Genghis Khan used to say that he had 4 wolves of war: Djebe, Khubilai, Jelme and Subedei. The reason why few people know about Subedei is that the shocked Europe and Eurasia tried to forget about him.
For the great Mongol conquered more land than any general in history. Subedei never lost a great battle.
The son of a blacksmith
Subedei was the son of a simple blacksmith, that he began to fight for Genghis Khan from the age of 14. The Great Khan of the Mongols raised talented fighters, and Subedei was no exception. Since he came from the forest tribe of Uryankhai, he had to learn horseback riding and archery.
Soon he became a master of horseback shooting and in battles he showed himself an excellent tactician, drew the attention of centurions and became a tensman. The Mongols used a system of apprenticeship, in which talented young commanders learned from their elders. Subeday was lucky to serve Genghis Khan, the latter gave him to Dzhebe, a temnic (general), for training.
Subedei received his first thousand at the age of 22. In the next 5 years he became a temnik, commander of 10,000. Then commander of an entire army, then the Horde. Subedei fought in Mongolia, China, Central Asia, Georgia, Russia, Poland and Hungary. He conquered and traveled over 13,000 kilometers!
A genius of tactics
Subeday was the first to use a large-scale strategy of maneuver warfare, his experience was studied by Field Marshal Rommel and General Patton. His army Subeday divided into 3-4 corps, which fought at a distance of up to 500 kilometers from each other without telephones and radios, using only messengers.
Subedei from a 13th century Chinese chronicle.
For example, the invasion of Europe by Batyi’s Horde after the conquest of Russia in 1241, went in 5 directions: 2 corps of Mongols struck Poland, 2 in Hungary and one went to Croatia. Subeday, who taught the Horde commanders, came up with this:
“If our Horde is divided beyond the great rivers, all Mongols must fulfill one purpose. Even if the mountains divide your warriors, they must think of nothing but one purpose. Even if we are out of your eyes and cannot see each other, march forward as if we were side by side.”
The Genius of War
During the invasion of Europe, Subeday set up a network of 1,300 pits — mail stations for mounted messengers. In Hungary and Poland, Mongol corps learned of events and orders in 35 hours. Twenty-four hours after winning the Battle of Legnica in Poland, Subedei began the Battle of the Szajó River in Hungary.
At the Battle of the Shayo River, Subeday bombarded the infantry with flamethrowers
2 Mongol corps coordinated attacks on the Poles and Hungarians a day later, preventing them from joining up if they wanted to. Subedei’s troops had a knack for taking their enemies by surprise before they even realized what was happening.
One of his corps suddenly snuck up on the Russian army on the Sit River in 1238, and moving along the river, intercepted sentries and attacked the armies of the principalities of Northern Russia one by one.
Baatur
Having led his last military campaign against China in 1246, Subedei returned to Mongolia at the age of 71, where he died a year later, in 1248 in the capital Karakorum. He was given the title “Baatur,” meaning “Undefeated,” by the emperor and was the most respected Mongol in the imperial court until his death.
Subeday essentially created the Mongol Empire as commander of the Horde
No Mongol warlord played a greater role than Subedei to create the Mongol Empire through brutal conquests. Subedei-Baatur saw a mighty empire in his old age, from the borders of Croatia and Bulgaria to the Sea of Japan, from Novgorod Rus to Baghdad.
He became a true warlord, but after his death, his creation would sink into the abyss of Mongol civil war and disintegrate before the end of the 13th century.