1. Briefly about the Mongols
This people, having united under the leadership of Genghis Khan, became an almost invincible conqueror. It was in those days that the Mongols built the largest so-called land empire, which had no analogues in the whole world. During its heyday, the Mongol Empire passed almost entirely through Eurasia.
The famous Mongolian bow became the main weapon, thanks to which the nomads got such an impressive result. Of course, the question arises of where did the Mongol soldiers get so many of these weapons, because in fact it was they who helped not only in battles, but also in hunting. But the steppes are not the most suitable place for obtaining resources for the manufacture of weapons. And here, first of all, it should be understood from what materials it was made.
2. bow making
The need to create effective hunting and combat weapons was influenced by the living conditions of the Mongols and their way of life. After all, they are nomads and moved exclusively through the rather harsh steppe territories. Children were taught horseback riding and the science of archery from an early age.
The Mongolian classic bow refers to the Asian method of making composite type bows. In them, the core of wood or bamboo between the "back" and "belly" of the bow had veins. The “back” refers to the back side of the weapon, and the “belly” is that part of the structure that is turned towards the archer. Everything was held together with glue of animal origin (obtained from fish bubbles). This natural glue is one of the best. It also provided a reliable connection of the components, moreover, moisture resistant. The multi-layered and curved shape of the Mongolian bow made it effective and powerful when compared with bows created by representatives of other peoples.
Now about the tendons. The Mongols dried the tendons of an elk or a deer, then they were carefully crushed, turning them into a loose fibrous mass. The fibers were then dipped in natural glue and applied to the back of the weapon. The process is quite complex, time consuming and requires special attention from the master. If there were few fibers in the layers, the weapon turned out to be weak, if there were a lot, it was tough. When compared with other types of materials, when the bow is pulled, the strength of the tendons also increases. Elasticity is provided by the collagen contained in the tendons.
The last stage in the manufacture is the application of a birch bark layer. Thus, all layers are distributed evenly. After adding birch bark to the structure, it is wrapped tightly enough with ropes. Everything is almost ready. The onion was allowed to cool to dry at room temperature. It took a year or more to dry. The result was a very durable weapon that did not lose its shape, even if more than one thousand arrows were fired from it.
3. Arrow making
Mongolian warriors used several types of arrows. All of them had certain differences: in weight, dimensions, purpose. The length of the arrow was approximately sixty centimeters. Most arrows were made from willow, although in some cases they were also made from birch. The arrow shaft was made thinner towards the tip. When creating an arrow, a Mongol archer took an iron tip and drove it very carefully into the shaft, but so as not to split it.
In the event of a split on top of the shaft, this part was tied well with a cord, and then strengthened with the help of birch bark. As for plumage, bird feathers were used here. Mostly eagle feathers were taken, less often - goose feathers, feathers of woodpeckers, black roosters, kites. With feathers, too, everything is not as simple as it might seem. If the feather is taken from the right wing of the bird, then the arrow in this case twists when flying to the right, if from the left, respectively, and the arrow rotates to the left. Given that the arrows made by the Mongols, by analogy with a bullet in flight, twist, the tip penetrates the target much deeper, even if there is armor on it. This effect is achieved due to the asymmetry of the plumage.
Marco Polo, a famous traveler, a Venetian merchant, described the arrowheads of the Mongols in different ways in his writings. He divided them into two types. Light arrows with sharp small tips were intended for use at the time of pursuit and shooting at longer distances. Heavy arrows with wide and large tips were intended for shooting at short distances and penetrating enemy armor. The tips were strengthened by immersing them in red-hot brine. This made them as tough as possible - so much so that they easily pierced armor and any armor.
Meng-Hun, a general who served in the Song Dynasty, spoke of three types of arrows from the Mongols: light arrows, camel bone arrows, and armor-piercing arrows.
Thus, it becomes clear that the Mongols made not only metal arrowheads for their arrows. They also used animal horns and bones as raw materials. If the enemy was in armor, then the bone version of the tips was practically useless. But for those who did not have armor, they caused significant damage, just like animals. Tips made of steel and iron were developed directly in order to be able to penetrate armor.
There were also whistling arrows. Such an arrow had two oval holes under the tip made of bone. At the moment of launching the arrow, she began to whistle. What was the function of this arrow? This is a topic of controversy among historians, which has been discussed many times in certain circles. According to one version, the whistle was supposed to either signal something or scare the enemy.
To the listed types of arrows, one more should be added - a poisonous arrow. For her, they took a special poison - horon. Arrows were smeared with the poison of vipers, which abound in the steppe, or with the poisonous plant aconite. By the way, the Mongols skillfully took the poison from snakes and used it for various purposes. Making this type of arrow is one of them. Each archer carried sixty arrows. As a rule, soldiers attached spare quivers to their belts, which also contained arrows.
4. Where did you get the necessary material for arrows
Regardless of the fact that the steppe territory stretches for thousands of kilometers, it neighbors in the north-eastern part and in the north with taiga forest plantations. In the east, the steppe is adjacent to the Asian Manchurian forests.
Therefore, the Mongols had no shortage of wood even before the time when they became conquerors. But iron was in short supply. Tips made of this material gained popularity only after the Mongols conquered China. Until that moment, bone arrowheads were mainly made, or wood and horns were taken for this purpose. Metal had to be bought.
Most likely, this was the reason why the Mongols had a serious problem with the presence of swords. They were forced to buy material for the production of swords from China. Probably because of this, they do not have the traditional version of this weapon. Instead, there were combined models that combined the characteristics of different swords. Their curve was weak. In production, techniques were used that they learned about from those peoples they conquered. In any case, the Mongols used swords in battle, as well as spears, axes, maces, etc., exclusively as a secondary weapon in close combat.
As for China, it was strictly forbidden to sell metal to the Mongols there by the legislation in force at that time. Moreover, the violator was expected to be severely punished, even the death penalty was not excluded. But if we believe the documents that have survived to this day, there was a real smuggling network, in which there were officials in the government. A few years before the nomads led by Genghis Khan attacked China, they sold iron to them, and in considerable volumes.
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As for mass, large-scale weapons production, it began among the nomads before the end of the conquest of Chinese lands. While Karakorum, which became the capital of the empire, did not yet exist, the great conqueror chose the settlement called Auruk as the main base. Relatively recently, his remains were found. According to the results of the research, it was also possible to find evidence of the presence of a production quarter in the settlement. It was here that metal was processed on a large scale.
Worked in this area, most likely, the Chinese, who were captured by the Mongols, or those who voluntarily went over to them. Even before the moment, as Genghis Khan with his army in 1207-1211. made the first attack on the Chinese state called Jin, he conquered the territories of the tribes living in the forests of Siberia. The defeated had to pay tribute to the conquerors. Thus, the army was fully provided with wood of various quality, woodworking specialists and financial resources. Moreover, it was possible to strengthen the borders from the Tanguts. The latter were often China's allies in skirmishes and provided it with good, powerful assistance.
5. How it was possible to transport a huge amount of food for animals, weapons and other equipment over long distances
To transport everything needed in large quantities, the Mongols used camels, and in some cases horsepower was used. One camel is capable of carrying from 200 to 240 kilograms of luggage, and pulling about four to six hundred kilograms. The speed of its movement is thirty to forty kilometers in one day. It was camels that the Mongols used to transport carts with hundreds of thousands of swords, arrows, bows, tents and other equipment.
Continue reading on the topic why the Manchus and Tungus wore the sword with the hilt back.
A source: https://novate.ru/blogs/061021/60780/