All language subtitles for Historys.Greatest.Warriors.S01E06.The.Mongols.1080p.HULU.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-RAWR_track3_[eng]

He is among
the deadliest warriors

in history...

Once you have inflamed
the wrath of the Mongols,

they do not hold back.

Trained to unleash
destruction and horror...

Boiling them alive
in cauldrons.

They pour silver into
all of his orifices.

And built to
carve out an empire...

Entire populations
get slaughtered.

These bodies are
landing on them...

and splat, splat.

The only way to win respect
is to be the ultimate warrior.

Warriors aren't born...

They're built.

Understanding how

reveals the true nature
of their greatness.

From the cradle
to the grave,

these are the steps
to creating...

History's
Greatest Warriors.

The Mongol...

The most feared warrior
of the medieval world.

Ruler over the largest
single land mass

ever conquered by man,

the Mongol is born
into a hostile

and turbulent society...

and raised to be both a
brilliant strategist

and merciless warrior.

As the Mongols are
bursting on the scene,

everyone is
terrified of them.

They're viewed as an
apocalyptic threat.

They want to build
a giant empire that

no one has ever seen before.

If you resist,

entire populations would
get slaughtered.

The Mongols killed between
20 and 40 million people.

Over the course of
the 12th and 13th centuries,

the Mongols conquered
12 million square miles,

making it the largest
contiguous land empire

in history.

They create an empire
that spans from the

Korean peninsula to the
middle of central Europe.

They end up dominating some
of the greatest warriors

in world history.

Clearly, there's
something special

about Mongolian fighters.

The relentless
expansion of the Mongol's

territory can only be
achieved by building a

warrior who is faster and
stronger than any other

in the Middle Ages.

His journey to becoming a
warrior will see him

endure brutal training,

master deadly
weapons of war...

And conquer his enemies
through the most feared

battle tactics of
the ancient world.

It is a
roadmap for greatness,

first developed in
the 12th century,

in the wild Mongolian Plains.

Mongol culture
emerges from diverse people

who are really
intermixing on the steppe.

The word steppe
is from the old Slavic,

and it means flat,
grassy plain.

And the landscape,
as beautiful as it is,

it's also cold,
it's desolate, it's empty.

You're hungry.

You've got to move from
place to place to place

to find your next
sustaining day.

There's no
unified territory

for the Mongols
in the steppes.

Their lands are scattered
across parts of present day

Mongolia, Siberia,
and northern China.

They're nomads.

They move herds of horses,
camels, oxen, or yak.

These are the wealth
of the nomads,

and we have all these
tribes that are

competing with each other.

There hasn't been a unified
empire on the plateau

for almost a hundred years.

And so this means that we
have a lot of leaders

vying for power,
for control of resources,

for authority.

A young Mongol
must learn how to survive the

non-stop bloodshed that
engulfs his homeland.

Historically groups who
look after herds of animals

are fierce,
in contrast to, say,

farmers who have to
cooperate to do well,

who are more settled.

Herdsmen are territorial.

They have to be tough
fighters to survive,

and to protect their flocks...

and, to hold onto
their grazing lands,

in case any of them
are taken by rivals.

They would steal
each other's pastures

if they needed to,
and drive other people off.

But they also would steal
other people's goods,

including stealing
their women.

Not only the Chinese,
but other entities

near Mongolia never want
the Mongols to unite.

The Jin Dynasty, moved its
troops from Mongolia

back into China because
of other concerns.

Well, that created a
vacuum in Mongolia,

so the different tribes
have to figure out

who's going to be the
top dog there.

One man will
unite the Mongols,

and give birth to an empire...

by creating one of the greatest
army of warriors, ever.

His beginnings
are legendary.

In 1162,
there's a boy born,

and he's the son of a
powerful clan warlord.

His parents name him
Temujin.

And this is the future
Genghis Khan.

The story is that
Temujin is born with a

blood clot clutched
in his fist.

And they take this
as a very powerful symbol

that he will be a
great warrior,

a great leader.

Before he
can meet his destiny,

the boy's family will be
terrorized by rival clans.

Temujin's gonna
have a rough childhood.

His father is murdered,
he's poisoned.

And because he was a rising
figure in Mongolian society,

this leads to...

the ostracization
of Temujin's family.

He starts attaining
adulthood,

and he eventually
does get married,

and once he gets married,
then another rival tribe

kidnaps his own wife.

So, he then has to rescue her
and form an alliance to do so.

But he never forgets
where vengeance is due.

Ultimately,
this is a warrior culture,

and the only way to win
respect is to be

the ultimate warrior.

Temujin skillfully
forms some key alliances

to seek revenge.

He's a natural born leader,
and he and his

new coalition crush
all of his rivals.

He gains a reputation as
a brilliant negotiator

and a fierce warrior.

He's definitely not somebody
you want to cross.

While crushing
his enemies in the steppes,

he also faces a new rival...

within his own family.

Temujin's brother goes
to war against him.

And when that blood brother
takes 70 of

Temujin's warriors
and tortures them

by boiling them alive
in cauldrons...

...it's a huge insult
to the future Khan.

And when that brother is
eventually captured and

brought to Temujin's feet,
he's executed.

Some say that
Temujin broke his spine.

He'll continue
to be threatened by

competing clans,
but this Mongol leader

uses his tactical brilliance
to rule over them all.

He has the perfect
combination of charisma and

ruthlessness to be able to
rule an empire

the size of which he was
able to conquer.

In 1206, Temujin...

gets elected as
the new khan.

There is
only one khan.

It's like being the king
of the entire nation.

He is
given a new title,

and he becomes Genghis Khan,
which means,

firm, resolute,
or fierce leader.

And so he becomes the
single leader of Mongolia.

Having unified
the surrounding clans,

Genghis Khan now looks
beyond his own borders

into the wider world.

He wants to take control of
trade routes and generate

wealth and tribute
from the spoils of war.

But a powerful rival to
the east, the Jin Dynasty,

is a formidable empire.

Since 1115,

it has ruled over northern
China and Manchuria,

and is hostile to the
Mongol threat to the west.

There are some
old grievances between the

Mongols and the Jin that
go back for generations.

And so, his goal is to do
enough damage so they

cannot bother him while
he's stabilizing Mongolia,

but he's also getting his
army outside of Mongolia,

and he's keeping
them busy.

There's nothing better as a
team building experience

than to go where other
people might kill you.

The khan
cannot fulfill his ambition

for conquest alone.

To seize vast,
hostile lands,

Genghis must build
the Mongol warrior

to be unlike
any before him.

The rugged
Mongolian terrain tests the

strength of every
Mongol who lives here.

But to become a
Mongol warrior,

training begins before
he takes his first step.

What makes the Mongols so
special and different for

their time was their
relationship with horses.

They were the greatest and

most powerful cavalry unit

on the planet at the time.

Children just a
few months old,

they're going to be
strapped to horses.

Then,
at three years old,

your mother is teaching
you how to ride.

At five years old,
you're given your

first bow and from
five years old on,

you're living your life
in the saddle.

Everything
the Mongols do-

perfecting their
horsemanship,

becoming highly skilled
archers, hunting-

all those skills translate
into being a great warrior.

And if you have
enough great warriors,

you're going to
have a great army.

The Mongol's
relationship to his horse is

a bond that will serve him
on and off the battlefield.

It's said
that in the cold,

the riders use the
horses for warmth.

They'll eat the body
of their dead horse.

They'll drink the
horse's blood.

The horse is more than
just a beast of burden,

or instrument of war,
but it's a big part of

how they survive.

The young Mongol
warrior trains to be a

lethal combatant, whether he
encounters the enemy

on horseback or on the
ground, face to face.

There's a combination of
things that the Mongols

do by tradition.

One is Mongolian wrestling,
which is called bokh.

Mongolian wrestling
takes place in an open area,

and the key is to throw your
enemies so that they touch

the ground with something
besides their hands or feet.

They're putting so
much pressure on one another,

the weight of each other,
and they're barely moving

until they can tip one
or the other over.

What this does
is train you for strength.

Also, balance,
which is key,

whether you're on foot or
actually on horseback.

In combat, if you can
keep that balance,

you're more
likely to survive.

As he masters the
art of fighting one-on-one,

the young warrior also
learns to work in concert

with his fellow Mongols.

In the training
of Mongol warriors,

we usually discuss
a couple things-

hunting and shooting.

The Mongols are on the
move when they're hunting.

In fact, they might be
hunting khulan,

which are wild asses,
or antelope.

You have to keep up
with them.

You have to hit the target
while you're shooting.

So that's a great
skill to have.

But they will also implement
another hunting technique.

Each winter,
young Mongols participate

in a unique event,

that not only sharpens
their horsemanship,

but exposes them to death
on a massive scale.

The Mongols
engage in this annual

three-month-long hunt
called the Nerge.

You would
participate in the Nerge

from the earliest age.

Learning to shoot, learning
to hunt, learning to kill.

They deploy their warrior
hunters in a single line.

In some cases, it's reported
to be 80 miles long.

And as this line
moves forward,

the hunters gradually start
bringing the wings of the

line in to attract all
the animals inside.

It's like tightening
a giant noose.

All the riders have
to keep the animals in the

circle as they're doing it,
to control these animals,

to drive them
where you want to.

And then the great
Khan gives the word, "kill".

And then they
slaughter the animals.

You have sort of a
chaotic scene of animals that

are frightened, who are
trying to break out.

You have to be able
to shoot an animal

while it's panicky, and other
guys are also shooting,

and you obviously do not want
to shoot the other hunters.

The execution of
the entire maneuver

has to be done perfectly
because any soldier

that allows an animal
to escape gets punished,

and so
this is one of the ways

that tactics are perfected,

and discipline
is maintained.

This is fantastic
training for war.

Genghis Khan uses
tactics like the Nerge to

conquer what he considers
to be less than human.

He doesn't see foreign
fighters as people.

He sees them as
cattle, as prey.

He is willing to take all of
these hunting techniques

and apply them
to people.

When you look at
the Muslim and the

European chroniclers, the
Mongol army is described as

the most organized,
the most disciplined.

They've lived it
their entire lives.

A young Mongol
quickly learns that no one

in a hunt,
or in the army,

will be given
preferential treatment.

The khan only rewards
excellence on the battlefield.

He's gone from the
heights of being the son of

a well-respected
aristocrat leader,

to basically poverty.

He's seen all
levels of society.

And so, what he does is he
sets up a meritocracy

where he values talent
and skill over lineage.

Even the
khan's own enemies

are worthy of mercy...

if they prove themselves
in combat.

Genghis Khan
is shot in battle.

And, after the battle
is done and he has won,

he gathers all the captives,
and asks them,

"Which of you
has shot me?"

And Jebe, the warrior
who is responsible,

raises his hand,
and says, "It was me,"

knowing that he's about
to be executed.

And instead,
Genghis Khan says,

"I want you to be
one of my generals."

When this warrior takes
responsibility,

protects his own people,
Genghis sees the

kind of nobility that
he needs in his ranks.

Jebe goes on
to become one of

the Mongols' most loyal and
successful generals

for the next 20 years,
proving that the khan

knows how to build
his warrior army.

If you make it a
meritocracy and anyone can

prove their worth by what
they contribute on the field

of battle, you're actually
helping those who otherwise

would have felt themselves
ostracized find a way in.

And you're creating
a new order,

a new hierarchy
of which the khan-

Genghis Khan-
is the center.

It switches allegiance
from the clan...

to the khan.

Genghis Khan,
in service to

his growing empire,
will test this allegiance,

and his warrior's skills,
against the tactics and

weaponry of central Asia.

There's a territory to
the west of the Mongol Empire

that's ruled by a people
called the Qara Khitai.

This is also known
as the Western Liao.

When the monarch of
the Western Liao,

Prince Kuchlug,
sends his forces into

a small medieval city
called Amalek,

they murder the king there,

who is a relative
of Genghis Khan.

Genghis, of course,
is furious about this.

And so,
the Qara Khitai

become the Mongols'
next target.

Jebe,
the khan's trusted general,

leads an army of 20,000
Mongols into the Qara Khitai

where they seize the capital.

Here, the Mongol warrior
will learn that bloodshed

is not the only
path to victory.

Jebe, like Genghis,
is a brilliant strategist.

He'll appeal to the
Qara Khitai,

and turn them against
Prince Kuchlug.

Kuchlug is ousted from power,
and then eventually captured,

and brought back
to the Mongols,

who then cut off his head.

The young
warrior sees firsthand the

consequences of
losing in battle.

Such lessons motivate him
to master all of

the Mongols' weapons of war.

The Mongols expand
their territory to the west

after seizing control of
the Qara Khitai.

Now they share a border
with the Islamic state

of the Khwarazmians.

These two massive empires

will soon become
mortal enemies...

But before the
young Mongol follows

Genghis Khan's
army into battle,

he must first master the
instruments of war.

Through their conquests,

the Mongols are
able to create

the ultimate arsenal
of their era.

As the Mongols
are expanding the empire,

they encounter
new weapons, new warriors.

If the Mongols find a
weapon that's useful,

they'll incorporate it.

The preferred
Mongol weapon is one

he's trained with
since childhood,

one that allows him
to kill from afar.

The majority of the army
are what we consider

horse archers, and the
primary weapon

of the Mongols is the
composite bow.

The difference
between the Mongol

composite bow and the
longbow made famous by

the English and
the Welsh before them,

the longbow is typically
6 to 7 feet long.

The Mongol bow
is about 4 feet.

It is made specifically
for horseback use.

The composite bow
is a recurve style bow.

The string is placed on
the opposite end of

where you might
think it's placed.

The reason for this is
because you can get

a longer range of
firing with it.

Now, there's one
record of a Mongol warrior

shooting over 500 yards.

That's a remarkable shot.

Typically, however,
the Mongol bow is gonna be

more about an effective
range of about 300 yards.

As the Mongols approach,

the Mongols are engaging
in what we call

an arrow storm, where
they're just firing arrows,

you know, so it looks
like it's raining arrows.

The pull weight
of a bow is 160 pounds.

And the stone ring is
used to pull the string.

And they don't pull it full,
they just pull it enough

so that they have energy
into the bow, and let it go.

Having that capability
allows the Mongol soldier

to actually shoot faster.

The average English
bowmen could fire maybe

between 6 and 10
arrows, a minute.

The Mongols, they could go
up to 20 arrows a minute.

It's very difficult to
do archery on horseback...

because of the up
and down motions,

the shock of the
hooves on the ground.

So, they have to learn from
an early age how to

time their shots
with the moment

when the horse's hooves
leave the ground.

The speed
and versatility of the

Mongol warrior's arrows...

prove to be deadly in
more ways than one.

The type of arrows
used by the Mongols can

sometimes be poison-tipped
as well with wolfsbane.

Even if they
miss a vital organ,

they could be...

killing the opponent
using the poison instead.

Arrows are
effective from afar...

but at close range,
the Mongol warrior will need

new armaments to strike
down his enemy.

In hand-to-hand
combat the Mongols

would use several
different weapons.

We see axes, we see
maces and clubs,

but the saber is probably
the preferred weapon.

The saber is a
very functional weapon

on horseback or on foot.

If the Mongols
break into a city,

it's going to be a
weapon that gives them

maneuverability
in close combat.

The Mongols'
sabers famously draw blood

during the Siege of
Sandomierz in 1260.

When the Mongols breach the
walls of the Polish city

and move through the
streets on foot,

they methodically execute its
citizens with their blades.

When defending
his own life,

the Mongol warrior will
use his enemy in

an unconventional-
and terrifying-

siege tactic.

One of the things
that the Mongols did

on a regular occasion was
use human shields.

They would conquer
an area, raid a village.

They'd take the population.

They would march in
front of the Mongols.

And if they stop,
the Mongols will kill them.

They would drive
the enemy captives

as they converge
on the walls,

and push them into the moat
so that they can actually

use the bodies as a
platform to scale the walls.

If you think about the
psychological effect of

watching your own people in
front of the invading army,

you have to...

make a difficult choice.

Do you kill your own people
in front of this army

to protect yourselves?

Or do you allow the invading
army to get closer and closer?

And there is one
weapon that amplifies the

capabilities of the
Mongol's entire arsenal...

his horse.

Their horses
probably are not like

what most people picture
in terms of horses today.

These were kind of tough
ponies who learned

how to scavenge,
themselves,

so when they're
encountered with the snow,

they dig out with their
hooves the grass

that's underneath,
and drink the snow.

Because of
their capability,

the Mongols are able to
travel long distances.

When we discuss
the mobility of the Mongols,

we have to remember that
this is on a scale that

isn't really matched
until the 20th century

with mechanized
warfare.

We have Mongols who are able
to travel 100 miles in

one day, and this is because
they're switching horses.

They bring about five
extra horses for every man.

So they keep on going.

With each new conquest,

the Mongol warrior
acquires new weapons

for his own arsenal.

One such instrument
will lay waste to the

walled cities
of his enemies.

One of the key
capabilities that they

acquire when they're in
China is the trebuchet.

When trade
relations break down between

the Mongols and the Genoese
in the port city of Caffa,

the Mongol warrior
uses his trebuchet

in a diabolical maneuver.

They lay siege to the
city for two years,

bombarding it with
rocks and other debris

in an effort to force
the Genoese out.

But what they discover is
that their men are dying from

some strange disease,
which is the bubonic plague.

What better way to
get rid of these bodies

than to fling them over
the walls of the city,

into the midst
of the Genoese?

According to
one Italian writer,

what the Mongols did was
they'd load bodies onto

the trebuchets, launch
them over the walls...

And this is how the
plague gets into the city.

These bodies are
landing on them,

and splat, splat,

and entrails are
spilling out.

Literally having death
rained on them from above.

As the Genoese are
fleeing the city in boats,

now infected with
the bubonic plague,

they spread the disease
throughout the rest of Europe,

taking the lives of upwards
of 25 million people.

Equipped with an
array of deadly weapons,

the young Mongol warrior is
ready to taste first blood.

The Mongol has
mastered his horsemanship

and his weaponry, but he
will only be deemed

a true warrior after he
succeeds in battle...

and takes a trophy carved

from the flesh of his enemy.

In 1241, the Mongols continue
their westward expansion

by invading Europe with
a two-pronged attack.

While one army
marches into Hungary,

a second is sent to Poland,

where the Mongols
face an army of

30,000 men that
includes a calvary

of European knights.

Here, the mounted Mongol
warrior will need to prepare

for all manner of combat.

Mongols prefer
to be on horseback.

It gives them the
most advantage.

They're higher,
they're stronger,

they're faster.

But let's say a Mongol
is on foot-

this could happen
a couple ways-

his horse is killed,

he's thrown from the
horse in some way.

He has now to fight on foot.

Without his horse,
the Mongol warrior lacks

the mobility and speed
he relies on in battle.

What do they do then?

They have to face, perhaps,
a European knight

in huge,
heavy metal armor.

The knight
would probably have

a slight advantage
'cause they're more

accustomed to
fighting on foot.

But the Mongol
warrior is a more cunning...

and agile fighter

than any the western knight
has faced before.

The Mongols are
not going to put on lots of

heavy armor because
they do value

the mobility over
the protection.

The Mongol, with his
lightweight leather armor,

is much more nimble, so he
can move more quickly

and catch the European
knight off balance.

The Mongol knows
his enemy's impenetrable

helmet is also his
greatest vulnerability.

The helmet on the
knights are very heavy.

You don't have
peripheral vision.

You're isolated with
one focal point.

It's kind of like
horses with blinders.

They don't have
the mobility where

you see their Mongol warriors
who get just out of the

distance of where
they can strike.

It's very, very effective.

A lot of times
you get so agitated,

you exhaust yourself,
getting in that panic mode.

And you're not assessing
the situation properly.

To overcome his
enemy's fortified exterior,

the Mongol preys on the
knight's innermost fears.

Mongols are masters
of psychological warfare.

They had built up
such a reputation

of ruthlessness,
of cruelty...

that I think many warriors
would have been

quaking in their boots just
with the thought of it.

Terror inhibits
the ability to fight back...

and the Mongol
uses the opportunity

to dominate his enemy.

In the
13th century, obviously,

there's no rules
for engagement.

It's all about survival.

And who can beat
the enemy first.

Years of training
in hand-to-hand combat have

prepared the Mongol for this
life and death struggle.

With their
background in

a wrestling culture,
they're able to keep up

with anyone on foot,
and hold their own.

Because Mongolian wrestling
matches can be quite long,

even lasting hours.

They can use this
skill to off-balance...

this huge, weighty
metal man...

and throw them
onto the ground.

Even the
smallest opening can be

exploited by the
Mongol warrior...

with devastating results.

He can attack
viciously at vulnerable

access points,
where they lack shield and

protection underneath
the armpits.

Mongols are very
strong-willed fighters.

They can be very
ruthless as well.

There's no mercy
from the Mongol warrior

as he moves in for the kill.

But before he
leaves the knight to

bleed out on
the battlefield,

the Mongol will extract
a gruesome trophy.

After the battle is over,
there is a requirement

on behalf of the Mongol
commanders for an accurate

body count of everybody
that's been killed.

They would take the
right ear, slice it off,

and put it in a bag.

At the battle
of the Kalka River,

the Mongols reportedly
kill 50,000 soldiers.

They leave with nine
sacks of severed ears.

The Mongol warrior
has tasted victory

for the first time.

But to achieve
true greatness,

he'll have to breach the
fortified kingdom

of a rival empire alongside
thousands of

his fellow Mongols.

13 years into his reign,

Genghis Khan has proven
to be a master strategist,

having already conquered the
armies of the Jin Dynasty

and the Western Liao.

The khan seeks to expand
his empire into much of

present-day central Asia,

including Afghanistan and Iran.

To do so, the Mongol warrior
will draw on

all of the tactics
he has learned

to prove himself in
the battle ahead.

The awesome
might of the Mongol army

is demonstrated in
the year 1218,

during an infamous conflict
with the Khwarazmian Empire,

a region with which Khan
intends to form an alliance.

The Mongol Empire is now
butting up against

the empire of
Muhammad Shah.

So, Genghis Khan
sends a caravan to the shah...

in order to establish
trading relations

with the shah's empire.

And so, the caravan
reaches the town of Otrar,

and the governor, who is
a relative of the shah,

thinks that the caravan
is full of spies.

The governor of Otrar
communicates a message to

the shah, saying, "I mean to
execute everyone

in the caravan and
take all the spoils,"

and the shah agrees.

He gives the governor
permission to

carry out this massacre.

One guy escapes,
gets back,

and spreads the news
to the Mongols.

Now, Genghis Khan,
he wants his stuff back,

and he also wants
the governor

who did this atrocity.

So he sends a new
delegation directly to the

shah with the demand that
the governor be executed.

Sultan
Muhammad Husain Shah

is offended by Genghis Khan.

He's also viewing
himself as

the second
Alexander the Great.

He's created
this vast empire.

He has an army of
over 400,000 men.

And so, he dismisses
the Mongols.

He kills the ambassador...

and burns the beards
of his guards,

and sends them back with
his message of, "No."

Crossing the
Mongol warriors brings about

a swift and
significant response.

Genghis Khan gets
the news of what's happened

to his second delegation...

and he declares war.

Genghis Khan raises
an army of between

100 and 150,000 warriors.

The challenge with this
invasion is there's only one

established route of access
into the shah's empire.

To take
the shah by surprise,

the Mongol leader uses a
series of tactics refined

over decades of
successful warfare.

He begins by dividing his
armies and sending them

through what is thought
to be impassable

mountain and desert terrain.

They're marching divided,

but they all have
one objective,

which is the capital.

There's deserts,
there's mountains,

which allegedly
was impassable.

Turns out it isn't.

The Mongol horses are not
the fastest in the world.

They're probably
the toughest.

Three months later,

Genghis Khan's army arrives
at the city of Otrar.

The Mongols are
bringing siege equipment

from China.
They have trebuchets,

they have battering rams,
they have siege towers.

The genius
behind Mongols is that

they learn and they adapt.

They incorporated all the
things that they learned

from all these
conquered people.

They learn how
to attack a city,

they learn about
siege warfare.

They use these
trebuchets to sling pots

filled with naphtha,

which is a petroleum-based
incendiary.

Naphtha is basically like the
napalm of the Middle Ages.

Genghis Khan enters
the Friday mosque, and says,

"Know that I am the
punishment of God.

If not for the sins
of your leaders,

God would not have sent
a punishment such as me."

A Mongol definition
of victory is the total

annihilation of the opponent,
and in particular,

the opponent's leadership.

With his city
surrounded and

his armies divided, the shah
escapes with his life.

His relative,
the governor...

is not so lucky.

The governor,
he's eventually captured.

And the Mongols do
have a sense of irony,

and since he was so greedy
and took all of their treasure,

they pour silver
into all of his orifices.

Once you have
inflamed the wrath of

the Mongols, they do
not hold back.

The Khwarazmian
Empire is probably the

largest empire you've
never heard of.

And Genghis Khan is why.

He literally wipes it
off the map.

For the Mongol
warrior and his army,

victory over a powerful
rival empire sends a message

to his enemies across
the continent.

The Mongols are
now looking back and

realizing what they've
just accomplished.

Genghis Khan has conquered
more territory than

any other person in history.

But just like
the fiercest warriors,

all empires eventually fall...

and that of the Mongols
is no exception.

The Mongol warrior
builds an empire

that stretches
across a continent.

Just 15 years after Genghis
Khan is proclaimed leader,

the Mongols have won
victories against the

Jin Dynasty of
northern China...

the Western Liao
in western China...

and brought down the
Khwarazmian Empire.

The Mongols
try to rationalize this.

Why are they so successful?

And the only answer they
can come up with is that

the world is meant to be
ruled by the Mongols.

The empire's sheer size,

once its greatest strength,

makes it vulnerable
in later years...

even more so after the fall
of the Mongol warrior's

ambitious leader.

Genghis Khan dies
of an arrow wound

that becomes an infection,
in 1227.

And his sons and
his descendants

are unable to sustain the...

coherency that makes
the Mongol Empire great.

When you consider the
Mongol Empire, its creation,

it's based on the
Mongol belief in

raid and plunder,
not occupation.

So they continue to raid
across all of these

different nations,
countries and countryside,

to create this empire.

But they don't build any
national institutions.

There is no
infrastructure building.

The Mongols are
great at conquering.

They're not great
at administration.

After the death
of Genghis Khan,

leadership splinters
into four rival factions.

One in China, one in Persia,

another in Central Asia,

and a fourth in what
is today Russia.

The empire
will break up over time.

And then in 1368,

we have a rebellion in
southern China

that builds up, and will
eventually lead to the

creation of the Ming Dynasty

and drives the Mongols
from China.

And there's a great fear
among the Ming that the

Mongols will rise again,
which will lead to the

creation of the Great Wall.

But the Mongol Empire
does not fall.

It's still there.
It's just in Mongolia.

We'll see generals will
struggle for the throne.

So the Mongol Empire,
it never falls.

It fades away over time.

700 years after
the empire's decline,

the Mongol warrior's
achievements continue to

reverberate across
the continent.

The Mongols exist
because of the Mongol Empire.

If not for the rise
of Genghis Khan,

we probably wouldn't know
a group of people

known as Mongols.

We wouldn't have
a Mongolia today.

He's a polarizing
figure because, on one hand,

people might remember him as
such a brutal conqueror

and a brutal warlord.
And the other hand,

he's still revered and
celebrated in

parts of East Asia
even today.

Now, the Mongols
do have this darker side.

We do have massacres.

It's alleged that
the carbon levels dropped

because Genghis Khan
killed so many people.

The bloody
conflicts stoked by the khan

transformed the Mongols
into masters of warfare,

and the lessons
they leave behind

are studied to this day.

The military legacy
of the Mongols is vast.

After World War I, with the
horrors of trench warfare,

many military thinkers
tried to find a way

to add mobility to warfare.

This will be passed on
to Germany,

which will help lead to
the formation of

Blitzkrieg warfare.

In Britain, we have military
thinkers looking at tanks

and airplanes to add
that mobility.

If you look at the
battle plan for Gulf War One,

the US Marines attacking
straight into the front,

which was the heavy
cavalry of the Mongols,

while the light armored
forces swing around the rear

to take the opponent
in the side.

And so, studying the past,

translating into
warfare in the future.

The Mongols occupy a
unique place in conversation

primarily because they
dominate such a large region

over the course of
their run and reign.

They're the best
of the best.

Their leadership...

Ruthlessness...

Innovative thinking,
and astonishing mobility...

earn the Mongols
their rightful place...

among History's
Greatest Warriors.