faced. The European armies consisted of crossbowmen and pikemen as well as cavalry, of course. Kublai’s tactic was to switch when it was advantageous, so the knights would charge with lance and the Mongols would stage a false retreat, shooting the knights down as they went. Then, when the knights were nullified, they would charge the crossbowmen. The pikemen would come to the fore and the Mongols would switch to the bow. Because the pikemen needed both hands to wield their pikes, they had to put aside their shields which they used to defend from archers so they were vulnerable to Kublai’s horse-archers. Then the crossbowmen would advance to answer the arrows and the tuman would ride them down with lances. And so, they would wear down armies in such fashion, switching to exploit the weaknesses of their enemies.
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