Does anybody disagree with this answer?Could Alexander the Great's Army Defeat Genghis Khan's in Battle?
By Quora Contributor
This question originally appeared on Quora.
Answer by Andy Lee Chaisiri, art director and game designer:
There's more than 1,000 years separating these two conquerors. The difference a millennium makes is:
Steel
Iron becomes steel when exposed to just the right amount of carbon, hardening it enough to keep an edge while maintaining enough flexibility to not be brittle. In Alexander the Great's time, steel was either unheard of or incredibly rare. (It's disputed.) In Genghis Khan's time, it was mass-produced by the ton to arm and armor entire armies.
Alexander's forces mostly wore pressed-linen armor. Parts of it were bronze and iron, but the majority was pressed linen, and it was good enough against the iron weapons of the time.
Genghis Khan's forces wore layered silk, lacquered leather, and steel. They had steel swords, steel spears, and steel-tipped arrows.
Saddle and stirrups
Both of these incredibly important inventions for horseback riding are often taken for granted, but since the first man sat on a horse without falling off, it took many centuries (400 B.C.) for the next man to figure out that putting a chair on a horse was indeed a good idea, and then a few centuries more (300 A.D.) to figure out that sticking his feet through loops attached to the horse-chair is even better.
Riding a horse without a solid saddle means all of your weight is on the animals' back. With a solid saddle, the weight of the rider is distributed over a larger area to the horse's flanks. This makes for a more comfortable experience for the horse, increasing its endurance.
For the rider, a saddle provides a more comfortable seat, greater elevation, a groove, and raised backing for support.
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Genghis Khan wins this very lopsided battle.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/quora/2013/1 ... d_win.html
