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Chinggis Khan's organized units were based on the principle
of ten.
He organized his people into units of ten, a hundred, a
thousand, and ten thousand, and the head of a unit of ten
thousand would have a strong personal relationship with Chinggis
himself. That kind of loyalty was to be extremely important
in Chinggis's rise to power and in his ability to maintain
authority over all the various segments of his domain.
Chinggis's military tactics showcased his superiority in
warfare. One particularly effective tactic Chinggis liked
to use was the feigned withdrawal: Deep in the throes of a
battle his troops would withdraw, pretending to have been
defeated. As the enemy forces pursued the troops that seemed
to be fleeing, they would quickly realize that they'd fallen
into a trap, as whole detachments of men in armor or cavalries
would suddenly appear and overwhelm them.
Another key tactic was the use
of the horse in warfare. Read more about the Mongols'
tactical use of horses in warfare in All
the Khan's Horses [pdf], by Morris Rossabi (in
Natural History, October 1994. Reprinted with permission
from the author.)
The Devil's Horsemen: The Mongol Invasion of Europe,
by James Chambers (London: Cassell, 1988).
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