Genghis Khan: Incomparable Nomad Conqueror - OdoriWorld.com

92 CHAPTER EIGHT: Genghis Khan: Incomparable Nomad Conqueror
sleep on horseback. On long trips, they relied on the land of the
enemy to support them. In 1221, for example, Genghis Khan tested
the endurance of his men by chasing Jalal-al-Din 130 miles through
the mountains of Afghanistan in two days.9 The feat surpassed
even the formidable forced marches of Napoleon 600 years later.
Without the skill and endurance ofindividual Mongol cavalrymen,
the armies of Genghis Khan would have been harder to organize.
But, as it was, organization and discipline became the key to
the victories of the Great Khan. Before one battle, Genghis Khan issued
the following order: "If during an attack or retreat a soldier's
baggage, bow, or saddle falls to the ground and the warrior behind
him rides on without dismounting to help, that warrior will be executed."l0
Genghis Khan used a decimal organization. Divisions, or
toumen, of ten thousand men were divided into regiments of one
thousand; these were then subdivided into squads of 100 and patrols,
or arban, of ten men each. Each unit commander gave strict
obedience to his superior, on pain of death. In campaigns, toumens
could travel in widely separated columns and unite quickly in battle.
During winter, Genghis Khan drilled his men with hunts conducted
as military exercises, more real than modern "war games."
For nomads, fighting on horseback was a way of life, not something
they did only when attacked. They were a mounted nation.
Genghis Khan was also gifted with great shrewdness. His military
code specified that a man who was physically stronger than
his comrades was not to be placed in command of them ''because
he could not feel hunger and thirst as they did and would thus reduce
their efficiency."ll To curb drunkenness among his troops,
Genghis Khan decreed in his code that a man could get drunk only
three times a month. "Twice is better than three times; once is better
still, and the best of all is never to drink," he added, ''but who
can find a man who will never get drunk?"12 The Mongol leader
was equally shrewd in dealing with his enemies. His armies became
famous for their tricks, such as pretending to retreat and then
returning with fresh horses to engulf their surprised pursuers or
tying branches on their ponies' tails to raise a cloud of dust that
made it seem they had more men. Perhaps this helps explain the
frequently exaggerated estimates of Mongol troop strength in some
contemporary reports. The following story, probably legendary,