Genghis Khan — Innovation + Tactics + Training = Greatest Conqueror
Genghis Khan created the largest empire in the world, the Mongol Empire. The Mongol empire covered 12 million contiguous square miles — an area as large as Africa — from Pacific in the east to Croatia, Hungary and Poland in the west. Born in north-central Mongolia around 1162, Genghis Khan was originally named “Temujin”. At age 20, he began building a large army with the intent to unite the Mongols under his rule.
He was a military and tactical genius and promoted quantum leap in military technology by incorporate foreign technologies into their warfare. He employed an extensive spy network, and his army developed a sophisticated signaling system of smoke and burning torches, drum sounded commands and flags. But probably the biggest technological breakthrough was something called ‘stirrups’. The stirrups were mounts on a horse meant to keep the rider centered and upright in even the most tumultuous situation. These, supplemented with endless hours of practice, gave a Mongol rider unprecedented stability. The Mongols could manoeuvre a galloping horse using only their legs, thus being able to do mounted archery with both their hands. While the horse twisted and turned, the rider himself turned in the saddle allowing a fluidly mobile rider to fire arrows in any direction as he rode.
This military innovation was made even more lethal using some brilliant tactics which augmented the advantages of the stirrup. The Mongolian cavalry would gallop forward shooting arrows continuously, then as they got close to the enemy, would ride away just as quick. But even as the Mongols rode away, they could shoot arrows back toward the enemy army, thanks to the the stirrup and endless hours of practice. As the army continued to charge and retreat, their patterns became ever more chaotic. As described by Marco Polo — “They never let themselves get into a regular melee, but keep perpetually riding around and shooting into the enemy.” The Mongolian army’s mastery of movement, Genghis’s ruthless ‘surrender or die’ policy, as well as his astute understanding of his enemies’ motivations made them unbeatable. And they adopted a federated political control system, where they left local leadership in place as long as they remained loyal and sent funds upward, which allowed them to grow their empire incredibly rapidly.
