Re: bows in the cold?

From: Viktor Haag <vhaag_at_...>
Date: Mon, 5 Jan 2004 14:59:06 -0500

James Frusetta writes:
> Brian wrote:
> > apparently). The steppe nomads in asia must have had to
> > deal with deep cold, but I don't know if the necessarily
> > used them much in winter (not the best time for war, and
> > much hunting may have been done by other means)
>
> If I remember right, the Mongols actually invaded (and
> defeated) Russia during the winter (and the 1241 invasion of
> Poland was definitely in the winter), so either it wasn't a
> problem or any increased fragility was offset by other
> advantages. (And they may have been fairly light winters,
> too.)

I think that's right. If I remember right (and my memory on historical, especially military, events is hideously spotty), invading during the winter was part of the point -- the frozen rivers, ground, and marshlands didn't prove as much of a barrier to their ponies as they might have in the summer months.

I'm sure Martin can provide us with accurate commentary on this subject...

> Which seems odd, in a way, since you'd think the various
> materials (horn, wood, sinew, glue) in Mongol bows would
> respond to temperature differently. Huh.

The north China steppes get pretty damn cold in the winter months, though, don't they? Perhaps the mongol arsenal was already "adapted" to varied weather conditions...

-- 
Viktor Haag : Software & Information Design : Research In Motion
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