9 he was a orphan after his father was killed while fighting the Tatar.  If that wasn’t bad enough the young boy found himself kidnapped by a rival clan.  A friend would eventually help him escape, but he had a hard life ahead, but the experience turned the boy into a fierce warrior.  By 1202 the rest of the tribe recognized his strength and ability and united under him as their chief.  He was given the name Genghis Khan meaning “universal monarch,” and among his first acts was to make war on the Tatars.  By the time of his death in 1227 he ruled and empire that reach from Central Europe to the China Sea and included the Middle East and Northern India.

While the Mongols where savage they weren’t stupid and when it came to warfare they were very organized.  Every warrior was required to have 2 bows, up to 200 hundred arrows and several horses.  Scimitars, lances, and javelins were also used, and if an elite unit of a defeated enemy had a weapon they needed to win a fight they’d be impressed into service.  They communicated on the battlefield using flags, and they setup a network of stations where a messenger could find a fresh horse so they could continue, and even cover over 200 miles in a day.  There basic unit was 10 men and grew 100, 1,000, and than to a unit called a touman which was made up of 10,000 men.  Four touman would comprise an army with its own supplies.