Why were the Mongols so successful?

Why were the Mongols so successful? Mongol military history and battle tactics.
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[@ErnestJay88]

Mongols doesn't need a "supply line" like other armies back then, because they're nomadic people, they just "bring their supplies with them", like sheep, horses, deer, bulls, etc. They even bring their home, typical mongolian yurt are easy to assemble and disassemble at any places, rather than construct a huge military camp every few hundred miles, they just make a camp full of yurts and after the mission is over, they just disassemble those yurts and go somewhere else.

[@mikehunt6946]

their movement was somewhat restricted to only be in fertile grasslands, as the horses required it for feeding. however, with each soldier having up to 5 horses, to have these horses grazing by themselves "automatically", a lot of their recovering from exhaustion was made very simple.

[@Asterix958]

@@mikehunt6946 Mongol's horses are different than European horses. They are more resistant to starvation and eat everything. They can move rough terrain as well. Therefore, Mongols campaigned in winter many times. Freezing rivers in winter climate also affected to this preference.

[@Haijwsyz51846]

Also, when the Mongols raid a village/city, they got food.

[@lild3838]

@@mikehunt6946 pillaging and looting

[@mouzgeilpapx]

its called GER

[@HarpoMarxTheSpot]

They were motivated because a soothsayer told them they would be featured in an Age of Empires 2 campaign in 800 years

[@tulgatulgaldo6241]

xd

[@stredent]

Merit-based promotions. Pretty hard to beat a group of competent soldiers.

[@cyrilchui2811]

Yes I believe so. Tribal system at that time was very much a family / nobility system with little opportunity for brave commoners. Genghis Khan broke the tradition to distribute booty among troops. If you look at the Jin dynasty and the Liao empire (Khitan) before, they all started with great leaders which gradually fell into the same old structure.

[@cyrilchui2811]

The Mongol was able to learn from their enemy quickly, but I guess this is more to do with Genghis Khan individual's ability

[@affanafrizalgani9494]

Revolutionary movement in those ages

[@superitgel1]

Well said.

[@kamilpotato3764]

And most pretty useless empire ever. Except plunder and destruction they haven’t left anything. Didn’t build anything.

[@logoncal3001]

Simply put: The mongols played 4d chess.

[@tipdub]

Everyone was playing checkers while they were playing cones of dunshire

[@dark_khan2232]

Terrain and tactics. And of course 4d chess xD

[@StopFlaggingVideos]

THIS SHIT'S CHESS IT AINT CHECKERS!

[@threerabbit2227]

_10 D I M E N S I O N A L C H E S S_

[@puffdee6403]

Ur stoooopid

[@marouaniAymen]

Great ability to adapt to sudden changes and new tactics, great mobility, intelligence gathering.

[@aagiibyamba8345]

Yeah Mongolians are really adaptive for sudden changes and have ability to learn and localize new things faster because of their environmental harsh surroundings, nomadic lifestyles and living closer to the nature. Sometimes, those advantages become disadvantage in nowadays. In ancient time, Mongolians used to overcome their outnumbered enemies with minimal human resource. It was genius tactic. But i think nowadays many foreign modern companies and countries are using Mongolian military tactics. Also, modern diplomatic and normal passports adopted from Mongolian ancient passport "Golden Gerege". Mongolian kings used to give Golden Gerege to send their messengers to abroad. There are too many things to mention Mongolians' contributions made in history and our civilization. Mongolian empires' Xiongnu's (Hunnu empire) Atilla king and Ghenggis Khan were strategic thinkers. I don't think they used to kill innocent people. They used to make peace treaty with their opponents. If they break their agreement, Mongolians used to attack.

[@indridcold8433]

In other words, they improvised, adapted, and overcame.

[@puffdee6403]

Ur stoooopid

[@zakuro8532]

"The mongols didn't kill innocent people" that is such an optimistic and naive worldview lol

[@marouaniAymen]

@@zakuro8532 I agree with you, the problem those days is that a lot of people, by bad faith or ignorance, use modern measures and concepts to judge the past.

[@maxwelsh8873]

Because Mongols were steppe peoples, horses were fundamental to their system of agriculture. Every man would have multiple horses. With settled peoples, horses were reserved (usually one each) for the nobles or a small core of professional soldiers. This meant Mongols could move much faster than even their opposing cavalry forces. When one horse got tired, they would leap on to another without slowing down. When enemies looked at so many horses, they would assume one horse = one man, and drastically overestimate the mongol numbers. This was a powerful psychological warfare advantage.

[@arifahmedkhan9999]

That's not how that works, does it make sense that one guy is running with three horses? And they are all running the same distance at the same time? The 2nd and 3rd horses would have also gotten tired quite quickly because they also ran the same distance but with 70 kg less. They probably had the extra horses behind their line of defense and they'd switch the horses there rather than steering 3 of them at once. The Achaemenid empire had the same system but for posts and commands of the Shahenshan.. they are said to have travelled a distance of 90 days in 6 days

[@CruWiT]

@@arifahmedkhan9999 Yes. Before the Mongol army went on an expedition, they made incredible preparations. And before the expedition, mapping was done with logistics and spy teams, and pastures were identified in certain areas, horse herds were kept and maintained there, and even small structures such as water, food, ammunition supply lines were deployed at certain points before the expedition. In this way, the only army that could reach the speed of the Mongol army was the German's blitzkrieg in World War II. Subutai's army move 450 km a day while crossing the Russian territory in winter, He defeated the Russian army of 125.000 men, with his army of 25.000 people in the battle of Kalka, in order to do this, he made a false retreat up to the Kalka river for 9 days and convinced the Russian army that they had fleeing, but later, when the Russian army was exhausted and the distance between the soldiers was widened, Subutay's army take fresh horses in Kalka pasture and defeated the tired and unordered Russian army with small but fresh, untiring, organized armies.

[@jonathanmillner]

The Yam (mongol pony express) was formed under Genghis but perfected under Ogedei. Ogedei said of all of his accomplishments, perfecting the Yam system he felt was his biggest. Think about this. Mongols could be fighting the Jin in northern China and 1,000km away Genghis can get messages from the front in like 3-4 days. He could send a re-enforcement army to harass around the enemy or cut off supply lines or what have you... but no other commander in history could command an army almost in real time from 1,000km away like that. It is incredibly revolutionary because he's not thinking about taking your giant army here against your giant army there. He's thinking how to swoop the whole region in the best possible way and just meeting you perpetually in upfront battle may not always be the best tactic. So he does this thing called communicating and it revolutionizes warfare because now he can break his army up into smaller and smaller groups that can be used more effectively ravaging the countryside and stuff. Plus... he can't manage a giant empire with messages only moving 40km a day. This ability to regularly move messages 250km a day won't be seen again until.... the telegraph comes out. If messages moved slower, Genghis could've never conquered vast swathes because he could never manage it all logistically. So, it is also a contributing factor that led to great war strategy, but had great governmental and trade purposes as well too. But this communicating was a revolution in just how war was conducted. There is no way they could've ever gotten close to Europe if they hadn't developed the Yam. Also, it was along all these Yam routes that the trade routes ran and since the Mongols loved trade, this all created the Pax Mongolica. First time east and west linked by safe trade. The silk road... ya... Mongols kinda had a thing in that. Right behind their general warfare tactics... the Yam probably is the next best thing. And horse archery among steppe peoples wasn't a new thing. The Yam... that's a mongol original. Really just pretty amazing to think a people can and did move as fast as they did before the car. Yam couriers were regularly doing 250km a day. The Mongols actually forbade messages from moving on foot except for a few really outlier places that couldn't support horse. And they could and did move messages that distance everyday...

[@MrJesulius]

piqeons brah

[@jonathanmillner]

@@MrJesulius Ya, that's exactly my point. Pigeons didn't even keep up and were definitely not anywhere near as reliable. i.e. if you conquered 1,000,000 square kilometers, the question becomes, "how do you train pigeons in this new territory to automatically know where to go rather rapidly?" That might take a year to logistically set in place. An entire year. That's too long. A trusted rider? Ya, he'll get it done in 5 days and relatively low logistical needs because just as how the Mongols benefitted in battle by being a horse based people, same was true with communication. Besides, you're not getting any trade routes secured with pigeons...

[@Haijwsyz51846]

The yam probably was for trade. After Genghis Khan conquered the lands, he divided it up and gave them to his sons and relatives to control. Later on, these people fought each other or formed alliance to conquer middle East.

[@jonathanmillner]

@@Haijwsyz51846 It wasn't only for trade. Militarily, think about this. Most armies, historically speaking, would often meet in a big set piece battle. Being able to operate a war more like a campaign, where resupply of some form is a major issue, where reinforcements can be called upon, where there is clear communication occurring with a higher overall command... no other army had been able to carry out campaigns like this with such level of communication all the way up to probably the napoleonic wars or the civil war in the US, when the telegram was invented. He was fighting campaigns. Most of his enemies were fighting battles. The yam was the tool that made this possible. You can't help a front 500 miles away too much if you can't even communicate with it.

[@The_Curious-Mind]

It is horse not pony

[@jeremybasset9041]

1- the mongol bow. Far more range and _ridiculously_ more powerful than any other of the time. Mongol Arrows piercing right through shields was common. 2 - the Mongol horse. Sturdy. Light. Strong. Adaptable. Could go on without food and rest for longer than any of their enemies could imagine physically possible, allowing for an entire army on horseback to travel vast distances and appear on the horizon at dawn. 3 - the mongol warrior. Unforgiving lands breed unforgiving warriors, but to survive on the barren and freezing steppe requires a special kind of person. Not only were they as hardy as their beloved horses and able to withstand any amount of suffering without wavering loyalty to their Khan, but they also had the fierce cunning and intuition of a predator. They were wolves of the plains. The highest mongol commanders attained their rank by showing they were the most intelligent (and almost as important) the most ruthless. 4 - military traditions. As you said in the video, promoting by skill, organization of the units, and surprising adaptability. Even to the point of using heavy cannon better than the Chinese (Sung Dynasty) 5 - they were led by freakin Genghis Khan for Christ's sake

[@worsethanjoerogan8061]

I don't think their bows were the most powerful of the time though, unless you only count bows that could be fired from horseback. I remember reading about a battle at Parwan where Turkish archers on foot pushed back Mongol mounted bowmen with superior accuracy and range. Just a minor nitpick really, the rest of your points seem spot on to me

[@jeremybasset9041]

Matthew Ng oh yeah your definitely right about their armies moving completely independent of supply lines, that allowed them to ride circles round the massive columns of infantry they ripped to pieces

[@tomh4754]

Jeremy Basset More powerful than any other bow of the time? Lmao. Recurve bows are fast, accurate, and powerful.... for their size, because their main use is use from horseback. Infantry crossbows, arbalests and particularly Chinese crossbows and English longbows are much more powerful, and that is always going to be the case because they are larger, and in the case of the crossbow, machine aided and fire with many more pounds of force

[@siekensou77]

Jeremy Basset Genghis Khan had a story passed down in china where he was fleeing a large pursuing army but as he rode away, he suddenly turns back and wipes out 1000s 一騎当千 One rider kills thousand(s) Is a saying that comes from that story. I might have messed the story slightly.. Maybe he was surrounded when he killed the thousands to secure his escape

[@james583mk]

King of Mesopotamia uh, may I ask why????

[@incognitoflamingo]

Just having those small intimate teams can make an Army great. Knowing exactly how your buddy fights right next makes a team extra lethal. It’s exactly what Special Forces does with their teams.

[@ashukhalifan]

Years of fighting in China before the arrival of Mongols had enhanced the warfare technology way ahead of rest of the world by centuries. When Mongols invaded Northern China using other tactics, they learned lot more than anyone else in the world. Combined with the agility of Mongol armies the siege tactics proved to be too much for any army. At the sight of mongols, they would go and hide into their fortresses, hoping to resist them till reinforcement arrived, only to find that their castles walls being razed within hours.. It was a big factor..

[@majungasaurusaaaa]

The Kharazm empire had dated intelligence on Mongol siege strength based on their Xi Xia campaigns. They were rather clueless what happened to the the Jin. That lack of intel hurt them dearly.

[@TheDeke3]

It's like a Bronze Age Blitzkrieg

[@peiranzhang4283]

@@TheDeke3 Bronze? What about mass production of steel by everyone in this period?

[@peiranzhang4283]

@@majungasaurusaaaa They paniced, and they had no intel on even the Xi Xia

[@TheDeke3]

@@peiranzhang4283 It seems we have a smart fellow over here. The term is co-opted here to rhyme and to characterize the relevant historical period as ancient in general, especially when relative to a more recent military term like the Blitzkrieg. Lighten up, please.

[@williamkartatar4759]

They are teleporting again,I am having flashbacks.

[@williamkartatar4759]

They were so fast...

[@makkah1234]

I’ll count some of the reasons why I think they were so successful: 1. They got a great horses capable of resisting thirst and freezing climates. 2. They are nomadic nation. Thus, every single person of them is a warrior rather than being an unarmed civilian. 3. Whenever they reach a village to conquer, they give only two options, one of which is the choice to fight for them for a given period of time while the other is to be immediately executed. The families of those who choose to fight are taken as hostages until the period is done so that they make sure no one run away. Basically, they give those who accept this choice a reason to fight and hope that they can meet their families again. 4. The front of their army is filled with people who are forced to fight, so that they avoid any possible loses among them. 5. Their conquer over China has supplied them with massive human resources. 6. Since they execute any people refusing to give up and enroll their army even if those people changed their mind later and tried to accept the choice, terrifying reputation has spread even faster than the Mongolian army itself.

[@FromNothing]

Great video. I love this style of video that gets into great detail of the organization and units.

[@matthewmcneany]

Logistics, it's always logistics.

[@worsethanjoerogan8061]

Logistics are often overlooked but they influenced the course of wars at least as much as actual battles did.

[@patliao556]

@@worsethanjoerogan8061 People often overemphasize tactical aspects of war over strategic and logistical ones. I suppose tactical stuff, weapons, skills, warriors, and equipment, are easier for broad audiences to grasp than the boring truth that a well fed army will outfight a poorly fed, but well equipped and trained, one.

[@BlankRegie]

"An army is a beast that marches on its stomach."--Napoleon

[@AmrodOfDale]

Short, concise and well informed video, a pleasure to watch!

[@John_Conner222]

I absolutely love this. I love how you explain all the details but still summarize with imagery. I have always been curious as to how they did this. I figured it was because they were extremely mobile and intelligent. The closest I could come to understanding these concepts was playing a video game called Mount and Blade. It's fantasy but its based on historical warriors. You start out by yourself or a small group of guards based upon your choices and your status. Eventually raising money through various means you can field your own armies. If you are good enough you can conquer and manage towns, castles, and even kingdoms. I loved making my Swadian knight army. Mostly comprised of armored knights on armored warhorses with a few platoons of heavily armored ground troops protecting my well trained longbowmen. They were fast and I used blitzkrieg style tactics to absolutely smash any army on the battlefield. When it came time to assault a castle they were so resilient because of their armor and shield. The army was stupid expensive to maintain and required a serious amount of work to get money to keep it funded but it never lost a battle. I rarely lost any troops.. except... when I fought the Khergit Khanate. The game's version of the Mongols. Their entire army is horseback based and is usually the same speed or faster than mine. Such a pain in the ass to fight. They would clash then retreat and was the only army to cause me any significant loss to my troops. I finally had to create new tactics to even remotely come close to winning a battle. Mounted archers are faaacking annoying and they would whittle my army down over time because they would lure small groups of troops away, surround them and kill them. Some battles took 45 minutes to complete because of these tactics if I chased. I eventually had to make changes to my army loadout in order to beat them. The only way for me to kill them was to use the same tactics that were similar to how American fighter pilots adapted to fight the Japanese (climb and dive in pairs, bait and killer). I reduced my cavalry significantly and vastly increased my archers and heavy footman with tower shields and put them at the top of a hill and usually would move into trees if at all possible. I would run my cavalry into them and then instant peel and run away. I would be with the cavalry on my horse so I could monitor enemy movements as they would break up into smaller groups and run everywhere. I would use the hills to my advantage and run crisscross patterns across them. This would allow me to kill some of them while fleeing in order to whittle their numbers down but the goal was to get them to think I was fleeing and to turn around and chase me to harass me. I would then have my footsoldiers run down the hill to flank and then turn my cavalry around and pin as many of them as possible while my archers killed them. I repeated as often as I could before they broke and fled (usually half strength). I never chased as it would always cause huge losses. Once the army fled I sacked and destroyed every Khergit town, castle, and city I could. Everything was killed, salted, and burned as I did not want them to retake it and get their economy back to rebuild (you usually don't want to do that as it really hurts your economy). They were always my first target and I made sure their empire was destroyed as quickly as possible. So annoying to fight and after seeing this it kinda matched what I had to deal with. I can only imagine the pain of dealing with them in real life. Very impressive actually.

[@cyrusthegreat1893]

Another excellent informative and educational clip! Well done! 👍🏻👏🏻👌🏻

[@lukezuzga6460]

This was awesome! Value over merit instead of birth was their best advantage. Thx forntje vidm

[@John14-6...]

Best short as well as comprehensive video that I didn't have to watch for an hour

[@BlaBla-gs4ue]

Your videos are so interesting💪💪

[@jamestang1227]

Question: How did Mongol units react to casualties? If an arban lost several men in an engagement, would it have received reinforcements of just have been expected to get going? If an arban in a jagun was wiped out, would a new one replace the lost one? And how did the Mongols treat their wounded soldiers?

[@worsethanjoerogan8061]

A tumen's units would probably be replenished by new young warriors from the tribes or by recruits from conquered nations. If they were under strength for awhile I suppose they'd just have to make do. Crippled or old soldiers would often get the duty of guarding the herds and families of fighting men. They had shamans and other medicine men to treat wounded men.

[@jamestang1227]

Thank you.

[@SmigGames]

Great video. Putting oneself in the shoes of their victims, it must have been one of the most terrifying things to experience. At least rival kingdoms would play by the same rules, to some extent. This would have been felt like an alien invasion or something.

[@negvey]

holy shit the visuals of the explanation were awesome!

[@joherold]

I’ve been obsessed with this all weekend and you upload a perfectly timed video!! Subbed

[@tomasgonzalez970]

A video on Why were the mongols so succesful?? Oh my good yes!!!!

[@noelrios9320]

I remember seeing somewhere that during that time in the 1200's global weather patters had given the steppes the most rain they had in centuries and it last the entire reign of the mongols. That rain gave the nomadic peoples plentiful grazing lands for their herds and gave the mongols the food, horses and numbers to begin a massive conquest.

[@dnaturalblues]

Great Vhid!

[@fuckingshitize]

good study and work done

[@robertheisenberg6867]

The redistribution of wealth my Khan made poor people love him and the rich hate him but it didn’t matter because the dead cannot speak anyway

[@AI-tc8fv]

Merit based promotion. Fairness in pay. Circumstances of birth disregarded. Mental warfare. Reconnaissance missions. Engineering units. Wtf 💯😮👏🏾

[@ioan_jivan]

great video

[@b00i00d]

Great use of the psychology of fear - Freud woulda been proud! By the way, it would be interesting if you included some of your sources, perhaps in the description box

[@spragon6940]

underrated youtuber

[@Kevlar_soul]

The practice of advancement by merit was their greatest advantage. Ability to plan and execute battle plans is invaluable

[@raggie7056]

Amazing video thank you Could u do a video on vikings and celts .

[@DaiMoscv]

thank you for your hard work and sharing our ancestors history

[@Kalleosini]

so the answer is "because Temujin Genghis Khan was a genius"

[@austinkonrad]

Same goes for Subutai

[@lovsanus1998]

@Abu Troll al cockroachistan Look up the first time Subudai was left in charge of winning a battle when he was 22.

[@Pincer88]

Maybe their discipline was another contributing factor. Their maneuvers and formations were complex and must have been practiced a lot, with each knowing his part.

[@arospro]

Great video as always, will you do one about Attila as well?

[@MrTTuguldur]

A very good analyze. Must have done lots of research.

[@kuroshthegreat8073]

no wonder the steppe nomads were so feared. trying to go up against them must have been suicide.

[@yulusleonard985]

Steppe nomad are nuisance they exist since antiquity. Zhu Rong tribe in ancient China and Schytian in ancient Greece. Nothing new. Occasionally strong leadership turn them into super power like the Cyrus or Atilla or Temujin but they disapear after a while. To have staying power you need to change your lifestyle nomad into agrarian but they dont do that so they just fade into obscurity.

[@mohicanstar9094]

Yulus Leonard yep cuz they knew nomadic life is the best !

[@yulusleonard985]

Mohican Star Until the Russian guy you defeated centuries before round you up into the train and ship you to the frozen wasteland.

[@mohicanstar9094]

Yulus Leonard frozen land? U mean Sebiria? It was always homeland of mongols from the ice age! It was invaded by slavs later and became part of soviot union!

[@yulusleonard985]

Mohican Star Yep! It should be thrilling to be sent back to the place where your ancestor try to escape from.

[@InvisibleTower]

I think they were certainly underestimated by their enemies, which made a big difference. Learning from their enemies (e.g. siege warfare) helped in this regard as well.

[@worsethanjoerogan8061]

Certainly the Jin made a mistake by declining to help the Western Liao against Genghis Khan. They pretty much thought the Liao would weaken the Mongols and make them easy to defeat. They...were wrong about that

[@brokenbridge6316]

A nice video. I enjoyed when you explained about how the Mongols won a battle.

[@Leverquin]

short and firm. ty

[@exshenanigan2333]

2:12 turkish army's 10.000 men units are called tümen as well.

[@dolgorsurenperenlei7144]

Becuz mongols were conquered turks at that time yea there is some piece of materials still stayed in your country thats how mafia works dude

[@exshenanigan2333]

@@dolgorsurenperenlei7144 says the guys with a Turkish name.

[@tsasa192]

@Izzy Translate Khan/Khagan? It means King in Mongolian. Tumen? It means 10.000 in Mongolian,.Chinggis "khan" (King Chinggis) was the khan of the khan (king of the kings)

[@bahadrfiliz4142]

@@tsasa192 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modu_Chanyu he literally killed his father with 10-100-1000 army commanding technique which claimed to be invented by himself. "mete han" -aka-"oğuz kağan" ---in turkish language. khan----"han" modern turkish.

[@Asterix958]

​@@exshenanigan2333 Tumen name used by Modu Chanyu who lived 1300 before than Genghis Khan. All 10, 100, 1,000 military unit groups created by Modu Chanyu. Genghis Khan adapted this formation in his army. By the way, Ottomans used arabic "fırka" (which mean literally division or part) term in place of division(military). After foundation of Turkey Republic, goverment excluded Arabic and Persian names and they decided to use old Turk terms in place of Arabic names. That's why, Turkey uses "Tumen" term in place of division currently.

[@TheKeithvidz]

At heart a MERITOCRACY. Just loyalty and skill get u ahead. Not religion or blood. If Arabs lived by that many wars would be won.

[@unpopularopinion6200]

"If Arabs lived by that many *wars would be one* " You might want to check the history of Rashidun caliphate. They won many wars.

[@TheKeithvidz]

Keep yr bias to your own en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Yarmouk

[@unpopularopinion6200]

@@TheKeithvidz You said "wars won" I replied to that part. I should've made it more clear. They did actually won many wars. You don't just create one of the world's largest empire by loosing.

[@TheKeithvidz]

@@unpopularopinion6200 your initial comment implied Arabs cannot fight. Do clarify.

[@unpopularopinion6200]

@@TheKeithvidz yeah my bad.

[@andrewnovak2266]

hi! Would you mind please posting your sources in the description? Would love to know where this info is coming from. Thank you. I really appreciate the video!

[@holysaintjoydivergence2195]

I'm still learning to verbalize and communicate. I've had a long road in learning to do that. But I do want to ask you. If have the story that surrounds talking about how the Mongolians work together as a community/tribe/group; strength in #'s analogy? In the sense that it's like they did everything they needed to. In order to do all the things you said. But to help people to understand the amount of strength that it was built by a bunch of them together. I've known some people to tell the story with the example of a bunch of arrows together. Then they show the example of when you go to try and bend and break the arrows as a bunch. That they don't bend & break. They just bend and as far as if it's just by itself as far as like one arrow. That it definitely does break. The fewer that you have together the more easily it's bound to break. But the more you do have together the less likely it is bound to break. It's the basic synopsis of getting people to work together as a community and how we can actually build strength back up. Just by doing those things alone and itself. Instead of doing things all by ourselves. Sometimes there is a necessity for doing things by ourselves. But there is a very big benefit to doing things with those individuals that are considered to be a tribe like group that goes along with your minds way of thinking. Hopefully what I'm saying is making complete sense. But if you have any questions and for some reason it doesn't quite seem to make sense. Just ask away and I'll do my best to answer your questions.

[@deadbutmoving]

Amateurs talks about tactics, but professionals study logistics. The Mongols mastered logistics far better than any army of their time, and even arguably any army of all time. The ability to wage long distance blitzkrieg style warfare against multiple Civilizations, at the same time, invading in every direction, while being outnumbered, can only be achieved by a people who truly mastered the art of logistics. Napoleon and Hitler were never able to conquer Russia because they could never solve the massive logistical problems with having to invade such a vast country. The Mongols easily solved that problem and conquered Russia like it was nothing. The infamous Russian winter didn't stop the Mongols, instead it helped them by allowing the Mongols to freely move over frozen rivers and lakes. Logistics is the key to winning wars. People overestimate tactics and ignore logistics at their own peril.

[@MerkhVision]

Major key right here! Well said

[@ajax7697]

He talks about it, he just doesn't outright call it logistics. He described army coordination, acquisition of engineers, intel and communication etc. All of which fall under logistics.

[@MerkhVision]

ISEEYOU I didn’t interpret the comment as implying the video left out logistics, I took it as more support for the good ideas represented in the video. As the video clearly showed elements of logistics and I’m not dumb enough to not recognize something simply because it’s called by another name lol

[@myohmy9000]

Maybe a video on the Khazars?

[@Laotzu.Goldbug]

Khazar Milkers too.

[@hantingliu882]

No

[@logicalthinker483]

the kazhars are doubted as gog nd magog

[@socratrash]

Fantastic

[@MrTimmyozz]

Hey Epimetheus! Really liking your vids. Keep up the good work!! p.s. You sound just like Seth Rogen!!! lol. Best regards, Prometheus.

[@EpimetheusHistory]

Thanks bro!

[@danieljorgefilho2802]

they also almost conquered Europe

[@sheevamatimbas4300]

They would have , if hadn't been for Ogeidai death .

[@XXHYZ]

They were beaten by the Mamluks in Egypt and a coalition of Poland, Holy Roman Empire, and France as well as their internal conflicts halted their conquest in the European front.

[@BlankRegie]

I love the Mongol organization system, and wonder why we don't adapt it today. A hierarchy with too many levels is a friend to The Peter Principle and a foe to Meritocracy. Also the ratio of 3 light horsemen to 2 heavy, is perfect in most circumstances.

[@elihyland4781]

This is incredible

[@matthewmann8969]

There Bows And Arrows were the main factor as well as the horses they had at there disposal and how they used there strategies and tactics of great use and planned ahead of time.

[@johnl.7754]

One reason... Mongolian BBQ

[@matthewsmith1779]

The answer is leadership and discipline.

[@kaybevang536]

They create a lot of chaos behind the enemy lines like hit and run tactics called the faint retreat and other tactics like attacking on all sides if they choose to fight a frontal assault by flanking them which was a tactic similar to the German blitzkrieg

[@mohamadsyafiq6743]

The mongols are the best chess player at there time

[@batukaganbat6093]

10=Arav 100=Zuu(Zugan) 1000=Mynga(Myngat) 10000=Tumen greetings from Mongol :)

[@andreasjames1956]

This will help my Total War campaigns

[@darkphantom454]

I deem this video worthy of your time - it is good.

[@Psych-dc7uc]

notification squad!

[@EpimetheusHistory]

:D Notification horde!

[@Psych-dc7uc]

can you make a video on how you would be able to defeat a mongol army, sometimes they seem unbeatable with such a huge horse army

[@Tomoesong]

ELi Kupesok ... Simple. Make them fight each other. That's how Chinese dynasties held the northern mongolian steppe nomads 2 thousand years before Ghengis Khan ... and after.

[@williamkartatar4759]

Would you mind a video about Cumans? :)

[@EpimetheusHistory]

potentially need to find some good sources on them...things I already have books on take quicker to make

[@williamkartatar4759]

Ja,I understand.That is true making video without good sources is risky.

[@mongolchiuud8931]

I love how people talk about Cumans but leave out their modern descendants like the Turkic Kumandy of the Altay republic.

[@williamkartatar4759]

Raghu Seetharaman most of their descendants living in Hungary,Slovakia and Romania.But assimilated into society.I am kinda in a small group with protective attitude on our folks. That is true some cumans migrated to India,stayed in Siberia and Altai.enslaved by islamic caliph forced to convert Islam and later took control of whole Egypt and Levantine along with mamluk dynast but most of us living in east Europa.Cossack word in Russian is Cuman loanword just like kurgan that is Turkic but that is unknown from which Turkic language.

[@mongolchiuud8931]

@@williamkartatar4759 kumany are unassimilated direct desendents of kumans but get no love. Strange

[@ScipioXII]

The bigger question is Why were the Sicilians so successful? But this video comes to a close second in my favorite expanded description video. Favorited! ❤️

[@easternmapping8885]

Do u mind if u make a video about illyrians?

[@SunGodNika-bi2jr]

1240 views 124 likes

[@TheChuckfuc]

I forget where I heard this, but apparently the Mongols (being an illiterate group) passed orders along through poems and rhymes. They made their orders rhyme, creating an easy way to remember and an accurate message as well.

[@Snailman3516]

I think the key to their success was that they were able to field relatively large cavalry armies. Yes, they had smaller amounts of men, but they had the largest amounts of cavalry at the time. There were steppe horse archers before them, but they had the mass to win against the large argrarian kingdoms.

[@jv11112]

Where did you get the information for that map of the kingdoms before the mongol conquest? It looks more complete than others I've seen in the past.

[@EpimetheusHistory]

I made it, for my other video on the Mongols

[@tiimshuuguushuu7894]

any one from Mongolia

[@wcsdiaries]

The Persians had horse archers long before genghis khan existed, and yet they were completely decimated when the mongols invaded. Can someone to me explain how?

[@SamIAmSXE]

Almost every army the Mongols fought against employed horse archers. The Kwarazmian Empire was mostly decentralized. The Shah depended on nearly independent satraps and tribes for military aid. Their military leaders were unskilled nobles while the Mongols employed proven military leaders to lead their centralized, well disciplined armies. The Persians also greatly underestimated them, choosing to hide behind large city walls, unbeknownst to them that the Mongols had mastered the craft of siege warfare. Beyond that, the Mongols lived off the land and brought spare horses for greater mobility. They could crush an army before it was fully mobilized.

[@danielhussaini8143]

Their bow is just simply too good... It's not made out of wood

[@SilverforceX]

You see, Mongols have the East Asian genetics, so they have higher IQ on average. Combine with Meritocracy, where the best and smartest were promoted vs nobility systems of their foes, its a no contest.

[@seanfred8339]

Silverforce Your way off the mark lol not all east asians are brainiacs especially Mongolian, total different breed entirely from their east asian cousins

[@SilverforceX]

Mongol descendants are modern day Chinese and Koreans.

[@tyronechillifoot5573]

They adapted very quickly.

[@miliba]

4:31 they definitely read the art of war

[@deadbutmoving]

Yes, but not too many Westerners know what you're referencing. "The Art of War" has been a very popular read in East Asia for thousands of years, but Westerners couldn't get a hold of it until a century ago. Even today, it's not mainstream among Westerners.

[@LordofBabylon]

Mongols > Vikings

[@tha1ne]

Samurai > Vikings

[@saitamayourdaddy7008]

ASIA > MIDDLE EAST

[@saitamayourdaddy7008]

@Kashif ASIANS > THE WORLD

[@jonathanmillner]

@Bhargav Chavda Cherry > Strawberry!

[@nh7471]

Being brutal!!!

[@suluayran121]

If you give opportunity to any kind of medieval people, some of them would be more brutal than even Mongols. Brutality are result of their success, not reason.

[@nh7471]

Sulu Ayran nothing wrong with being brutal. Instilling fear all around by your actions. It’s just a statement. And don’t worry I know how brutal white folks can be.

[@saitamayourdaddy7008]

@@suluayran121 Then europe would become mongolia

[@menaseven9093]

Epimetheus wonderful video about the Mongol army. The Mongol army was probably one of the best army in history. the Mongol army was well trained, well armed and used great strategy. Epimetheus what is the name of the nice classical movie in this video.

[@suhcliekdukc1169]

Interesting

[@nantzstein3311]

Simply put; the *Huns*

[@avionics7597]

@Berk Taş confederation of central Asian nomads. There is evidence to believe that the Anglos fled Germany to the British isles escaping the Huns. Unbelievable power of the proto Turks, and the rest.

[@sksksks5072]

Berk Taş huns were mongoloids but they have puppet caucasian kings and slaves

[@raghvendrasingh9984]

Please make a videoon Rajput warriors

[@ChevyChase301]

raghup1 watch Mughal Rajput war vid by Kings and Generals

[@raghvendrasingh9984]

Joey Kevorkian in mughal rajput war, that video only describe the one aspect of the rajputs i.e,they are unsuccessful in resisting the muslim rulers but i want to see that video which talks on genuine points viz., googleweblight.com/i?u=en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_battles_of_Rajasthan&hl=en-IN

[@narenvasishtha9535]

On what how they lost all wars

[@dallasdelay3468]

They are good examples of the Art of warcraft

[@sambojinbojin-sam6550]

Would also be interesting to look at the infantry/cavalry tactics of the time in comparison to earlier and later ages in Europe compared to the Mongols. Were full two-handed pike formations abundant (thus no shield in use) in the area? Skirmishers seemed less extent in infantry makeup, but may not have been useful anyway. In any case, a true comparison is difficult, but it would be somewhat telling in the enemies various peoples were *used to facing*, compared to the ones they were now facing against the Mongol Khanates. It's not like the Mongols lacked infantry or siege engines. But what did the European Kingdoms/Counties (and even the Arabic/Muslim Sultanates/Empires) lack against such a foe, that they were so ineffective in battle against the Mongols? And, did they at one time, with a different sort of warfare, stand more of a chance? Had they regressed from a certain perspective, because their more local enemies utilized a form of warfare that the Mongols didn't, so they were simply a bad match-up when the hordes arrived? The Mongols conquered due to many more factors than simply those used in battle, but it would make for an interesting video, on an area by area comparison of their conquests in the West and the technology and tactics each people used (rather unsuccessfully) against them.

[@ChevyChase301]

Multiculturalism and meritocracy

[@ChevyChase301]

Example of multiculturalism, Iranian Merchants living in a Turkic city with Chinese governors under a mongol khan guarded by Rus Mercenaries.

[@pedrosalvador1146]

That's why the empire lasted so long! Multiculturalism! Oh no، it lasted less than 200 years without a effective control on most areas...

[@ChevyChase301]

Pedro Salvador The main reason they fell was the Black Death and they maintained great control over their empire.

[@ChevyChase301]

Pedro Salvador that’s not true. Ikhanate was going really strong until it’s entire royal family was killed by the plague. And he plague partially cause the the Yuan to lose control over southern China.

[@pedrosalvador1146]

@@ChevyChase301 Ughhh, we are talking about the Mongol empire here, it's like saying that the Frankish Empire survived because after the dissolution of the Empire, West Francia and East Francia existed, I'm talking about the MONGOL Empire, not the sucessor states

[@thecrippledgod2789]

Well... Because they were the mongols

[@hirenahir76200]

This is why i Love Mongol Empire so much to learn

[@seto3153]

I think the thing that made them so unique was the very same as what made the Macedonian phalanx or the Roman legion unique, that being a lack of ability by their enemies to deal with a change in tactics. When the mongols fought forces they nearly without fail fought enemy infantry or Calvary and won with very basic tactics. Within a few dozen years though other civilizations learned how to fight against horse archers and overwhelming cavalry maneuvers, that being to counter it with ranged units. Whenever the Mongols fought against crossbowmen or dismounted archers they had much more trouble. This could actually very well explain the rise in ranged units in the coming years, just a thought.

[@csbaca1]

In other words: The vikings we here so much about, usually by Scandinavian people these days, would have been destroyed within a years time.

[@batuhan3000]

Because the 80% of mongol Army where Turcs so xD

[@Darkdragon5544]

Another factor you everlook was the little need for a supply line in Monghol logistics as they litterally lived off the land and saw urban centers as being poor in resources for their needs. Bringing non nomadic warriors and enginers was unpractical logistically and they would mostly do so when a tactic would not require speed and would allow non nomadic planning (i.e. besiege a city).

[@RiftZM]

*Subutai.* 'nuff said. :)

[@jeffthegangster6065]

First

[@darthguilder1923]

Why were the 🅱️ongols so successful?

[@yulusleonard985]

They kill everyone. Less time and money to try converting conquered subject into law abiding tax paying citizen. But then again you no longer have law abiding tax paying citizen.

[@worsethanjoerogan8061]

Not true actually. Trade flourished under the Mongols because it united so much of the Silk Road under one rule. The Pax Mongolica was a time of prosperity for most of the Empire. True they slaughtered millions, but there were many more millions left.

[@yulusleonard985]

Lol under one rule just for a decade. Then everybody forget about silkroad when maritime trade are million times better. Here is the thing you must consider. Back in the 3rd century the best ship available in the world are oarship which makes silkroad important but one millenia latter everyone have transcontinental sail ship, including the Chinese which trade with India with ship instead camels. Mongols wipe out 90% of population they conquer to the point up to this day Central Asia (the silk road) is the most backward places on earth despite having centuries of peace. There goes your prosper silk road.

[@tulparkultigintengrikut8440]

hahahahaa

[@superfly19751]

Loyalty and honor go a long way. Something we sorely lack nowadays especially here in the states.

[@sergemann5951]

How about logistics, what kept it well oil machine?

[@aryavarta6648]

It's all about savagery dude. It's the same reason why Arabs (who were known to be one the most primitive people) could defeat professionally trained armies with superior weapons. Fear is one of the biggest weaknesses you could have. That's why all the ancient warrior cultures taught young boys to be always brave and never be afraid.

[@tulparkultigintengrikut8440]

Its more than just that. Mongols were born and raised in a hard wasteland with very harsh conditions, it was cold, they were nomads. As nomads they were skilled in riding horses from a very young age. their nomadic origin is the main reason why mongols were so affective.

[@mp6471]

Arabs confronted two badly weakened empires and they took them by surprise in that moment of weakness. Had they fought against Byzantium and Sasanian Persia at their hype I doubt they would have won, even if the two empires hadn't made an alliance.

[@mostawesomedudeever1]

Because they weren't male feminists!

[@TheTablePaper]

?

[@Yusuf1187]

Neither was anyone else, but they still got crushed by the Mongols. It's a point worth noting that the Mongols were actually the most "progressive" because of their reordering of the military system on concepts of much greater equality from the foundation of the unit structure, resources, equipment, and distribution of spoils, rather than traditional norms of clan and status.

[@joebowden4065]

Those famous thirteenth century Chinese/Central European /Slavs male feminists

[@Suite_annamite]

*Actually, the kinda were: women from Steppe societies wielded huge power* in comparison to women from settled societies. *Mongol women fired arrows into enemy lines, while the men would rush in to finish them off.* Just because YOU hate your mother doesn't mean other women weren't important throughout time.

[@mostawesomedudeever1]

@@Suite_annamite just because you have believed a false narrative doesn't mean everyone is stupid enough to fo the same. Students at universities are being taught that woman are just as strong as men. Do you think that's true and based in an objective reality or is it a political narrative pushed to achieve a desired outcome? Idiot!

[@NazrulIslam-lc4tx]

Important element of Mongol armies were their ability to travel long distances with very little support from headquarters - ie. no supply wagons. They w=could survive for upto 3 weeks with some cheese and meat that they "cooked" under their saddles and for the rest, they had a mixture of mare's milk and mare's blood. This meant that wherever, there was grazing, the horses (mares) could get their energy from the grass and the mongols could get their energy from the mares through their milk and blood. Sweet arrangement - only sun needed to make the grass grow. That is why the steppes were important - lots of grass and open land to move large armies.

[@shaywright6608]

Jesus, 10 thousand men operating in silence as they destroy your army, and then letting out a death scream as another ten thousand horses charge you as fast as they can run sounds horrific.

[@hmoobmeeka]

The mongols would've conquered all of Europe if genghis khan didn't die unexpectedly

[@dulguunbuyanjargal7495]

Not Ghengis khan but Ogodei, his youngest son.

[@mohicanstar9094]

John Saf they was like 2 million at most ! C controlling. Hundreds of millions! Wasnt they awesome?

[@daltonweinberg9248]

Thank god that didnt happen or the entire world would be a shithole still

[@wakakabravo7998]

Dalton Wienberg how did u know it will become shithole ? the mongol is one of tolerate people. they adapt with new technology very fast.

[@hmoobmeeka]

The mongols were ready to invade Europe when genghis khan died. They canceled the attack and went back to Mongolia for genghis' funeral