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by michaelscott 2447 days ago
The Mongols really were masters of the retreat mechanic in combat. They used it themselves very often by feigning retreat with their light cavalry (which could move quicker than most enemies they fought) only to lead the enemy into a prepared ambush, since again the conventional wisdom was that a "routed" enemy was most vulnerable and the enemy would push the "advantage" by chasing them.

They got so good at this tactic (which is one of the hardest to pull off, even in modern combat) that they had a special word for the manoeuvre, but my Google-fu has unfortunately failed me in trying to dig it up.
1 comments
NeedMoreTea 2447 days ago
Isn't that simply the feigned retreat?

Across the few Khan and Mongol histories I've read the tactics are there, but often end up with different names. Like the only tactic that springs to mind right now is to spread out a march to stay low profile during movement. They would call that "moving tree formation", or "moving bush", or "waking tree", or some other related variation from similar root. A quick search brought me to [1], which calls it the new-to-me "bush clump tactic". This book calls your feigned retreat "Luring into Ambushes".

Translation seems to bring a lot of variation in these supposed names. So I end up entirely unsure what they really called them. :)

[1] http://deremilitari.org/2014/06/the-art-of-war-under-chinggi...

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michaelscott 2442 days ago
It's definitely a feigned retreat in English yeah. What made the Mongols so unreasonably good at it was that no one was better than them on a horse or with a bow (i.e. they could attack from range while retreating; the introduction of guns levelled the playing field because they required much less strength and skill to use). They could pull the feigned retreat off in a way that resulted in few if any casualties, since even a feigned retreat has a high level of danger associated with it (which is what makes it so tough to pull off).

Thanks for doing the digging up on all the names :) It really is interesting how the tactic has been used and adapted over time and place, and how the names necessarily would be different depending on who you ask. I guess calling it any of the above is totally valid XD

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