Mongol
A Brief History of WMDs before 1900
This is a Mongol style siege but not the siege of Kaffa from the early 14th century Jami al-Tawarikh (Compendium of Chronicles) by Rashid ad-Din. Edinburgh University Library Transmission from Kaffa. (Wheelis, 2002) In terms of referring to nuclear, chemical-and by inference, biological-weapons, the term “weapons of mass destruction” first came into use in 1956 when it was used in…
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Jebe
Jebe (on the ground) alongside Genghis (on the horse) One of Chinggis Khan’s most brilliant yet overlooked generals, Jebe first encountered Chinggis Khan on the battlefield during the wars of unification in Mongolia, when he was a warrior among the Tayichiut Mongols and thus an enemy. After Chinggis Khan defeated…
The Mongol Reduction of Northern China I
Just as the Jin were being challenged by the Song on their southern border, the man whose ambition would bring about their destruction was being hailed as universal ruler or great khan by a confederation of Mongol tribes to their north. Chinggis Khan was not a great general or warrior,…
The Mongol Reduction of Northern China II
By 1213, with Beijing resisting them even though it was effectively cut off, the Mongols were simply roaming the central plains of northern China and had lost the initiative. They were therefore fortunate that the Jin court was in the act of imploding at this juncture. The Emperor Weishao Wang…
The Mongol Invasion of Hungary 1241 and its Consequences I
“In this year, after existing for 350 years, the kingdom of Hungary was annihilated by the Tatars.” This terse statement by the Bavarian monk Hermann of Niederaltaich appears in the annals of his monastery for the year 1241. At almost the same time, the Emperor Frederick II wrote to the…
The Mongol Invasion of Hungary 1241 and its Consequences II
Fear of a second Mongol invasion was bizarrely echoed even in King BĂ©la’s dynastic policy. He wrote in a letter to the Pope: “In the interests of Christianity, we let our royal dignity suffer humiliation by betrothing two of our daughters to Ruthenian princes and the third to a Pole,…
Mongol: Doctrine, Strategy, and Tactics
When the Mongols engaged an opponent’s field army, they used a wide array of tactics to achieve victory. One such tactic, usually the opening one, was a barrage of arrows from a distance. Although this opening volley often inflicted little harm, it allowed the Mongols to see how the enemy…