The Mongols were typical nomads; the only work they knew was that of a watchman, a shepherd of countless herds that moved across the Asian expanse from north to south and back, depending on the seasons. The riches of the nomad are all with him, all in reality: these are mainly cattle and a small valuable movable property/silver, carpets, silks collected in his yurt. There are no walls, fortifications, doors, fences, or locks that would protect the nomad from attack. Protection, and then only relative, is given by a wide horizon, the desolation of the surroundings. Chinese scientists were at Genghis Khan’s headquarters; writing was planted in the people and the army.
The tactics of the Mongols are very similar to the tactics of the Arabs. The same development of throwing combat, the same desire to dismember the order of battle into separate parts, to fight from the depths. The Mongols sought to encircle the enemy to give a decisive advantage by throwing weapons on the battlefield. This encirclement was easily obtained from a wide marching movement; the latter’s width allowed the Mongols to spread exaggerated rumors about a large number of the advancing army.
Genghis Khan paid great attention to creating safe trade routes, distributed special military detachments along with them, organized hotel stages at each crossing, and arranged mail. Moreover, the issues of justice and vigorous struggle against robbers were in the first place. When cities were taken, artisans and artists were removed from the general massacre and moved to newly created centers. With every mile traveled along the Silk Road, Marco Polo became more and more imbued with the consciousness of the greatness of the Mongol Empire. He understood why the name of its founder, Genghis Khan, was cursed in Europe. This view of war as a profitable business, an expansion of the basis, and an accumulation of forces was already the basis of strategy in Asia. A medieval Chinese writer points out that the main sign that defines a good commander is the ability to maintain an army at the enemy’s expense.