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Missile Troop Tactics
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For most of this era missile troops were archers using one of several types of
bow. At first this was the short bow, then the crossbow and longbow. Archers had
the advantage of being able to kill and wound enemies at range without joining
in hand-to-hand combat. The value of these troops was well known in ancient
times, but the lessons were temporarily lost in the Dark Ages. The land-
controlling warrior knights were supreme in the early Middle Ages and their code
demanded hand-to-hand combat with a worthy enemy. Killing with arrows at a
distance was dishonorable to the knights so the ruling class did little to
develop this weapon and use it effectively.

It became apparent gradually, however, that archers were effective and very
useful, both in sieges and in battle. More and more armies made room for them,
if grudgingly. The decisive victory of William I at Hastings in 1066 may have
been won by archery, although his knights traditionally get the most credit. The
Anglo-Saxons held a hillside and were so packed into their shield-wall that the
Norman knights had great difficulty penetrating. The fighting flowed back and
forth all day. The Anglo-Saxons ventured out of their shield-wall, partly to get
at the Norman archers. When the Anglo-Saxons came out, they were easily run
down. For some time it seemed that the Normans must fail, but many believe that
Norman archery was winning the battle. A lucky shot mortally wounded Harold, the
Anglo-Saxon king, and the battle ended soon thereafter.

Foot archers fought in massed formations of hundreds or even thousands of men.
When within a hundred yards of the enemy, both crossbow and longbow shots could
penetrate armor. At this range, archers shot at individual targets. It was
maddening for the enemy to take this damage, especially if they could not
respond. In the ideal situation, the archers disrupted the enemy formation by
shooting into it for some time. The enemy might be safe from cavalry behind
stakes, but it could not block all the arrows or bolts coming in. If the enemy
left its protection and charged the archers, friendly heavy cavalry would
respond, hopefully in time to save the archers. If the enemy formation just
stood its ground, it might waver eventually to the point that cavalry could
charge effectively.

Archers were actively encouraged and subsidized in England because the English
were at a population disadvantage when waging war on the mainland. When the
English learned how to use large contingents of bowmen, they began winning
battles, even though they were usually outnumbered. The English developed the
arrow barrage, taking advantage of the range of the longbow. Instead of firing
at individual targets, the longbowmen fired into the area occupied by the enemy.
Firing up to 6 shots a minute, 3000 longbowmen could put 18,000 arrows into a
massed enemy formation. The effect of this barrage upon horses and men was
devastating. French knights in the Hundred Years War spoke of the sky being
black with arrows and of the noise of these missiles in flight.

Crossbowmen became prominent in mainland armies, especially in the militia and
professional forces raised by towns. With a minimum of training, a crossbowmen
became an effective soldier.

By the fourteenth century the first primitive handguns were appearing on the
battlefield. When these worked, they were even more powerful than bows.

The difficulty in using archers was protecting them while they shot. To be
effective they had to be fairly close to the enemy. English longbowmen carried
stakes onto the battlefield that they pounded into the ground with mallets in
front of the spot from which they wished to shoot. These stakes gave them some
protection from enemy cavalry. They relied on their firepower to fight off enemy
archers. They were at a disadvantage if attacked by enemy foot soldiers.
Crossbowmen carried a large pavise shield into battle. This came with supports
and could be set up in walls, from behind which the men could shoot.

By the end of the era, crossbowmen and pikemen were working together in combined
formations. The pikes kept enemy hand-to-hand troops away while the missile
troops (crossbowmen or handgunners) fired into the enemy formations. These mixed
formations learned how to move and actually attack. Enemy cavalry had to
withdraw in the face of a disciplined mixed force of pikemen and
crossbowmen/gunners. If the enemy could not respond with missiles and pikes of
their own, the battle was probably lost.

Infantry Tactics

The tactic of foot soldiers in the Dark Ages was simply to close with the enemy
and start chopping. The Franks threw their axes just before closing to disrupt
the enemy. Warriors relied on strength and ferocity to win.

The rise of knights put infantry into a temporary eclipse on the battlefield,
mainly because disciplined and well-trained infantry did not exist. The foot
soldiers of early medieval armies were mainly peasants who were poorly armed and
trained.

The Saxons and Vikings developed a defensive posture called the shield-wall. The
men stood adjacent and held their long shields together to form a barrier. This
helped to protect them from archers and cavalry, both of which their armies
lacked.

Infantry underwent a revival in those areas that did not have the resources to
field armies of heavy cavalry-hilly countries like Scotland and Switzerland and
in the rising towns. Out of necessity, these two sectors found ways to field
effective armies that contained little or no cavalry. Both groups discovered
that horses would not charge into a barrier of bristling stakes or spear points.
A disciplined force of spearmen could stop the elite heavy cavalry of the richer
nations and lords, for a fraction of the cost of a heavy cavalry force.

The schiltron formation was a circle of spearmen that the Scots began using
during their wars for independence around the end of the thirteenth century
(featured in the motion picture Braveheart). They learned that the
schiltron was an effective defensive formation. Robert Bruce offered battle to
the English knights only in swampy terrain that greatly impeded the heavy
cavalry charge.

The Swiss became renowned for fighting with pikes. They essentially revived the
Greek phalanx and became very proficient at fighting with the long pole arms.
They formed a square of pikemen. The outer four ranks held their pikes nearly
level, pointing slightly down. This was an effective barrier against cavalry.
The rear ranks used bladed pole arms to attack enemies that closed with the
formation. The Swiss drilled to the point that they could move in formation
relatively quickly. They turned a defensive formation into an effective
attacking formation also.

The response to massed pikemen was artillery that plowed through the ranks of
dense formations. The Spanish appear to have first done this effectively. The
Spanish also fought the pikemen effectively with sword and buckler men. These
were lightly armed men who could get in among the pikes and fight effectively
with short swords. Their buckler was a small and handy shield. At the end of the
Middle Ages, the Spanish also first experimented with the combination of
pikemen, swordsmen, and handgunners in the same formation. This was an effective
force that could take on all arms in varying terrain, on both defense and
attack. At the end of this era the Spanish were the most effective fighting
force in Europe.


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| The Mongols |
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The nomadic horse peoples of Mongolia assembled the world's largest land empire
in a series of military conquests spread over a few generations, beginning in
the twelfth century. In the course of their conquests, the Mongols fought most
of the other world powers of medieval Asia and Europe, winning in almost every
case. Their empire was built entirely on military conquest, thanks to an army
that was unlike any other in the world. They were thought invincible by most of
their opponents. Their campaign into Europe turned back only after a death in
the ruling family. The possible claimants to the throne headed home with their
forces and never returned.

The Mongol Army

The Mongols were nomadic herders and hunters who spent their lives in the
saddles of their steppe ponies. They learned to ride and use weapons, especially
the composite bow, at an early age. For hunting and war, every able-bodied male
under the age of 60 years was expected to take part. The armies of the united
Mongol tribes consisted of the entire adult male population.

They fought under a strict code of discipline. Booty was held collectively. The
penalty was death for abandoning a comrade in battle. This discipline, together
with leadership, intelligence-gathering, and organization, raised the Mongol
force from a cavalry swarm into a true army.

The Mongol army was organized according to a decimal system, with units of 10,
100, 1000, and 10,000 men. These numbers for units were probably rarely
approached due to casualties and attrition. The 10,000-man unit was the major
fighting unit, like a modern division, capable of sustained fighting on its own.
Individual soldiers identified most with the 1000-man unit of which they were a
part, the equivalent of a modern regiment. Original Mongol tribes fielded their
own 1000-man units. Conquered peoples, such as the Tatars and Merkits, were
broken up and distributed among other units so that they could pose no organized
threat to the ruling family.

Genghis Khan created a personal guard unit of 10,000 men. This unit was
recruited across tribal boundaries and selection was a high honor. In its early
stages it served as a form of honorable hostage-holding. It grew into the family
household and the source of the growing empire's ruling class.

Mongol soldiers at first received no pay other than booty. Advancement was based
on merit. Once the rapid conquests slowed, a new system of pay was put in place.
Officers were later able to pass on their posts to heirs.

Each soldier went on campaign with approximately five horses, allowing quick
changes and rapid movements. No comparable armies moved as rapidly as the
Mongols until the mechanized armies of the twentieth century.

The Mongols fought mainly as light cavalry archers (unarmored), using the
compound bow. This was a compact weapon of impressive range and penetration
power. They employed Chinese and Middle Easterners as siege engineers. Infantry,
garrison troops, and heavy cavalry (wearing armor) that used lances came from
the armies of subjected peoples.

Mongol Tactics

The Mongol armies relied on firepower, the ability to move quickly, and a
reputation for ruthlessness that came to precede them. All of their opponents
moved much more slowly and deliberately. The Mongols looked for opportunities to
divide an enemy force and overwhelm the pieces with rapid bowshots. They sought
to surround or encircle enemies and achieve local superiority of numbers. Horses
of mounted enemies were wounded, dismounting the riders and making them more
vulnerable.

The Mongol light cavalry could not stand against a heavy cavalry charge, so they
feigned flight to draw the knights into exhaustive charges that left them
vulnerable. The fleeing Mongols turned rapidly and became the hunter. They
excelled in setting ambushes and surprise attacks. Mongol army leaders made
great use of scouts and synchronized force movements to catch the enemy at a
disadvantage.

The Mongols made extensive use of terror. If the population of one city was
massacred after capture, the next city was more likely to surrender without a
fight. This proved the case, as city after city surrendered upon the approach of
Mongol armies.