Mongol

Mongol
Weapons	Flanged Mace, Glaive, Bow & Arrow, Ild
Origin	Ancient Asia
Activities	Fighting for the Mongol Empire
Service	1200s AD
Battle Status	Lost vs. the Comanche
Experts	Munkhtur Luvsanjambaa (Native Mongol Historian) Jason Nguyen (Asian Combat Expert)

"The Mongols have a mission: to conquer everything; dominate everything in our path; destroy everything in our path." - Jason Ngyuen, Mongol expert.

The Mongol, the vicious Asian horse warriors who used brute savagery to conquer more territory in the 13th century than any other continuous empire in history;

Vs. the Comanche, the born-in-the-saddle killers, who terrorized the 18th-Century American plains.

Stats

• Circa 1225
• Height - 5' 5"
• Weight - 145
• Armor - Leather Lamellar

Symbole - Two crossed ild swords

Weapons

Close-Range	Iron-Flanged Mace
Mid-Range	Glaive
Long-Range	Bow
Special Weapons	Ild Sword

History

The earliest recorded civilization of Mongolians was believed to be the Xiongnu Khanate between 300 BC to 100 AD. Not much was known about the Xiongnu as most accounts regarding them were recorded by their Chinese neighbors (as the Xiongnu tribesmen had no written language). The Xiongnu had a history of launching raids into China; motivating the Chinese into building the Great Wall. Other Khanates include; Rouran Khaganate (the first to conquer the Eurasian Steppe), Turkic Khaganate, and the Uyghur Khaganate.

The Mongols excelled at horse riding and archery, two skills ideal to steppe warfare. The various Mongolian tribes were united under Genghis Khan in AD 1206. Under Genghis Khan, the Mongols conquered much of Northern China, most of present-day Kazakhstan, and parts of Russia and the Middle East. After his death, the Mongols continued to expand their power, until they formed the largest continuous empire in world history and the second largest empire on the whole. This empire included all of modern-day China, Central Asia, Korea, most of the Middle East (including Turkey), and Eastern Europe (stretching all the way to Poland).

In China it is estimated that half of the population was killed while in Russia it is estimated that at least 500,000 died during the Mongol invasions, as the Mongols often killed man, raped the women and enslaved the children, who they worked to death. The Mongolian genocide against the Persian Empire were so severe that some accounts claimed that in many cities, all of the men were murdered by the Mongols.

The Mongols were also believed to have inadvertently spread the bubonic plague, also called the Black Death, across Asia and to Europe: theoretically by intentionally spreading the plague against an enemy castle during the Mongolian Seige of Caffa in 1346.

At the same time however, the Mongol Empire brought unity in the lands they conquered. The modern nations of Russia and China can arguably be seen as beginning with the Mongol Empire uniting the local territories and ethnicities under the same nation. Kublai Khan allowed China's growth by moving the political capital of China and Mongolia to Beijing.

With the rise of the Ming the Chinese state of Yuan fell. However the region of Yuan, controlling most of the modern state of Mongolia, was renamed 'Northern Yuan' between 1368. In 1399 Mongolia returned to being a divided tribal civilization under the Four Oriats. After this, Mongolia never returned to being a military superpower and did not modernize as quickly as other nations in Asia. Now surrounded by the superpowers of Russia and China: Mongolia exists as a buffer zone between the two.

Simulated Battle

In a valley, the Mongol is sharpening his Ild sword. Nearby, the Comanche cautiously makes his way to the top of the ridge overlooking the valley. The Mongol, feeling as if he's being watched, looks to the top of the ridge. Seeing nothing, he goes back to sharpening his Ild. Back up on the ridge, the Comanche readies his bow and arrow and fires downward to the unsuspecting Mongol. The arrow lands a foot away from the Mongol, startling him. He stands up and looks to the source of the arrow, but is unable to make it out due to the Comanche standing against the sun. Using this opportunity, the Comanche fires two more arrows at the blinded Mongolian, one which flies past him and another which lands right in front of him. The Comanche raises his bow and gives off a loud war cry and falls back.

Gathering his senses, the Mongol sheaths his Ild and mounts his horse, while the Comanche thrusts his War Lance into the ground and slings his War Hawk on his back. The Mongol reaches the top of the hill, but is confused when he only finds the Comanche's horse. Hanging off the side of the horse, the Comanche pulls himself up to reveal himself, takes aim with his bow and arrow, and shoots the Mongol in the chest. The Mongol is saved by his lamellar breastplate however, as he angrily thrusts his glaive into the ground and pulls out the arrow. The Comanche rides ahead to to set up another attack while the Mongol pulls out his bow and arrow. The Comanche rides past as the Mongol fires another shot, which barely misses him.

The Comanche rides up to his War Lance, which he pulls out of the ground and hides into the bushes. The Mongol rides up to his glaive and pulls it out, seeing the Comanche's horse up on the rocky outcropping. The Mongol starts to ride to the abandoned horse when the Comanche ambushes him by tackling him from a rock, throwing him from his horse.The Comanche assumes a battle stance while the Mongol gathers himself and his Glaive. The Mongol swings his glaive but is parried by the Comanche's War Lance. The Mongol counters by slashing at the Comanche's back. The Comanche rolls, dropping his lance as he also avoids a circular slash. The Mongol goes in for a thrust, but the Comanche grabs the glaive and avoids the attack and counters with an elbow strike to the Mongol's head. The Comanche stomps on the glaive, breaking it as the Mongol gets back up and unsheathes his Ild. The Comanche pulls out his War Hawk and the two warriors clash. The Mongol deflects a swing and counters, slashing the Comanche's forearm. The Mongol goes in for a follow-up swing while the Comanche is still stunned, but the Comanche counters by grabbing the arms of the Mongol and hitting the Ild out of his hands, then spinning around and digging the War Hawk into the back of the Mongol. The Mongol pushes the War Hawk away as the Comanche gets it out and front kicks the Comanche, knocking him to the ground.

The Comanche recovers and runs off into a cave while the Mongol runs back to his horse to retrieve his Flanged Mace and follows the Comanche into the cave. Inside the cave, the Mongol slowly searches out the Comanche, who has his back to a wall and is holding his War Hawk as well as a Scalping Knife. The Mongol spots the Comanche and swings his mace, which impacts on the cave wall as the Comanche dodges. The Mongol takes aim and swings the heavy mace again, hitting the floor as the Comanche dodges and gets set up for a counter-attack. The Comanche goes in for a swing with the War Hawk, but the Mongol counters with a swing that hits the indian in the chest, sending him reeling. The Mongol swings again, but the Comanche ducks under and quickly stabs the Mongol in the back with the knife. The Mongol goes in for another swing, but misses as the Comanche ducks and goes in for two more stabs. While the Mongol is stunned, the Comanche grabs his War Hawk and buries into the neck of the Mongol. The Mongol slumps to the cave floor, dead as the Comanche removes his hat and cuts off the Mongol's scalp with his Scalping Knife. Victorious, the Comanche stumbles out of the cave mouth, shouting as he holds the bloody scalp on high.

Expert's Opnion

The experts reasoned that the Mongol was defeated by the Comanche due to the Comanche's effectiveness at long and mid range. They were very accurate with their bows, and their spear could be used on foot and horse back, unlike the glaive. The final factor was that the Mongol was better fighting in an army, while the Comanche was experienced fighting on his own or in larger groups.

Trivia

• At its peak; the Mongol Empire had 16% of the land on Earth and had 25% of the world's population (at most 100 million people).
  • 66% of the Mongolian Empire population was Han Chinese.
• Calvary and horseback riding still plays an important role in modern Mongolia today. The 44th Mongolian Cavalry led the last ancient-style Calvary charge in WWII on 17th November 1941 at The Battle at Yakhroma, with the Axis forces facing no casualties and the Calvary division mostly destroyed (only 30 of the 2,000 horsemen survived).
• Today; China has twice as many Mongolians as Mongolia itself.
• There is a rumor that Russia cannot be invaded during the winter months. However that's exactly when the Mongolian Golden Horde conquered Russia. It should be noted that Russia was weakened and dis-unified from a civil war during that era.
• The Mongol Empire (and the Khanates that emerged from the Empire) committed some of the largest genocides in history. While exact numbers are unknown, estimates range from 5% to 17% of the world population at that time. The territories of modern day Iran (which lost 1 million people) and Iraq faced the most extreme slaughter, as these territories attempted and failed to revolt against the Khan Timur. In comparison: WWII and its genocides killed about 3% of the world population.
  • If you consider the Mongolian Golden Horde to be responsible for the Black Death; their 'death toll' would be about 25% of the world population (within 200 years). The only thing in human history that caused a larger percent of human deaths was the Toba Catastrophe.
  • The Mongolian Siege of Baghdad had the highest amount of casualties (mostly civilian) of any battle before WWI; with some estimates as high as 2 million.
• The primary reasons as to why the Mongols expanded so quickly was because of their horses and brutality. Since the Mongol Army was mostly horsemen; they traveled faster than any previous ancient army. Since the Mongols committed genocide against cities who resisted invasions; many cities surrendered immediately in exchange for peace.
• Decedents of the Golden Horde Mongols became the Cossack; a semi-autonomous ethnic group within the Russian Empire. They served an elite cavalry until the end of WWI. They were also summoned to repress uprisings and to commit acts of slaughter against other minorities; especially the Jews. All Cossacks were conscripted into the Russian Army. Surprisingly, despite their acts of repression as Russian police, the Cossack nation was very democratic and even allowed women voting.
• The word 'Horde' originated from the rise of the Mongol Empire. In Mongolian politics; a political court was called a horde or 'Ordu'. For example; the Golden Horde technically refers to the government of that empire rather than its large army.
• A similar stepp tribe known as the Scythians existed between 800 BC to 200 AD. This tribe raided China, Persia and Greece. Some historians have linked the myths of Amazons to these tribes. They were the first to ride horses and use re curved bows.

• Mongols appeared in the Musketeer/Ming Warrior episode, attacking the Great Wall of China.
• The famous Mongol leader Genghis Khan appeared in season 3, versus Hannibal. Mongols reappeared as Genghis' soldiers in the episode, but with steel helmets and different weapons.

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