Battle of Mohi 1241

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Paul K
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Battle of Mohi 1241

Post by Paul K »

Members of the Forest Outlaws wargame club presented the battle of Mohi game at Partizan in May.
Using the Hordes and Heroes fast play rule system the players managed to conclude 2 games during the day with the assistance of other gamers joining in for short and extended periods.

Context of battle followed by Battle report
The Mongol invading force led by Batu Khan, after much maneuvering , finally brought to battle and defeated King Bela’s Hungarian army on an open plain adjacent to the Sajo river.

Historical sources suggest that both the Hungarian and Mongol armies were approximately equal in numbers of about 25,000 each, although there are conflicting accounts on the size of both armies.

After an initial successful night defence of the stone bridge across the Sajo river against the Mongol Vanguard, the Hungarians pulled back into their fortified camp. This enabled the bulk of the Mongol army to cross the bridge and deploy on the plain between the River and the Hungarian camp. An initial Hungarian and Teutonic cavalry attack was successfully repulsed by the Mongols by out-flanking their heavily armoured opponents, who fell back towards their camp.

The entire Hungarian and allied army then marched from their fortified camp and deployed on the plain ready to attack the Mongols. When the two armies engaged, the Hungarians gained the upper-hand and forced the Mongol invaders back towards the Sajo river. However, the Mongols had sent a flanking force under the command of Sabutai, who was one of the best Mongol generals, to build a pontoon and cross the river to the south east. This flanking force attacked the open right flank and rear of the Hungarian battle line, forcing them to fall back towards their fortified camp.

Despite what appears to have been a co-ordinated withdrawal back to the Hungarian camp, the Mongols soon surrounded the camp and then brought up siege engines to bombard the now trapped defenders. After a few unsuccessful sorties outside the defenses, King Bela decided to try and escape westwards through a gap deliberately left open by the Mongols. It was during this retreat that more than half of the Hungarian force was massacred, at least 10,000 and probably many more. The Mongol losses at Mohi were estimated to be between 3,000 and 5,000.

The Hungarian defeat left Hungry wide open to the Mongol invaders who went on burn, pillage and lay waste to vast areas of the country. Some estimates suggest that between 15 and 25% of the Hungarian population were either killed or removed. King Bela and the remainder of the remainder of the Hungarian royal family eventually sought refuge in Austria, where they became prisoners of Duke Fredrick, who extorted large sums in gold from the Hungarian monarchy. He also gained three Hungarian provinces ceded to Austria in exchange for their release.

Battle Report

Game 1

With Tony taking generalship of the Mongols and James the Hungarians, the race to get Mongol horsemen across the bridge commenced. The Northern wing of the Mongols had crossed the swollen river at a ford and was able to engage the left wing of the deployed Hungarian army. However, Batu’s Mongols in the centre only had the bridge over which the bulk of the army tried to to cross, while the Hungarian cavalry advanced in front of the rest of the army in order to prevent the crossing. With Subutai and the southern Mongol force still trying to construct a bridge across the river to the south, there was perhaps time for the Hungarians to defeat the centre and left of the Mongol army before their delayed arrival.
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James managed to prevent the central Mongols from extending south from the bridge crossing, but at the same time the left wing of the Hungarians was soon being out-flanked by the swifter Mongols. This resulted in large numbers of Hungarian infantry falling under the hail of Mongol arrows, the Mongol light cavalry simply evading away from any contact.
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With the Mongol trebuchets shooting across the river, giving vital support the, Mongols were able to get units of heavy cavalry across the bridge to fight the Hungarian heavy cavalry. This resulted in a furious hand-to-hand combat with charges and counter charges which caused high casualties on both sides.
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Eventually the game concluded with the expected arrival of Subutai with the remaining two thirds of the Mongol army. This would have caused a repeat of the historical outcome with the right wing and rear of the Hungarians attacked, defeated and forced to retreat to the fortified camp.
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Game 2

For the second game, Tony and James swapped sides and Tony’s Hungarians this time advanced more slowly towards the bridge. This enabled James to get his Mongols forces across the bridge more quickly than in the first game. However, this did allow the Hungarians to secure both flanks with a bow shaped deployment maintaining this shape as it advanced.
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The heavy cavalry units of both sides then engaged in a brutal battle as they collided head on with both sides enjoying relatively secure flanks. The shooting battle on the flanks between the Hungarian crossbow units and the Mongol light cavalry turned into a prolonged battle of attrition which would in time by sheer number of shooters favour the Mongols.
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Eventually the Mongols extended around to engage the extreme flanks of the Hungarian battle line. This did mean that the Hungarians were more protected against the anticipated arrival of Subutai and the Mongol southern force. This worked well for the Hungarians for a while, however, the centre of the battle line between the opposing heavy cavalry units was gradually favouring the Mongols. The fact that the Mongol heavy cavalry were, unlike their Hungarian counterparts were bow armed made a telling difference. This meant Hungarian charges were stopped through shooting. A new player to the game massed Mongol heavy cavalry onto a 4 hex hill from where they inflicted punishment upon any attempt to break the Mongol line.
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Both sides eventually exhausted their reserves and again it would be the arrival of Subutai that would carry the day for the Mongols.
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Game Analysis

Both games, despite the different deployments and tactics employed by the commanders resulted in a close reproduction of the historical outcome. This was always going to be a close game until the arrival of Subutai who was historically delayed by the crossing of swollen Sajo river.
Kind regards
Paul

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