Discuss Mongol war tactics, weapons, and conquest in the 13th century.

The Mongols were a brilliant people. Their leader, Genghis Khan, led a very large, powerful army. Genghis Khan wanted to expand his empire –

and he knew he had the army to do it!

The Mongolian army took great care in predicting their enemies next move. Like a giant game of

"Eye Spy," the Mongolian army had great, big spy networks that allowed them to scope out routes

and knowledge of the enemy.

After the Mongolian army took time to get to know their enemies and their lands, the Mongolian army coordinated

grand attacks, the most famous of which being the feigned retreat. During a feigned retreat, the army would let the

enemies believe they had won, only to turn and begin pursuing their enemy again.

RUN!

JUST KIDDING – ATTACK!

To tie all of their military tactics together, the Mongolian army had an extensive web of

communication. Think of the Mongolian communication system like modern day

telephone poles - stationed and ready to spread information.

The Mongols would have men on horses posted throughout the land in order to spread gained

information throughout the army.

Now that you know how the Mongols fought, you need to know what the Mongols fought with!

The most useful Mongolian weapon was the horse. A Mongolian warrior would have began

training with horses - hunting

and herding them - at the age of

fifteen!

Do you think this is what the soldiers looked

like?!

FUN FACT – Horses are still a very

important aspect of Mongolian culture. Every year there is a “Festival of

Horses!”

Composite bows were small and lightweight, mainly used for hunting and warfare. This

small, lightweight bow allowed boys to practice while hunting before fighting in battles.

Composite bows were great for fighting while riding horseback!

Were the Mongols the big

man awaiting attack, or

the army preparing to

fight?

The Mongolian army used three different types of arrows, but they all shared a single purpose - to be used in battle. Both the iron head

arrow and the v-shaped arrow were used to hit the enemy while the last type of arrow was made with holes in it to be used as a

warning signal.

Wealthy soldiers would use a

weapon called a halberd. The halberd is a

double sided blade atop a six foot pole. Warriors

used the halberd to fight from a horse - it was

useful in swinging at soldiers who running towards the horsed army.

All of the soldiers in the Mongolian army received the Turko-Mongol sabre, a simple,

one handed curved blade. The Turko- Mongol sabre was ideal for both horseback warfare

and marching warfare.

Do you think YOU could ride a horse, man blade, and pay attention to your fellow

warriors?

Warriors of a lower class were given spears and lances. Spears and lances

were able to be thrown yards away and could also be used for impaling an

enemy up close and personal.

While the Mongol saddle and chain mail were not technically weapons, it was imperative that the

Mongolian warriors had a saddle and an armor. The saddled aided the warrior in horseback warfare while the protective armor could protect any warrior at any

time.

Hmmm, the Mongols appear to have a lot of similarities with a cowboy, but remember that the Mongols were much, much more lethal than cowboys!

The Mongolian empire used their vast military expertise to conquer a lot of land during the thirteenth

century. Mongolian take over began in northern China and eventually spread to central Asia.

While Mongolian expansion did not reach Europe fully, Mongolian expansion did lead to the spread of ideas,

cultures, and diseases between Asia and Europe.

Sources

• All images either from Google Images or the clipart app provided by Microsoft Powerpoint

• "Genghis Khan - Mongols."http://genghiskhan.fieldmuseum.org/. N.p.. Web. 2 Dec 2013.

• Wolfe, R.. N.p.. Web. 25 Nov 2013. <http://ryanwolfe.weebly.com/weapons.html>.

• May, T.. N.p.. Web. 25 Nov 2013. <http://worldhistoryconnected.press.illinois.edu/5.2/may.html>.