Unknown Military Intelligence System of the Mongolian Empire

Second The British Marshal Bernard Montgomery, who successfully commanded theBattle of Allaman and the landing of Normandy during World War II, wrote in his"History of War": "Genghis Khan's army is highly efficient.Mobility and coordination combined. Their coordination capabilities made themthe most organized army of their time. The key to their military success wasthe intelligence system. "

American historian Dwonick lamented in his book "The Origin ofIntelligence Work" that Genghis Khan was like the ruler of theworld. He knows not only the intelligence around the empire, but also theintelligence of other countries not bordering Mongolia. "Genghis Khanunderstands the importance of knowing the intelligence of any country he willfight for, which is one of the important reasons he is invincible."

In fact, the importance of intelligence work to war has long been known toancient Chinese. During the Spring and Autumn Period, Wu Wu's militarystrategist Sun Wu had a famous saying: "Know yourselves and knowyourselves, and you will never be overwhelmed in battle." However, it wasthe sweat of the Mongolian empire that raised this theory to a new level.

The Mongolian empire's intelligence system described by westerners refers totwo information transmission systems, namely, "Li Hong" and"Emergency Dispatch", and various information collectionsystems. According to "Yuanshi", "the Yuan system, Lihongpeople, translation of testament also". Its main function is toinform military intelligence at the border and to communicate orders fromhigher authorities. "Emergency Transport Unit" refers to a teamof messenger intelligence.

The postal system was not an initiative of the Mongolians. The Oracle ofthe Shang Dynasty had such a record: "I told you from the west that theearth requires me to remain humble in the east." The "Xi" hererefers to the soldier who reports military intelligence. In the WesternZhou Dynasty, the term "mail" referred to the post office, which hada mail delivery system that delivered urgent "brochures" by mailtrucks and fast horses. The Persian Empire around 550 BC also establishedpostal stations to deliver emergency messages. However, as Genghis Khanestablished too much hegemony, Mongolia's post system seemed to receive moreattention.

In fact, many Westerners did not know that it was not Genghis Khan who actuallyestablished the red flag system for the Mongolian empire, but his sonWokuotai. According to the "Mongol Secret History" records, WoKuotai summed up his merits and demerits before his death. Summarizing thefour major virtues, he said: "Sitting on my father's throne, the firstthing I did after Khan's father was the expedition. The second thing I did wasto build a relay station so that we Envoys can run along the road and carry thenecessary things. Another thing is to dig wells where there is no water sopeople can have plants. I also set up vanguards and scouts among the people inthe cities Officials enable the people to live a stable life. "

But Wokutai did not take all the credit to himself. He said theestablishment of the post station "was brought to us by Chana and MarcoPolo"

Due to the limited available historical data, it is difficult to understand thedetails of the late Mongolian system, including Zhang Jinhan and Ilhan. Wecan only see leopards from the historical materials left by the Yuan Dynasty.

According to "Yuanshi", the Yuan government set up nearly 1,400stations in various provinces. As for the tools used to convey militaryintelligence, "horses, cattle, donkeys or cars" are used on land andships are used on water. For example, 7629 fast horses were established at81 relay stations in Shaanxi Province. There are 69 water relay stationsset up in Jiangxi Province and elsewhere, with a total of 568 ships.

Various information transmitted through the relay station is classifiedaccording to its priority. The testament signed with the national seal iscalled the "biography of the horse". In emergency militarysituations, "golden characters" will be used as vouchers, while"silver characters" will be used as vouchers in less urgentsituations.

Each post office has its own headquarters, which is directly affiliated withthe general office of each post station. In 1274, Kublai Khan changed allpost offices to the School of General Administration. The post officialsinclude post order, Sun He's withdrawal and dismissal. Among them, Tuotuoheshunis mainly responsible for checking pedestrians at traffic junctions. These

Yuan governments also made detailed regulations on the treatment ofenvoys. For example, Wokuotai stipulates that "a special envoy fromthe north will receive one kilogram of meat, one kilogram of flour, one literof rice and a bottle of wine every day." Kublai Khan stipulated that"in winter, the envoys will receive one liter of white rice, one kilogramof flour, one liter of wine, ten pennies of various oils and salt, and fivekilograms of charcoal."

As for the "urgent sending" system, the Yuan Dynasty The governmentstipulates that every ten miles, fifteen miles or twenty-five miles, accordingto the distance traveled and the number of people, set up an emergencystation. The soldiers were recruited from ordinary people in the statesand counties. The courier's message should be sealed in a box, "Thisbox is one foot long, four inches wide, and three inches high. Soldiers travel400 miles day and night."

Ming Dynasty scholar Song Kun and others commented that it is precisely becauseof the complete official system that "predecessors have been in the worldof the Yuan Dynasty, and because of the fact that Tiahang will reach the YuhaiAssociation, they are considered extremely prosperous. ". In otherwords, the station gathered all the resources in the world, which was animportant reason for the prosperity of the Yuan Dynasty.

However, due to the vast territory of the Mongolian Empire and the frequentinvasion between the East and the West, there is only a complete informationtransmission system and no effective information collection system, and itsmilitary and political priorities cannot function properly.

The Mongolian empire collects information in two ways: one is direct, for example,sending spies or scouts to spy on the information directly; the other is anindirect method, such as eavesdropping on conversations with enemy businesstravelers at border markets or with transiting foreign countries Businesstravellers talk or buy off hostile officials and civilians to obtaininformation through devious means. As for the content of intelligence, itis not limited to the military, but encompasses everything.

In his book "Origin of Intelligence Work", Dvornik said thatmerchants played an important role in the intelligence collection system of theMongolian Empire. The reason is that the policy of the Mongolian Empirewas to treat merchants kindly. Khan not only protects trade routes, itsometimes directly subsidizes business organizations. This policy has thesupport of businessmen. In order to maintain friendly relations withMongolian rulers, merchants provide them with a wealth ofinformation. Merchants have the advantage that "They control alltrade between China and Central Asia. They know all the road conditions. Theyare savvy observers, they are familiar with the economic and politicalsituation along the way. They have contacted many officials. They know fromPersia To every inch of land in China. "

Collecting intelligence through merchants is a unique feature of the Mongolianempire's intelligence system. It was through the merchants who didbusiness with the Khwarizumi empire that Genghis Khan took control of thereligious situation in this Central Asian country, so in 1218 he sent a largeMuslim caravan to the country. When the caravan arrived in Ottar,Valezimo, the city's guards executed almost all caravan members on the groundsthat the Mongolian caravan was a spy. This incident became the trigger forMongolia's invasion of the Islamic world in Central and Western Asia.

Gathering intelligence at border trade fairs is also an important channel, butit's not just how Mongolians use intelligence. According to the"Golden History" record, in 1177 Zaichen was told that the Songpeople like to make trouble and violate the covenant, so they must beprepared. Therefore, all border markets in Shaanxi will be closed exceptfor one border market (border trade market), "the department will beordered to strictly inspect spies."

Like all countries in history, the Scouts played an important role in theintelligence collection system of the Mongolian Empire.

Marco Polo witnessed the fighting formations of the Mongolianarmy. According to his description, the Mongolian army usually sends outfour reconnaissance units, each consisting of 200 soldiers. A group ofreconnaissance forces took the lead. They set out two days before thedeparture of the main force to detect enemy movements and camps. The otherthree groups were on the flanks and rear of the main force in case of asurprise attack. "Mongolian Secret History" recorded an example:Genghis Khan and Wang Han wanted to attack Jia Muka together. Aftermeeting with Wang Han's army, the two men advanced along the KrumlenRiver. Cheng Khan sent three pioneers, Alektan, Hal and Dali, to becomepioneers. In front of these pioneers, he also sent a sentinel (a unit toinquire about the military situation. The

Mongolians attach great importance to military reconnaissance and Their dailylife is related. The ancient Mongolians lived on water and grass, and theirlives forced them to prepare for the rain and send people everywhere to findsuitable places before migration. Military reconnaissance is this way of lifeNatural extension.

In addition to their own military reconnaissance, the Mongols apparently knewhow to use the greed of others to bribe people in the enemy country to act asspies. According to the British historian Harold Cheshire's research, theMongolian army invaded Russia (now Russia) and Bulgaria, the inhabitants of thetwo conquered countries were employed as spies. These spies penetrated Europeancountries through the Caspian Sea, collected the political situation in theEuropean Christian world, diplomatic relations between countries, and the armyafter the Crusades loss, and the struggle between Pope Gregory IX and theGerman emperor Frederick II.

these aspects of spies spying It is through the aforementioned informationtransmission system that it returned to the capital of the Mongolian Empire,Hara and Lim. When the Mongolian rulers learned that the Europeans knew nothingabout Mongolia