Wikilatief - In the 13th century Genghis Khan led one of the largest military expansions in history.
Within 20 years the Mongols conquered parts of northern China and Central Asia (khwarezmia kingdom).
A few years later, by Genghis Khan's successor their military expansion continued to invade Japan, Egypt to Hungary.
Gengis Khan's army has no advanced equipment. Their most important weaponry, the arrows, had no significant difference to the arrows used by the Scyths 2,000 years earlier.
So what made Genghis Khan successfull in battles?
1. The key to the success of Genghis Khan's war is Genghis Khan himself
Besides being assertive he's also a military tactician. He knows where the weaknesses of his army are, for example banning troops from plundering the enemy's wealth when the enemy has not declared subjugated.
This tactic caused the Mongol army's movements to become very fast and the pace pushed forward left only a few enemy soldiers missing.
He is also a smart politician because he managed to bring together different people to work to achieve the same goal.
2. In addition to having a great leader charisma, Genghis Khan has a strong instinct in choosing talented people who can guide his troops.
In his time he had 4 brilliant assistant lieutenants namely, Kubilai (not Kubilai Khan), Subotai, Jebe and Jelme.
Under the 60-year-old subotai, the Mongol army successfully destroyed the Kingdoms of Eastern and Central Europe, their invasion ending when it reached Hungary (the military invasion ended after they decided to withdraw the army to return to the mongol center of government).
3. The way he leads is hard, firm, and fair
Those who are undisciplined will be punished along with their comrades (though innocent) who belong to the same group.
He also gave appreciation for the service / achievements of the army, this also applies to soldiers who were once enemies.
So the spirit of the Mongols was high, knowing that if they fought so hard, they would be rewarded accordingly. Jebe and Jelme, for example, were once enemies of Genghis Khan.
4. Know how to adapt in an in edit war situation
Genghis Khan learns from previous war experience and seeks the most efficient strategy to achieve victory.
Especially when it comes to sieges. At first, he only conquered weak areas that did not have strong defenses, and after learning a lot he then continued his ambitions by targeting a larger country.
5. With terror
Genghis Khan used this weapon well. The longer a city fights the Mongols, the heavier the punishment imposed on the conquered population.
From rape to slavery to murder. Their abominations are legendary enough.
But according to some historians, this decision was taken because the number of troops was not sufficient to keep an eye on the ever larger enemy population, so for the Mongols the solution of killing was the more appropriate choice.
When it invaded the kingdoms of Xia (Western China) and Khwarezmia, the Mongol army wiped out a large number of inhabitants of both kingdoms.
6. Realizing they had no mastery of science, Genghis Khan managed to get Chinese military members and experts to work for him
Many of these engineers were members of the Chinese army who defected, or soldiers who were pardoned by the Mongols.
They were the one who provided the solution to how to invade other kingdoms by making machine tools and cannons.
Read too : The history of the invasion of Mongol troops to Japan. Has Japan experienced a culture shock?