Why Europe Terrified the Mongols

Added: 2026-06-01

[00:00:00]People love repeating the myth [music] that the Mongols simply couldn't capture European castles.

[00:00:06]But that's complete nonsense. The Mongols captured [music] gigantic Chinese fortresses the size of entire cities. They destroyed defenses so massive that many European castles looked like tiny [music] goat sheds in comparison.

[00:00:17]Europe's problem wasn't the quality of the castles. The problem was [music] the number of them. Castle on the left, castle on the right, castle ahead, [music] and another one 10 miles away.

[00:00:27]You couldn't just ride past those fortresses. While your army moved forward, local knights would ride out of their castles and destroy [music] your supply lines. For the first time, the Mongols encountered a land where fortresses were literally everywhere.

[00:00:38]But the scary part? The Mongols probably still could have conquered Europe. Just not in a single campaign.

[00:00:44]>> [music] >> Maybe four. Or five.