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The original blog goes into a lot more detail, including the mechanics, logistics and risks of foraging. The solution to getting around the wagon equation is s
by throwawayffffas 4y ago
The original blog goes into a lot more detail, including the mechanics, logistics and risks of foraging.
The solution to getting around the wagon equation is ships, ships could carry tremendous amounts of food, with a minimal crew and thus minimum consumption, only problem is ships are expensive.
On donkeys, typically armies used mules and draft horses instead of donkeys, because of behavioral and maximum load reasons, and grazing is not enough for mules and large horses, also on certain seasons there is not enough grass for animals to graze in the terrain either.
The original blog has also a piece on nomad logistics, who used significantly smaller horses that can be sustained only by grazing, these armies were able to traverse a lot larger distances, hence the success of the mongol armies.
- antonymy 4y ago>only problem is ships are expensive. Well not the only problem, there's also the fact ships are limited to water deep enough to carry them, so you can't go too far from the coast or navigable rivers. Granted, in Europe, there are lots of navigable rivers that make waterborne logistics fairly simple if you have the boats. Ask the Vikings.
- samatman 4y agoThis is mitigated by the fact that rivers are attractive places to live, so the odds that a target of conquest is on a navigable river are fairly high. Gets pretty bleak if this isn't true, and if your foe doesn't have to stay put, much worse. The Chinese tried to scour the horse barbarians of the hinterlands a few times. Didn't go well.
- dmckeon 4y agoIn the 1200s the eastern horse-hordes used frozen rivers to speed up their rate of advance and took much of the area west of the Urals by surprise.