Re:“Devil’s horsemen”: Why Mongol horse archers were history...
by AmVess on Tuesday July 25, 2023 @07:19AM
(#36860668)
A friend has a mongolian horseman bow. He shot a birch tree 75 yards away, and the arrow went in nearly an inch. I knew they were powerful, but I didn't know they were that scary powerful.
Re:“Devil’s horsemen”: Why Mongol horse archers were history...
by mcv on Tuesday July 25, 2023 @07:35AM
(#36860802)
I once read that Edward I ordered the English to practice with longbows after he saw a longbow shoot through a heavy oaken church door in Wales. It's crazy how powerful a good war bow can be. Nothing like modern sports archery.
Without that, I think the Mongols would easily win. They had a huge army that rapidly conquered the largest contiguous land empire ever. They had powerful bows, better armour, very effective tactics, but they were also excellent at sieges. Every country they conquered, they assimilated the best ideas and technology they had, which made them able to shift to very different types of warfare. They were capable of strategic maneuvering on a scale that wouldn't be seen again until WW2.
Their weakness was primarily in their rules for succession. If the death of a leader requires you to abandon all campaigns and moving all generals to the capital, after which the empire still fragments into several pieces, that's a bit a of a problem.