The Donner Party Shirt

June 09, 2023

Kublai had cannon, Genghis did not. Kublai had managed to recruit Chin artillerymen and The Donner Party Shirt metallurgists who were able to produce his cannon and then, train his tumans to operate them. Kublai also had learned from the knights of Russia and Europe and so, his horsemen were not just archers but lancers also. So they would alternate between the lance and bow, depending on what they faced. The European armies consisted of crossbowmen and pikemen as well as cavalry, of course. Kublai’s tactic was to switch when it was advantageous, so the knights would charge with lance and the Mongols would stage a false retreat, shooting the knights down as they went. Then, when the knights were nullified, they would charge the crossbowmen. The pikemen would come to the fore and the Mongols would switch to the bow. Because the pikemen needed both hands to wield their pikes, they had to put aside their shields which they used to defend from archers so they were vulnerable to Kublai’s horse-archers. Then the crossbowmen would advance to answer the arrows and the tuman would ride them down with lances. And so, they would wear down armies in such fashion, switching to exploit the weaknesses of their enemies.

()