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Ongtsegheon Ongstegheon
Timeline : Superpowers
Banner of the Ongtsegheon
Commander in Chief Bayarmaa Sukh
Bases:
  • Chinese Provinces: Fort Kublai, Shaolin Temple, Fort Subutai, Canton, Dadu Barracks. Cugzhan Temple'
  • Tibetan Provinces: Lhasa Barracks'
  • Siberian Peninsula: Fort Kamchatka, Fort Skuria
  • Caucasus Mountains:Fort Sarai, Yereven Barracks
  • Cambodia: Fort Ogadai
  • Mongolian Columbia: White Winter Barracks
Headquarters

Shaolin Temple

Men 90,000

The Ongtsegheon are a special unit of the Mongol armed forces dedicated to the performance of clandestine operations for the state. It is comprised of young men who are trained in a brutal fashion in the role of warrior monks. They are elite soldiers who are taught to yearn for, but not seek, death in battle. Surrender for a monk would be virtually unthinkable. Although they are technically Buddhist Monks and are very devout, they regard the act of killing as an art in itself. In this way they circumvent the non-violence of their creed; taking up the act as a form of expression rather than outright brutality. As the word Ongtsegheon (special) implies, these soldiers clearly distinguish themselves from any other grunt or spy. Each one could potentially fight upwards of 50 men on his own, and many develop a kill count that can range in the hundreds. Famed for a lack of empathy that borders on the psychopathic, these monks are quite a force to be reckoned with.

History[]

Early Conflicts[]

The first recorded war in which the Ongtsegheon took part was the Fourth Mongol Expansion (1311-1336) against the Turks and Japanese. When they were first deployed into battle on Japanese soil, they played the role of foot soldiers and were but a small division in the massive Mongol invasion force. However, it soon became apparent that the extra training the Ongtsegheon had received gave them a clear advantage in battle. Even when the Samurai had defeated the majority of the Mongol Army, the Ongtsegheon fought on. The two hundred or so Ongtsegheon that fought in that campaign were the only thing keeping the Mongols from being kicked out. Once the Ongtsegheon were called back home to deal with an invasion by the Turks, the Japanese were finally able to drive the Mongols back into the sea. Thus the Fourth Mongol Expansion on the Japanese front was a failure for the World Empire. In this new campaign the Ongtsegheon wore heavily against the Turkish battalions, helping to force a request for armistice from the Turks. Even when the two nations were at peace, Ongtsegheon went to their new international embassy to act as spies and saboteurs on important Turkish programs. The tradition of sending a small group of agents on a mission in foreign nations was started in 1342 when a few dozen Ongtsegheon were deployed to sabotage Roman defenses ahead of the Turkish army. The rest of the Ongtsegheon were moved out of Tehran in 1348 in order to assist the Turks in battle against the Romans during remainder of the Third Jihad. When the war ended in 1359, all Ongtsegheon in action were brought back to the Mongol World Empire after being away from their homeland fighting multiple wars for over a decade.

The Thirty Year War[]

When the Romans were secretly assisting the Muscovites against the Mongols in 1417, it was Ongtsegheon spies that found out what was going on. With this information the Mongols formally declared war on Rome the next year, only sending their elite soldiers to join the rest of their army in 1422. Meanwhile, other Ongtsegheon (those that resembled Europeans) were sent to the Imperium Romanum as spies. One such spy even reported the Roman discovery of the continent Australis in 1439 CE. However, in one of the biggest blunders in the history of espionage, the Khagan decided that no continent could exist where it was reported to be and accused his own spy of being a liar and a traitor. He was promptly executed. Ultimately, the failure to realize the significance of a Roman presence in the Indian Ocean led to the formation of an alliance between Rome and the Khmer.

In 1442 and 1444, reports came into Temujin that the Roman Empire was under the strain of a series of slave revolts across its territories. The following year, the Ongtsegheon convinced the Khagan that the slave rebellions would soon crack the Imperium, thereby allowing the Mongols to swoop in to takeover Europe. Unfortunately, it was at this time that a new force began to confront the Mongol Empire as invasion force was reported to be advancing on them from the south. They were being invaded by the Southeast Asian Khmer Empire. So in 1448, the Thirty Year War was brought to a close and the Indochinese War accelerated. Conflict in this region was not terminated until 1479; and even then relations there were tenuous at best.

Religious Conversion[]

From this time, work for the Ongtsegheon was slower than it used to be. Starting with the reign of Guanzhou Khan, the Pax Mongolica had set over Yuan China. At this time, a new headquarters needed to be found for the Ongtsegheon; and under the Khagan's orders this came in the form of the Shaolin Temple on the legendary peaks of Mount Song. The Temple was an immensely popular location for followers of Buddha and several thousand Monks already inhabited its walls. However, the Monks initially objected to letting such violent warriors into their home. Therefore, the Khagan decided that the Ongtsegheon had to become Warrior Monks like the Shaolin. In 1480 the first Shaolin Ongtsegheon were officially integrated into the Temple. The Ongtsegheon had now transformed from a brutal group of warriors intent on killing to a noble and conscious order of Monks. Though they kept their role as warriors and spies, many in the order were now beginning to read and write, following the traditions of internal reflection of Buddhist Monks.

The South Indian War[]

The year 1614 was a wake-up call for the Ongtsegheon. For over 150 years they hadn't been involved in any external conflicts, and then suddenly the Khagan was demanding that they investigate some wars that were taking place in India. By 1617, over a thousand Warrior Monks were helping Islamic armies fight off the Romans in India. However, a shock came in 1621. Unheard of foreigners had landed on the East coast of China, speaking a language that no one in the area had heard before. Within days, the Ongtsegheon were posing as local villagers around the area to investigate what the strangers were doing there. Fortunately, one of the Monks had learned Nahuatl in his time at the Monastery (a language which had come from the Romans) and was able to communicate with what he now knew were the Mayans. The Ongtsegheon that had been taken away from the campaign in India could now be brought back, but it was too late. Rome had already forced the surrender of the Ottoman Turks and now had a new border with the World Empire.

The Native Wars[]

The next time that the Ongtsegheon were used was during the Native Wars (1634-1659) of the Roman Empire. The Khagan, this time, had come up with a daring plan. He had been informed that a war was going on in the far away land of the Columbias in an attempt by the Romans to take the rest of the continent's eastern coastline from The Great Chiefdom. The Khagan, who this time was the now-famous Gam'ji Khan, split the Ongtsegheon into three groups. With their intentions, these were:

  1. To disrupt Roman ships and prevent troops and supplies from getting to Columbia. This was the largest group and was scattered all around the world's oceans in search of Roman vessels.
  1. To increase Mongol influence in Columbia, thus making it easier to colonize the area. This was the second-largest group and they spend most of their time in Western Columbia.
  1. To start diplomatic relations with the Great Chiefdom and provide them with support against Roman incursions on land.

The overall goal of this mission was of course to make sure that the Romans lost as much of their influence in the Columbias as possible and that they could not succeed in their intended war goals.

Evidently, this was quite a daring feat. Contact with the Great Chiefdom hadn't even been established yet. And the Mongols had yet to cross into Columbia. Although a Mongolian influence in the area was unwelcome by all (except the Mongols themselves), and relations with the Great Chiefdom were very strained, the Ongtsegheon did devastating work to the Roman Army. Very few supplies and troops were able to get through the sea without getting sunk by Ongtsegheon pretending to be Pirates. However, in the battle of Kornata (1648), the small Roman Army was still able to overpower the much larger Columbian force. Although the war lasted until 1659, the Ongtsegheon knew from that point on that it was pointless to continue.

The Great War[]

As "The Calm" settled on the world, the Ongtsegheon knew as few others did it would not last. The Great War was about to start. As the war stated in 1689, most members of the Ongtsegheon were sent to fight the Khmer, while others were sent to defend Mongolian Columbia. Still, others were sent to sabotage the Romans as they battled the Danes. This last group had been positioned very well, for when the Muscovites attacked the Mongols, these Ongtsegheon were able to attack in the rear. Their attacks on the Muscovites were quite successful, and for the most part the Muscovite attacks ceased. This helped the Mongols tremendously as they could force most of their attention on the Khmer. When the Roman Emperor Alexander X called all Christians to rise up against Rome's enemies, it was the Ongtsegheon that used fear-mongering to convince most not to. And the few that did, were quickly and brutally put down by the Ongtsegheon. Seeing that it had been a few years now and the Mongols had gotten no progress in the lands of the Khmer, they asked the Sunda Kingdom to join the Asian Alliance.

Training[]

The training of the Ongstegheon is in many instances clearly inhumane. For every 100 people that arrive seeking to become a member of this elite force, 50 are immediately turned away, 35 quit to due to sheer exhaustion, ten die in the process, and only five eventually make it in. Would-be Ongstegheon are constantly yelled at, are given next nothing in terms of food, and are forced to sleep while standing up. They are trained in remote mountains near Mount Song (where Shaolin Temple is located). In addition to more violent training, they are trained to become religious figures of the Buddhist faith. Some training exercises include breaking 10,000 bricks with one's own hands, surviving alone in the wilderness full of bears, and learning about as many weapon types as possible. Ongstegheon are taught to block out all pain, and indeed, scientific research shows that many of the higher ranking Ongstegheon have nerves that almost never detect pain. Training is also about mental endurance. Trainers are often beaten and told that they are worthless. Sometimes even told that family members at home have died. However, all of this leads up to eliminating the weaker ones so that only the best of the best get in. It is usually a life-long dream of a common soldier merely to be a member of the Ongstegheon. Once someone is a Ongstegheon, it is almost impossible to advance past the rank of Monk.

Ranks[]

The Ongstegheon have eight ranks. The largest rank is also the lowest rank, beginner. The higher rank a person is, the fewer people are in his rank. The highest rank, Supreme Grandmaster, always has only one. The Supreme Grandmaster is effectively the leader of the Ongtsegheon. He directly rules over Grandmasters, who rule over the Masters and so on. The current Supreme Grandmaster is Bayarmaa Sukh. Also, the higher the rank you are, the more independence you're given. Here are the badges of the eight ranks, in order of least to greatest:

Equipment & Technology[]

The Ongtsegheon do not use modern weaponry. They use thousands of different types of swords, spikes, metal claws, staffs, spears, and (strangely enough) and weapons that in ancient times were used by Roman Gladiators called the 'scissor'. The scissor is a glove covered in multiple metal spikes. The actual total of weapons that the Ongtsegheon have in their data base is something of a debate as officially it is confidential. However, some experts have a conservative estimate of 7,500. Every Ongtsegheon is has an ability to use these weapons which is described as none, basic, intermediate, and advanced. To get to the level monk, you must be at least an advanced in ten weapons and basic or above in everything else. To be a grand master you must be advanced in 5,000 weapons!

See Also[]

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