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"Huge, flat battlefieds" were a norm everywhere. Medieval battles were ONLY possible on flat surfaces, as the main force of the time - heavy cavalry - requires

"Huge, flat battlefieds" were a norm everywhere. Medieval battles were ONLY possible on flat surfaces, as the main force of the time - heavy cavalry - requires that. Besides, Mongols completely plundered Rus' and the Grand Dutchy of Lithuania, and most of those lands were and are forests/lakes/swamps. For example, they used rivers in winters to travel through the countryside. Also, after conquering China they also had military engineers, and could build assault machines.

ucaetano 11y ago
Agincourt wasn't fought in a huge, flat battlefield. Neither was Tours, Hastings, Crecy, Poitiers, Patay, etc. European wars were fought in a very diverse range of battlefields, and most commanders, specially the outnumbered ones, would try as much as possible to use the battlefield in their advantage.
- mcv 11y ago
  And that was at least as much the key to the English victories as the longbow was: good defensive terrain that was unsuitable for the French cavalry charge. When the French did have room to charge, England lost. The longbow was only a single factor in a much bigger system.
  - ucaetano 11y ago
    Indeed, in Agincourt, the mud was probably a much more decisive factor than the longbow.
jernfrost 11y ago
From what I've read European wars didn't feature much large scale battles of the type done of plains in central asia. Siege warfare, skirmishes, harassment etc dominated. Anyway the mongols used huge number of horses which would need a lot of grass. It is my understanding that that was simply not available to them in most of Europe.
- restalis 11y ago
  "It is my understanding that that was simply not available to them in most of Europe." I hate to break it to you, but Europe has a lot more grass than Afganistan or Middle East. Of all problems, the supply of grass was the least of them. The main "problem" that kept them out of Europe was that they as people started to change. They stopped being the frugal people living savagely in tents all around steppe. Little by little they become city dwellers and started to embrace luxury and other "decadent" stuff continuously supplied through tributes, enjoying their life rather looking for new conquests. That's how I come to look at it anyway (the Golden Horde).
lawpoop 11y ago
I wonder if that's why we have the term "battlefield" today.

ucaetano 11y ago

Agincourt wasn't fought in a huge, flat battlefield. Neither was Tours, Hastings, Crecy, Poitiers, Patay, etc. European wars were fought in a very diverse range of battlefields, and most commanders, specially the outnumbered ones, would try as much as possible to use the battlefield in their advantage.

mcv 11y ago
And that was at least as much the key to the English victories as the longbow was: good defensive terrain that was unsuitable for the French cavalry charge. When the French did have room to charge, England lost. The longbow was only a single factor in a much bigger system.
- ucaetano 11y ago
  Indeed, in Agincourt, the mud was probably a much more decisive factor than the longbow.

jernfrost 11y ago

From what I've read European wars didn't feature much large scale battles of the type done of plains in central asia. Siege warfare, skirmishes, harassment etc dominated. Anyway the mongols used huge number of horses which would need a lot of grass. It is my understanding that that was simply not available to them in most of Europe.

restalis 11y ago
"It is my understanding that that was simply not available to them in most of Europe." I hate to break it to you, but Europe has a lot more grass than Afganistan or Middle East. Of all problems, the supply of grass was the least of them. The main "problem" that kept them out of Europe was that they as people started to change. They stopped being the frugal people living savagely in tents all around steppe. Little by little they become city dwellers and started to embrace luxury and other "decadent" stuff continuously supplied through tributes, enjoying their life rather looking for new conquests. That's how I come to look at it anyway (the Golden Horde).

lawpoop 11y ago

I wonder if that's why we have the term "battlefield" today.