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Comment by simulate-me | Hacker News Reader

Pretty crazy that Mongolian armies sustained themselves off of horse milk to remove the need for sustenance supply chains during invasions.

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I doubt that horse milk was the major source of calories, since horses only produce small amounts of milk and the foals need to be around too. Fermented horse milk (Airag) is a (mildly alcoholic and relatively expensive) specialty beverage in Mongolia today, but certainly not a staple food.

I think it is more likely that they brought dehydrated meat and dairy with them, which are common in Mongolia to this day. Probably they also added to their diet what they found along their way, at least meat. Maybe they even tried some grain.

The acoup guy mentions the milk thing as well, surprisingly it seems legit.

Milk would include other dairy than Airag, such as camel, sheep, yak and processed durable dairy, such as butter fat, dried curdles and cheeses. These store for long periods of time. Dairy in many forms indeed is a major source of calories in the traditional Mongolian diet that some rural people eat still today.

As far as I can remember, Airag is only produced during July and August. That would be pretty limiting. It also spoils pretty quickly. After a while in warm weather the smell is unbearable. People save the microbes for the the next run in the following year.

You sure they didn't sacrifice a few horses for the meat as well? Seems difficult to keep enough horses pregnant to feed an army off of milk alone.

The article mentions that they brought along a couple of sheep and a number of mares per soldier. "...five horses and one sheep per soldier would produce approximately 120 days of meat (at a half pound per day—obviously sharing the sheep among a group of men and then killing another messmate’s sheep and so on) and 280 days of airag." Airaq being fermented horse milk, which could be accumulated when the mare was overproducing.

Fermented horse milk, fuck I'd go on a rampage too.

Kefir, ie. fermented milk (usually from a cow) is something you can buy at the grocery store and is pretty damn tasty. And milk from different animals isn't all that different.

Turkish kefir is delicious ( that the only one I know, readily available in Doner Kebab places )

This is exactly something I'd expect a mongol to say. Nice try.

We're in your steppe, marauding your horde.

Airag, kefir and yoghurt have pretty distinct taste profiles though. Not only the milk differs a bit, but also the involved processes and microbes.

Airag is sold in Mongolia in grocery stores actually. It is harder to find kefir there.

yeah... it's basically yogurt.

Kefir may contain some lactic acid like yogurt, usually less, but it may also contain large quantities of alcohol, unlike yogurt.

The proportion between lactic acid and alcohol depends on how exactly the kefir was fermented.

Great, so milk wine. bllaarrgh emoji

Fermentation converts the indigestible lactose into nutritious alcohol; it's an important stage in processing the milk.

Did they carry the sheep or did they just lay behind?

If you've ever shorn sheep they have this weird quasi tonic immobility, I guess its just them giving up or something, but I could absolutely imagine one tied to a pack or the side of a horse as like a bedroll would be tied on, no different than a sack of wool or other material

The sheep walked and ate grass.

Cut in thin slices and dehydrated is the most efficient way.

After giving birth, lactation continues for ~as long the mother is healthy and being milked.

They did had a technic where they draw blood from their horse in small quantity in order to add more protein. ( I remember that from the Dan Carlin series … he’s usually decent with sources )

They used yak and oxen too, in fact those were the primary beasts of burden, with horses largely relegated to riding.

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