Genghis Khan has been referred to as a barbarian by some and as a genius by others. What's indisputable is that he was a capable leader and knew how to lead men, win battles and expand and sustain an enormous empire. Even more incredulous is that this illiterate warrior king was an expert in communication and organization and subdued his foes on all fronts.
Genghis Khan Leadership
Genghis devised messaging systems that were uncomplicated yet highly effective. In fact he never needed to address more than ten people at once. Captains of ten, one hundred and even a thousand were appointed akin to the Roman Legions and Centurions. However Genghis would assemble the highest ranking commanders who would then convey vital information down the line. This wasn’t a primitive form of highly ineffectual Chinese whispers, though as his countless military victories attest of him.
The Mongolian Empire also had messages transported speedily across its vast terrain on horseback. Horses were stationed at twenty five mile intervals and wore bells so that when one horse was completing its stage, then another could hear the first one arriving and would be saddled up and ready to depart. Documents were passed via horseback day and night and distances of one hundred and twenty five miles could be covered in a day or up to a thousand miles in one week.
Genghis Khan Strategies
Genghis’s Khan’s organisation was essentially practical. Battle encampments were designed in exactly the same format regardless of the location of the war party. This ensured that any soldier under the rule of Genghis knew exactly where everything could be found and would be a highly effective worker and minimal time would be wasted in extra training. True, a weakness of this strategy is that enemies and defectors would have little planning in attacking by surprise. However Genghis hated treachery with a passion to such an extent that he even executed a defector who had converted to his cause and helped Genghis capture his enemy.
Genghis Khan Army
Plan to succeed or prepare to fail is the old adage. Genghis inhabited a climate where there were swelteringly hot summers and cold winters. He ensured that both his soldiers had adequate rashions and weapons with them at all times and that his horses were adequately prepared for warfare in any condition also. Felt was affixed to horses hooves to give them a purchase on icy ground.
Conclusion
In a nutshell Genghis was ahead of his time. Not only did he possess archers that could fire arrows in excess of three hundred yards reminiscent of the English long bows from the hundred years war, but he reserved mounted archers capable of highly agile manoeuvres that could pick off their opponents at pace and at a distance. The mounted archers would encircle their enemies leaving them in disarray only to be followed by the heavy cavalry that would break through the middle and leave the opposing formations scattered like sitting ducks.
Man, J. Genghis Khan Life, Death and Ressurection (London, Bantam Books, 2004)
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