Subutai - Best commander of all time? - Historum

ThePharaoh · December 12th, 2012, 01:41 PM

It is known that Sobutai of the Uyghur Turks ( Uriankhan tribe) was the Genghis Khan's nr. 1 man and commander , he is the one who conquered the most of territories under Great Khans' banner ( Genghis and Ogedai) . He conquered so much territories that no other commander did so far- including Alexander , Xerxes and any other unstoppable conqueror. He was involved in more than 200 battles ( which most of them commanded by him) and rarely been defeated , mostly retreating and attacking again. He conquered 32 nations , had 65 pitched battles ( none were lost). He was the commander in conquering of Russia , China , most of Persia and northeastern Europe. He also used siege engines directly in battles - for the first time in history , until that time siege engines were used only in sieges. Do you think he is the best commander in history ? Why is he so underrated ?

**Gorge123** · December 12th, 2012, 01:46 PM

WoW very interesting general never really knew him.

The Mongols did have some great general. He deserves to be on "one of the greatest general" of all time. But the best? Thats hard to say. There are some generals too, that never really lost a battle.

Pusyamitra · December 12th, 2012, 01:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ThePharaoh

It is known that Sobutai of the Uyghur Turks ( Uriankhan tribe) was the Genghis Khan's nr. 1 man and commander , he is the one who conquered the most of territories under Great Khans' banner ( Genghis and Ogedai) . He conquered so much territories that no other commander did so far- including Alexander , Xerxes and any other unstoppable conqueror. He was involved in more than 200 battles ( which most of them commanded by him) and rarely been defeated , mostly retreating and attacking again. He conquered 32 nations , had 65 pitched battles ( none were lost). He was the commander in conquering of Russia , China , most of Persia and northeastern Europe. He also used siege engines directly in battles - for the first time in history , until that time siege engines were used only in sieges. Do you think he is the best commander in history ? Why is he so underrated ?

I thought he was a Tuvan turk?

**Lawnmowerman** · December 12th, 2012, 01:49 PM

he used seige engines in battle????

Please explain, sounds intresting.

**bartieboy** · December 12th, 2012, 01:51 PM

Could you give me some examples of stunning victories?

**Gorge123** · December 12th, 2012, 01:53 PM

accordng to the wiki:

Subutai

I kind of highlighted the important parts hehe.

Quote:

He directed more than twenty campaigns in which he conquered thirty-two nations and won sixty-five pitched battles, during which he conquered or overran more territory than any other commander in history. He gained victory by means of imaginative and sophisticated strategies and routinely coordinated movements of armies that were hundreds of kilometers away from each other.

He is also remembered for devising the campaign that destroyed the armies of Hungary and Poland within two days of each other, by forces over five hundred kilometers apart.

**bartieboy** · December 12th, 2012, 02:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gorge123

accordng to the wiki: http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subutai

I kind of highlighted the important parts hehe.

That is incredible,

the question that comes to my mind is, is square kilometres of conquered lands a good way to measure the skills of the commander?

**Gorge123** · December 12th, 2012, 02:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bartieboy

That is incredible,

the question that comes to my mind is, is square kilometres of conquered lands a good way to measure the skills of the commander?

That means he's a pretty awsome general, quite hard to conquer lots of km. Yeah well he defeated the Poles and Hungarians with great stradegy.

**bartieboy** · December 12th, 2012, 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gorge123

That means he's a pretty awsome general, quite hard to conquer lots of km. Yeah well he defeated the Poles and Hungarians with great stradegy.

Of course, the things that he has accomplished are very admirable.
However, it is much easier to conquer large plains in China than conquering densely populated and well fortified areas.

He probably encountered enough of those but I think it is safe to assume that the bulk of the land he conquered was not.

ThePharaoh · December 12th, 2012, 02:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lawnmowerman

he used seige engines in battle????

Please explain, sounds intresting.

In the Battle of Mohi, the Hungarian crossbowmen repelled a night bridge crossing by the Mongols, and inflicted considerable casualties on the Mongols fighting to cross the river the following day. Subutai ordered huge stonethrowers to clear the bank of Hungarian crossbowmen and open the way for his light cavalry to cross the river without further losses. This use of siege weapons was one of the first recorded use in the West of artillery outside of siege warfare. While the stonethrowers were clearing the path to cross the main bridge, Subutai supervised construction of another temporary bridge downriver to outflank the Hungarians.