How does the victim feel if the crime committed on him/her was smaller or bigger than the one committed on the neighbor? What did that neighbor feel? Did we ever ask? Do we care? Does it make any difference to the victim? Do they care who the perpetrator of the crime was? Do they deserve the same vengeance no matter who victimized them? If it was the murder of one or a thousand, the culprits should hang together, and the size of the crime should not matter much for as long as it was a crime. One or two punishment should fit it all. Bigger crime and the smaller crime. You stole, let’s cut off your hand. You raped, let’s cut off your dick. You killed, let’s cut off your head. You betrayed, let’s cut out your heart. That should prevent some, if not most of the crimes from happening. Some would think more before perpetrating a crime. Some would think… Yet, how do you stop the war, small or big? That the biggest crime of all. War! The Central Asian tribes, the Romans, the Vikings, the Crusaders, the Ottomans, the Muslims, Hitler, Stalin, Mao Zedong, and the smaller dictators have done it all. Did not they? Some are still doing it as we speak. Some are thinking of it, hard. Many, no, all, have committed the genocide. Was it big or small? Does it matter? Did the Mongols commit genocide? Did they? Well, did they? No, the President was not there to judge any of them. He was there to read and to speak to one of the greatest people of Mongolia — Batu Khan.
“The campaign in Kievan Russia was relatively easy. Well, of course, it was physically demanding on us, but we did not lose too many people. Actually, we lost less than we planned on losing. I did not have to employ all the reserves, and we had plenty of food and fresh horses. Still, we had to fight and to suffer the hardship conquering the world. The war consisted of multiple battles for towns of some importance that could not defend themselves against us with any degree of success. They were so outdated in everything: tactics, weapons, manpower, moral, and even supplies. How could that be? Supplies? Yes, I could understand it if you were attacked suddenly, with no prior warning. That was their land, and they knew about us well in advance. They saw us gathering the forces and moving in. They knew of the burnt towns, the massacres, and slavery. They saw us, and they knew it all. Why were they short on supplies? Why could not they prepare for the siege? Why did they always starve instead of getting ready? That was the leader’s responsibility. No, the Russian Dukes and the Princes did not know how to lead their people in war. Did they know how to lead people in peace? Even the big towns did not look like they did well. Was it the way they lived? Was it the ethnic thing? Some of the Russian serfs told us that to be a Russian serve in many cases was much worse than to be a Mongol slave. The Russian Boyars were merciless. Our slaves were slaves one way or another, only we treated them almost as good as we treated horses, and that was good by their standards. The Russian Dukes did not treat anyone good, even the horses. So, the Russian did not feel sorry seeing their nobility go. They would’ve done that themselves if they could. Could we do better than the Russian Boyars did? We will try. I am sure we could. Anything was better for the serfs than the Russian Nobility. It was not our goal to starve or to murder the Russians. We wanted them to prosper to some degree and to make us thrive with no limit. We could do that. That concept of Genghis Khan worked before and hopefully still works now.
We conquered almost all the towns and the cities of any significance, leaving the North and the deep South of the country intact. Cities that did not resist were left with little and often, no damages. They promised to pay the tributes, and we believed them because they knew what would happen if they did not. Just go to a neighboring town and see for yourself. Don’t be shy. This is very educational. We set the tribute modest, so they could afford it and not to revolt because of that. Every revolt, even a small one, was quite costly to us. It was costly, politically, and financially. I had to send people there to put the rebellion down. The gossips would spread. Sometimes I lost a few warriors. Sometimes I had to do it again and again. I needed my people elsewhere and not in the graves. Revolts were costly no matter how you look at it and had to be put down. Thus, we never squeezed too hard the ones that were willing to co-operate.
Let them be a little better off, and some others would see the difference and join the Horde. It happens and often. Many towns were burned to the ground, and the citizens were killed or taken into slavery. Well, more were enslaved and then, set free as the serfs, but to us, staying where they were. They were kind of slaves that were given some limited freedom. Well, they had plenty of freedom. On rare occasions, they could even buy freedom for themselves and their families. That was rare but possible, and they knew that, and many dreamed about. They needed a good dream. We did not mind. It paid off and quite well. Often, I gave the land to my relatives, great soldiers, and the commanders. Thus, those serfs were their serfs and under the protection of our laws. We tried to give the serfs a chance. We knew from the history that the conqueror had to scare the conquered people and keep them scared if he wanted to rule that country for a long time with little or no organized resistance. Unfortunately, we had to kill the able fighting men so, it would take a while before the new fighting generation would become strong enough to take on us.
By that time, living under our rule and the indoctrination, many would be in our employment actually supporting us. Many would be mixed with us, becoming us. Many would assimilate into our society. We have to grow in every occupied territory as many collaborators as only possible using any available means. Everyone depending on us will help. It should not be just the stick (the sword in our case) but mostly the carrots. People should have hopes, many hopes. Why not? We could offer the hopes. We knew how to dream, and we shared it. They lived better than the others, and that was always good.
We definitely failed in the Russian North. It was a heavily wooded area with a terrible climate and very aggressive people that were a hundred percent Northmen (the Vikings). I don’t think there was even a trace of the Slavic blood in them not that it was plenty anywhere else we went. Were the Slaves ever there? These people were much taller, solidly built, and smarter than the Russians from the central part of the land. I say they are more innovative in everything. They could live off the land, they worked the land and could defend what they had voraciously. They never accepted the loss. Also, while the whole country was divided into small useless, but very independent fiefdoms, North was quite united.
Yes, they had a few warlords fighting each other for one thing or another but, as soon as we approached, they became united under the same leader. It was quite interesting to observe. You rarely see anything like that anywhere. And that happened fast. Subutai was fascinated with it trying to figure out how it worked. But, there was something we could not understand, not yet. We will figure it out eventually, just give us time and a few collaborators. We tried to break that unity, but nothing had brought the desired results. They were like the Khazars, the Jews. They stick together, and you cannot bribe or blackmail your way in. We hold together but not like that. Jews were all over the horde, and we knew them well. They were partners, friends, brothers. I trusted them more than some of the Mongols, not speaking of the other tribes that were swelling our numbers.
Should I try to understand the Jews better to understand the Vikings? Was there a link there? That could be the answer. Anyway, we could not break through, at the North, not there and not without losing too many people. On top of all these problems, my soldiers were not as active fighting in the densely wooded area as in the open field. We were from the steppes, and those people were from the forest, and we were fighting in the woods. They knew the lay of the land, and we had to learn it. It was not working as it should, and we could not wait forever. In the end, after losing at least half of a Tumen and the numerous Tartars, I decided to heavily guard these areas of the North. If I could not go in, I did not want them to come out and help the rest of the country. Those Northern people were capable and could change the situation if they attacked us from the north and in force. But, they never did. In a few years after that, we never saw a war party breaking out of there in the direction of the South. They fought mainly in the North with the other Vikings but not us.