17. The Mistaken Perception of Mongol “Hordes”
The word “horde” often conjures up a misleading image and mistaken perception, especially when it is coupled with Mongols. It brings to mind mindless swarms of disorganized barbarians, attacking their enemies in a wild hell-for-leather charge, and overwhelming their foes with numbers and reckless savagery, heedless of cost. The Mongols certainly were savage in their conduct of war. And considering their barbaric treatment of others, it is difficult to contest that they were barbarians, in all meanings of the word. However, they were also the most strictly disciplined, organized, and hierarchical military machine the world had seen until then.
Mongol discipline and professionalism rivaled even that of the Roman legions, and would not be matched or exceeded until the modern era’s professional armies. Such strict discipline and professionalism, more than anything else, won the Mongols their victories. They seldom had numerical superiority over their enemies. Indeed, the Mongols swept across Eurasia and conquered history’s largest contiguous empire despite being severely outnumbered by their foes. In their rise to empire, the Mongols routinely annihilated opposing armies that were two, three, or four or more times bigger than their own.