Military Training: Instinct vs Training…

“At the time he had believed that Bestia had been a cruel monster, but he had long since come to realise the true purpose of the harsh treatment meted out during training. Soldiers had to keep a cool head in any conditions. They had to be disciplined from within as well as without. That process… Read More

Fortune & Luck or Skill & Brains?

“Never knock luck , Prefect. In my experience it is the most important quality in a successful soldier. The gods favour some of us with good fortune. Skill and brains come a distant second.” (Scarrow, 2014, p.140). Scarrow, S. (2014) Brothers in Blood. New York, NY: The Overlook Press.

Dues & Proportion vs Rewards & Effort…

“He had most definitely paid his dues. But his experience had taught him that life seldom bestows its rewards in proportion to the efforts men have taken to earn them. It had also taught him never to underestimate his enemy.” (Scarrow, 2014, p.37). Scarrow, S. (2014) Brothers in Blood. New York, NY: The Overlook Press.

Leadership: Self-control, Pride & Animals!

“He [Genghis Khan] tried to teach them that the first key to leadership was self-control, particularly the mastery of pride, which was something more difficult, he explained, to subdue than a wild lion, and anger, which was more difficult to defeat than the greatest wrestler. He warned them that “if you can’t swallow your pride,… Read More

Jurched vs Mongol: Carbohydrate vs Protein

“Compared to the Jurched soldiers, the Mongols were much healthier and stronger. The Mongols consumed a steady diet of meat, milk, yoghurt, and other diary products, and they fought men who lived on gruel made from various grains. The grain diet of the peasant soldiers stunted their bones, rotted their teeth, and left them weak… Read More

Battlefields: Speed & Surprise

“Rather than relying on defensive fortifications, he made brilliant use of speed and surprise on the battlefield, as well as perfecting siege warfare to such a degree that he ended the era of walled cities.” (Weatherford, 2004, p.xvii) Weatherford, J. (2004) Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World. New York, NY: Broadway Books.