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The Mongols could defeat regular armies because they had many thousands of men who lived their lives on horseback, with bow in hand. It's not that they were smarter, it's that they had the option.

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It's also worth noting that the Mongols were turned back by the Germanic tribes because, well, compound bows simply don't work in damp European forests whereas francesca _do_. Phallanx tactics versus maneuver, as the author has it, is meaningless in the face of the inability or unwillingness to adapt to your environment.

Reference?

The Mongols easily won the Battle of Legnica in Poland: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Legnica

That's really the most Western of their major battles, and they were turned back by choice, not by losses in battle.

Were there any cases where they had anything other than skirmishes with Germanic tribes?

Mongols? Germanic tribes? Damp forests? You have a very interesting view of that period of history.

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