Finished reading the book, and here is some useful info (not direct quotes):
Mongol Military Structure and Size
The two sources historians have of the period, the Secret History (official history produced by a Mongol servant)and the Altan Debter (another book) are generally pretty accurate. They both say that at he time of the quriltai (council) of 1206, when Genghis was made Great Khan, Mongol armies stood at about 105,000. Though this may be slightly exaggerated, many historians think it is partially truthful. Mongol armies consisted of nearly the whole able male population, and local reinforcements who would rather be on the winning team.
At the time of Ogadai's ascension, they both believe that standing Mongol armies stood about 120,000 (those who had died were replaced by Chinese, Khitan, Qara-Khitai and Uighur troops). So Mongol armies were rather large. Hulagu's "expedition" to the Middle East is widely regarded to be rather large as well; Mongke Khan asked for something like every 2 in 10 Mongol soldier to be available for this expedition, with of course local recruitments picked up along the way from Qarakorum to Persia.
Though smaller than what the Khwarazm and Chinese could throw at them, Mongol armies are held to be considerably larger than conventional European armies at the time. No one has exact figures of the expedition to Europe, but it was rather larger than what Europeans were used to at the time.
According to The Secret History, and what William of Rubruck reports he heard, by the quriltai of 1206, Genghis Khan had his own personal guard (keshig) of 10,000 men. For many European countries at the time, this may have been their entire national army. This alone was the elite core of the inner core of the Mongol army. So any expedition that arrived in Europe as Batu Khan's did would have been immensely large, with local reinforcements picked up along the way. Such expeditions as these would require years of planning, and all subjugated peoples would have to provide tumens or face the consequences.
Mongol armies were theoretically organised along decimal lines i.e. 10, 100, 1000, 10000. Each tumen (10,000 men) was the primary tool for fighting, though 1000 men would be a more personal thing for each troop. Troops from any country being conquered were gladly welcomed into the ordo (Mongol for army, gave rise to "horde"). Such welcome additions were Chinese and Muslim siege engineers.
Other less conventional additions were war slaves. When captured from a sacked city, they would either undertake dangerous siege work at the next city, or would be driven in front of the Mongol assault lines. The idea behind this was to reduce Mongol casualties, or to stop the defenders from fighting (they don't want to kill their countrymen).
There was also the tamma system. A sizeable amount of troops in a province (maybe about 5000) would be posted in a regiment on the border, assigned to secure, and even expand the conquered territory.
Mongol Military Structure and Size
The two sources historians have of the period, the Secret History (official history produced by a Mongol servant)and the Altan Debter (another book) are generally pretty accurate. They both say that at he time of the quriltai (council) of 1206, when Genghis was made Great Khan, Mongol armies stood at about 105,000. Though this may be slightly exaggerated, many historians think it is partially truthful. Mongol armies consisted of nearly the whole able male population, and local reinforcements who would rather be on the winning team.
At the time of Ogadai's ascension, they both believe that standing Mongol armies stood about 120,000 (those who had died were replaced by Chinese, Khitan, Qara-Khitai and Uighur troops). So Mongol armies were rather large. Hulagu's "expedition" to the Middle East is widely regarded to be rather large as well; Mongke Khan asked for something like every 2 in 10 Mongol soldier to be available for this expedition, with of course local recruitments picked up along the way from Qarakorum to Persia.
Though smaller than what the Khwarazm and Chinese could throw at them, Mongol armies are held to be considerably larger than conventional European armies at the time. No one has exact figures of the expedition to Europe, but it was rather larger than what Europeans were used to at the time.
According to The Secret History, and what William of Rubruck reports he heard, by the quriltai of 1206, Genghis Khan had his own personal guard (keshig) of 10,000 men. For many European countries at the time, this may have been their entire national army. This alone was the elite core of the inner core of the Mongol army. So any expedition that arrived in Europe as Batu Khan's did would have been immensely large, with local reinforcements picked up along the way. Such expeditions as these would require years of planning, and all subjugated peoples would have to provide tumens or face the consequences.
Mongol armies were theoretically organised along decimal lines i.e. 10, 100, 1000, 10000. Each tumen (10,000 men) was the primary tool for fighting, though 1000 men would be a more personal thing for each troop. Troops from any country being conquered were gladly welcomed into the ordo (Mongol for army, gave rise to "horde"). Such welcome additions were Chinese and Muslim siege engineers.
Other less conventional additions were war slaves. When captured from a sacked city, they would either undertake dangerous siege work at the next city, or would be driven in front of the Mongol assault lines. The idea behind this was to reduce Mongol casualties, or to stop the defenders from fighting (they don't want to kill their countrymen).
There was also the tamma system. A sizeable amount of troops in a province (maybe about 5000) would be posted in a regiment on the border, assigned to secure, and even expand the conquered territory.
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