
Subutai – Primary military strategist of Genghis Khan - vinnyglennon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subutai
======
oblio
My favorite description of one of his battles:

> The result was complete panic, and, to ensure that the Hungarians did not
> fight to the last man, the Mongols left an obvious gap in their
> encirclement. This was one of Subutai's classic tricks, to create a tactical
> situation which appeared to be favourable to the enemy, but which was
> anything but. The Mongols had already incurred heavier than usual casualties
> as the Hungarian crossbowmen had done considerable damage to the Mongol
> cavalry. Subutai did not want a battle where the massed crossbowmen,
> supported by mounted knights, stood firm and fought to the death against his
> army. He far preferred to let them flee and be slaughtered individually. The
> gap in the Mongol lines was an invitation to retreat, which would leave the
> knights and crossbowmen spread out all over the countryside, easy pickings
> for the disciplined Mongols. As Subutai had planned, the Hungarians poured
> through this apparent hole in the Mongol lines, which led to a swampy area,
> poor footing for horses and hard going for infantry. When the Hungarian
> knights split up, the Mongol archers picked them off at will. It was later
> noted that corpses littered the countryside over the space of a two-day
> journey. Two archbishops and three bishops were killed at the Sajo, plus
> 40,000 fighting men. At one stroke, the bulk of Hungarian fighting men were
> totally destroyed, with relatively minimal casualties to the Mongols,
> reportedly less than 1,000 men.

~~~
didgeoridoo
I learned this from the Total War series on the PC. Don't pin enemy defenders
up on the city walls, unless you want them fighting to the death. Instead, hit
them hard so they rout, but then pull back and ride them down with light
cavalry as they abandon the walls and run through the city to the plaza.

~~~
YeGoblynQueenne
Another lesson from Total War: Mongols; run.

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kubami
I recommend Dan Carlin's "Hardcore History" podcast. He has a series about the
Mongol Empire called "Wrath of the Khans". The stories and delivery are
amazing!

Here is a link to the first episode:
[http://www.dancarlin.com/product/hardcore-
history-43-wrath-o...](http://www.dancarlin.com/product/hardcore-
history-43-wrath-of-the-khans-i/)

~~~
GuardianCaveman
I listened to all of these as I drove across the US and I was so enthralled i
almost ran out of gas more than once. I second this recommendation.

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moovacha
As a Mongolian I highly recommend "Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern
World". It remains strictly factual without adding neither positive nor
negative biases to the stories.

Amazon link to Book [https://www.amazon.com/Genghis-Khan-Making-Modern-
World/dp/B...](https://www.amazon.com/Genghis-Khan-Making-Modern-
World/dp/B0038NLWQ2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1497531176&sr=8-1&keywords=genghis+khan+making+modern)

AudioBook version that I enjoyed [https://www.audible.com/pd/Bios-
Memoirs/Genghis-Khan-and-the...](https://www.audible.com/pd/Bios-
Memoirs/Genghis-Khan-and-the-Making-of-the-Modern-World-Audiobook/B00375PP4Q)

~~~
flashdance
> It remains strictly factual without adding neither positive nor negative
> biases to the stories.

It is the opinion of many historians that history cannot be objective. All
writers need to make decisions when writing a text: what to include, what to
omit, and even what sources to read (because you cannot read them all). Those
decisions are influenced by the author's upbringing, culture, and values.

Here's an excerpt from an excellent article which discusses this:

> To better understand history, I think historians should begin to admit their
> limitations. For example, I have chosen to study Emperor Franz Joseph’s role
> in the lead up to the First World War. I examine an angle of the declaration
> of World War I that is little studied. Yet, it also raises some concerns as
> to the subjectivity of my work. Because I am focusing on the person of the
> Emperor, I am bound to attribute more agency to him than someone who studies
> the Great War from a purely national or international perspective. This
> leaves me predisposed to seeing Franz Joseph as a key actor.

[https://theartofpolemics.com/2014/09/05/can-history-be-
objec...](https://theartofpolemics.com/2014/09/05/can-history-be-objective/)

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jitix
My favorite unit from AoE2. :) Nostalgia aside I think the Mongol invasions
were vary akin to the "disruptive idea" paradigm. They didn't have any
technology much advanced than their adversaries but they used what they had
very differently than their contemporaries. Not to mention that they kept
learning and adopting ideas from the nations they fought.

------
Symmetry
People often talk about Genghis Khan as a general. But while he was a quite
good general his real talents were in politics and statecraft. And part of
that was identifying and promoting genius generals and then keeping them
loyal.

------
_Codemonkeyism
I'm always amazed by the glorifications of people like Subutai - the primary
military strategist of Genghis Khan.

From "Destruction under the Mongol Empire" (not everything under Subutais
command)

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Destruction_under_the_Mongol_E...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Destruction_under_the_Mongol_Empire)

1\. Mass extermination - "It has been calculated that approximately 5% of the
world's population were killed during Turco-Mongol invasions or in their
immediate aftermath." ( _To compare the impact that would be 370 million
people in todays numbers_ ).

2\. Scorched Earth - Mongols were known to burn farmland; [...], crops were
burned to starve the populace. Other tactics included diverting rivers into
and from cities and towns [...]

3\. Biological warfare against civilians - [...] and catapulting diseased
corpses over city walls to infect the population. The use of such infected
bodies during the siege of Caffa is alleged to have _brought the Black Death
to Europe_ by some sources.

4\. Genocide - [...] "terror and mass extermination of anyone opposing them
was a well-tested Mongol tactic." The alternative to submission was total war:
if refused, Mongol leaders ordered the collective slaughter of populations and
destruction of property.

5\. Total destruction of culture - [...] and in the Battle of Baghdad,
libraries, books, literature, and hospitals were burned: some of the books
were thrown into the river, in quantities sufficient to "turn the Euphrates
black with ink for several days"

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alikoneko
This makes me upset Netflix cancelled Marco Polo.

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wiz21c
Funny, I know about the guy because it was featured in an old PC game : "The
Ancient Art Of War". Not exactly textbook knowledge learning, but well, it
worked too :-)

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pilatesfordogs
Any good books to check out about him?

~~~
moovacha
I recommend this one myself. [https://www.amazon.com/Genghis-Khan-Making-
Modern-World/dp/B...](https://www.amazon.com/Genghis-Khan-Making-Modern-
World/dp/B0038NLWQ2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1497531176&sr=8-1&keywords=genghis+khan+making+modern)

AudioBook version [https://www.audible.com/pd/Bios-Memoirs/Genghis-Khan-and-
the...](https://www.audible.com/pd/Bios-Memoirs/Genghis-Khan-and-the-Making-
of-the-Modern-World-Audiobook/B00375PP4Q)

