The Mongol Military: A Bloody Rise To The Greatest Empire

Chinggis Khan is usually associated with terrible stories of his conquests, destruction and bloodshed across Asia and Europe. He was feared across the world, saying that his greatest pleasure “is to vanquish your enemies and chase them before you, to rob them of their wealth and see those dear to them bathed in tears, to ride their horses and clasp to your bosom their wives and daughters”

During the twelfth century, the Mongols were a nomadic people, comprised of several small tribes, moving at the end of each season in search of fresh pasture. Chinggis Khan united the tribes in 1206, sparking the rise of the Mongolian Empire. Under Chinggis and his successors, the Mongols overran most of Asia and Eastern Europe, defeating almost every army they came across. He unified large regions, and eventually created the largest contiguous land empire in history. Chinggis Khan developed a military system that focused on rapid attacks and terrifyingly coordinated tactics, with his goal for conquests being a fast, brutal ending.

His campaigns were brilliantly executed, showcasing his military genius, becoming the new standard for maneuver warfare and brutal fighting tactics. The Mongol Empire could not have been shaped without Chinggis’ visionary leadership, organizational skills, strong cavalry, and fantastic archers. This essay will analyze how the Mongol army’s organization and training, its tactics and strategy, and its execution of maneuver warfare accelerated the rise of the Mongolian Empire during Chinggis Khan’s rule.

Chinggis Khan was born in 1162 into the Borjigin clan on the bank of the Onon River. He was born as Temujin to is father Yesugi and his mother Hoelun, a woman kidnapped from the Qonggirad tribe. As a child, he learned how cruel the world was when his father was killed by the Tatars in 1171, most likely for kidnapping Heolun from her betrothed. Temujin’s ability to make alliances with more powerful men and attract followers was integral to his success, having amassed over 10,000 followers in his camp by nineteen years old. His first military alliance was with Toghril Khan of Kereyid.

In 1184, Temujin and Toghril Khan rescued Temujins betrothed from a Merkid, who had kidnapped her for revenge for Heolun’s kidnapping. Temujin then went to annihilate the Merkids, with “The three hundred Merkit who had once circled Mount Burqan were exterminated, down to the offspring of their offspring: they were blown to the winds like hearth-ashes…We emptied the breasts of the Merkit people who take their revenge as a man does, and we tore their livers to pieces. We emptied their beds and we exterminated their relatives; the women of theirs who remained we surely took captive! Thus, we destroyed the Merkit people: let us now withdraw!”[2]. As a teenager, Temujin was already showing his tactical brilliance on the battlefield, using fear to intimidate his enemies.

He chose to organize his army using the Decimal Organization system, a completely new way of fighting for the Mongols. The decimal system was “…the basis of the Mongol Army's organization. The largest independent fighting unit was the toumen. Three toumens normally made up an army or a corps commanded by an orlok (Mongol field marshal). The toumen had ten regiments of 1,000 soldiers, each commanded by a noyan (Mongol baron). The regiment consisted of ten squadrons, each composed of ten squads of ten men. Distributed throughout the army were 10,000 Chinese artillerymen and siege engines organized into regiments”[3]. Chinggis appointed noyans (commanders of the tumen) and the head of the 1,000 units based on military skill and loyalty. This helped supersede old clan and tribal lines by creating a military elite loyal to Chinggis. [3: Juvaini, The History of the World Conqueror, 39]

In 1204, at the Battle of Chakirmont, Temujin defeated the Naimans, the only Mongolian tribe that had not yet recognized him as Khan. With the submission of the Naimans, Temujin became the effective ruler of all Mongolia. Temujin was enthroned the Great Khan in 1206 by Teb Tengerri, a man that “…used to walk naked through the desert and the mountains and then to return and say: ‘God has spoken with me and has said: “I have given all the face of the earth to Temujin and his children and named him Chingiz-Khan.

Bid him administer justice in such and such a fashion’”3. He was renamed Chinggis Khan, signifying that he wielded great power throughout the known world. Chinggis Khan was now the ruler of all the Mongol tribes, and he quickly set out to unify the people and to bring order and discipline to the land. He quickly established a Code of Laws, or the Jasaq, which he would use to establish discipline and a sense of equality throughout his empire. Even more importantly, he set about building and training his army based on the lessons he had learned during his rise to power.

During the thirteenth century, the Mongol army was undoubtedly the most powerful army in the world. Chinggis’s organization and training, tactical principles, and structure of command could be comparable to militaries seen in the twentieth century. After becoming Great Khan, Chinggis Khan kept using the Decimal Organization system. Every young Mongolian boy, and usually girls as well, were trained to ride a horse and use a bow. Most cavalry horses were geldings, castrated make horses. The horses were very important to Mongol warfare, because “The Mongol operational center of gravity was the endurance and speed of the Mongol ponies. The ponies gave the Mongol Army its superior mobility. Their superior mobility helped give the Mongol commanders freedom of action over their opponents”

Mongol archers’ greatest weapon was the double recurve composite bow. It had a range of 300-575 yards. The bows pull capacity could be anywhere from 80-120 pounds, with a thumb ring used to lessen the strain from the bow. The Mongol cavalrymen each made their own arrows, some being able to pierce through armor while others were used as signal arrows. An archer carried several quivers with about 30 arrows in each. As could be expected, the troops carried several quivers each. Often, cavalrymen also carried a sword/saber and a lasso for capturing arrows and enemies. Although most cavalrymen did not wear armor, those that chose to wear armor wore lamellar, armor built of small rectangular plates laced together horizontally and vertically.

The Mongol army attained their precision on the battlefield through practicing these intricate maneuvers. For most of the Mongol army, military training focused on hunting, with the most important hunt being the annual nerge. The nerge could last for weeks at a time. Juvaini described Chinggis during the nerge as “…pa[ying] great attention to the chase and used to say that the hunting of wild beasts was a proper occupation for the commanders of armies; and that instruction and training therein was incumbent on warriors and men-at-arms, [who should learn] how the huntsmen come up with the quarry, how they hunt it, in what manner thy array themselves and after what fashion they surround it according as the party is great or small. For when the Mongols wish to go a-hunting, they first send out scouts to ascertain what kinds of games are available and whether it is scarce or abundant”[4]. This involved dozens to potentially hundreds of men surrounding animals over an extended distance, encircling their prey and shooting them with arrows.

The nerge was a way for the Mongol army to practice discipline, communication and coordination of men for war. It was held at the beginning of each winter in peacetime, lasted for three months and involved every soldier. The nerge served as a vital way for Chinggis Khan to hone the skills of his soldiers and their leaders, which would lead to success on the battlefield time after time. Tactics were then implemented from the nerge and used against cities. The Mongol army would loosely encircle an important city, cutting it off from communicating with other cities. Refugees from smaller cities would flee to the last stronghold, reducing morale and straining its resources.

The army would then close the circle and go after their prey. The tumen’s discipline was enforced by Chinggis’s instilling fear into his army, with ruthless rules such as “When they are in battle, if one or two or three or even more out of a group of ten run away, all are put to death; and if a whole group of ten flees, the rest of the group of a hundred are all put to death, if they do not flee too. In a word, unless they retreat in a body, all who take flight are put to death. Likewise, if one or two or more go forward boldly to the fight, then the rest of the ten are put to death if they do not follow and, if one or more of the ten are captured, their companions are put to death if they do not rescue them” [5]. [5: Carpini, On Mongol customs and war, 30]

The Mongol art of war was based on three main principles. First, intelligence is gathered through spies, envoys, the yam system and ortoghs. Usually, Chinggis would often employ ortogh merchants as diplomats and spies. Next, the Mongol army would come and destroy the cities or pursue the enemy if they happened to escape. Finally, they would assimilate new capabilities like siege technology, artillery specialists, and sailors. Siege Warfare was critical in Chinggis’s war tactics.

As he conquered, Chinggis would send orders of submission to foreign rulers. If they peacefully surrender to his rule before being sieged, Chinggis required a paid tribute and military support. A prime example of this siege warfare can be seen during Chinggis’s invasion of the Xi Xia Dynasty. When he arrived at their cities, the Tanghut leader, Burkhan Khan said to him “’I’ll surrender to you and be like your right hand, giving all my strength to you.’ He gave Chingis Khan one of his daughters, Chakha, as a wife, and sent a message with her saying: ‘When we heard tales of what Chingis Khan has done we were afraid of him’”2. The Tanguts then provided “great herds of camels who flourish beneath our sheltering trees. We’ll give him the woolen clothing and satins we weave. We’ll give him the best of the birds we’ve trained for the hunt”2.

Chinggis and his army were smart; they always knew when they were outmatched or if they could defeat the army they were facing; when they initially saw the enemy “…they attack at once, each one shooting three or four arrows at their adversaries…They do this as a blind to make the enemy follow them as far as the places where they have prepared ambushes. If the enemy pursues them to these ambushes, they surround and wound and kill them.

Similarly, if they see that they are opposed by a large army, they sometimes turn aside. And putting a day’s or two days’ journey between them, they attack and pillage another part of the country and they kill men and destroy and lay waste the land”[6]. This example shows that the Mongolian army was not just mindless brutes that loved killing people, as history tends make one believe. The Mongols were a smart people, relying heavily on each other when making important decisions about war.

Chinggis Khan is often overlooked, however, he was one of the world’s greatest military leaders’ historians have ever seen. During the 12th century, he commanded one of the greatest armies ever seen, with Chinggisids continuing his legacy for over another century. He utilized his surroundings brilliantly, training the best army of his time just by hunting. He used surprise tactics, mobility and diversion tactics to overwhelm much larger armies. Chinggis was able to take a nomadic tribe of people and establish one of the most powerful armies the world has ever seen. He was a military genius, setting the standard for maneuver warfare, catapulting the Mongol Empire into the largest empire the world has ever seen.