24. Genghis Conquered With Numerically Inferior Forces
When people think of Mongol “hordes”, they often picture vast swarms of disorganized barbarians, who attacked in a wild charge, and overwhelmed their enemy with numbers and reckless savagery. In reality, however, Genghis’ Mongols seldom had numerical superiority over their foes. Instead, they swept across Eurasia and conquered a vast empire despite being severely outnumbered by their enemies. Indeed, Genghis and his warriors won their empire by routinely annihilating opposing forces that outnumbered them by factors of two to one, three to one, and four to one or more. Genghis’ men won despite their numerical inferiority because they were professionals, who were extremely good at warfare.
