The Mongol Empire's comprehensive conquest of Europe was known as the Second Western Expedition of the Mongol Army. Speaking of which, the closest thing to the Mongol Empire at that time should be the Southern Song Dynasty. However, why did the Mongol Empire not fight the Southern Song Dynasty, but instead had to conquer Europe, which was separated by thousands of mountains and rivers?
(Western Expedition of the Mongol Empire)
Of course, it cannot be said that the Mongol Empire did not fight the Southern Song Dynasty at that time. In fact, the Mongol Empire was fighting Europe and the Southern Song Dynasty at the same time. However, people have little impression of the Mongol Empire fighting the Southern Song Dynasty at that time. At that time, the attack on Europe shocked the world and left a shocking mark in human history.
This shows that at that time, the Mongol Empire invested energy in the battlefield of the Southern Song Dynasty, but not in the European battlefield. Why, then, did the Mongol Empire pay less energy when it was close, but it made a lot of effort to go farther away?
On this issue, it can be analyzed from the following two aspects.
First, Europe is easy to fight, and the Southern Song Dynasty is not easy to fight.
Europe's easy fighting was evident by the Mongol Empire when it launched its first western expedition.
The First Western Expedition launched by the Mongol Empire did not focus on Europe. It is a Khwarazm at the junction of Asia and Europe. It is mainly asian territory and belongs to the Arab region.
When the Mongol Empire first attacked Khwarazm, it was actually uncertain. It is only because Khwarazm has already kicked his nose in the face, which has seriously provoked the dignity of the Mongols. If Genghis Khan should not have fought, then Genghis Khan would not have a place to stand. Therefore, whether the fight is won or not, hard scalp, Genghis Khan will also fight this battle.
However, what I did not expect was that this battle was fought very smoothly. Hua Lazimo, who originally claimed hegemony in the West, was actually vulnerable. When the Mongol army attacked the city of Buhuala in Huarazimo, it only took five days, which showed that Huarazimo really did not fight. Moreover, soon the Khwarazm was knocked down in the whole territory.
(Portrait of Genghis Khan)
At that time, the Mongol army also tentatively fought in Europe, but did not encounter any obstacles.
In this way, the Mongols had a good experience. This made them understand that it would not be very difficult to beat Europe.
Their judgment was clearly correct. Because Europe was in the Middle Ages, ruled by the popes, dead, and not at all the opponents of the brave and warlike Mongols.
The Southern Song Dynasty was different. Although the Southern Song Dynasty was not located in the Central Plains, they were called the Central Plains Countries. Since ancient times, there has been a clan relationship between the Central Plains countries and the ethnic minority countries in the north. Ethnic minority countries have always looked up to the central plains countries. This kind of looking up is not only a kind of looking up to advanced culture, but also a kind of looking up to the Central Plains countries. During the Qin, Han and Sui and Tang dynasties, the Central Plains countries had always had an overwhelming advantage over the minority countries in the north. Even in the chaotic times of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, the Central Plains countries were not crushed, but had a strong fighting force.
As far as the Southern Song Dynasty is concerned, although the Southern Song Dynasty is located in a remote corner, the tenacity of the Southern Song Dynasty is deeply experienced by the ethnic minorities in the north. The Liao, Western Xia, and Jin kingdoms were once incomparably powerful, and they also took turns to fight the Northern Song and the Southern Song Dynasty, but the Southern Song Dynasty always stood up and laughed until the end.
It can be seen that the Mongols did not have the certainty of victory in attacking the Southern Song Dynasty.
(Battle of the Mongol Iron Horse)
Second, let the nephew fight Europe, let the son fight the Southern Song Dynasty.
At that time, the Great Khan of the Mongol Empire was Wokoutai. When Wokoutai was making arrangements for the war, he sent the sons of the eldest brother Shuchi, the sons of the second brother Chagatai, and the sons of the fourth brother Toray to attack Europe. While his own sons Kuo Chu and Kuo Duan and others, Wo Kuo Tai arranged for them to attack the Southern Song Dynasty.
One might say, you're not right. Isn't Kiyu the son of Wokoutai? Moreover, he was also the eldest son of WoKoutai, so why did Wokoutai arrange for Guiyu to attack Europe?
Yes, Guiyu is indeed the eldest son of Wokoutai, but Wokoutai does not like Guiyu at all, and does not regard him as his son at all.
The son he valued very much, and the son who was his successor, was Broad. Wo Kuotai made Kuo Chu the commander and went to attack the Southern Song Dynasty.
So, why does Wokoutai have such an arrangement? The reason is that the Southern Song Dynasty is a treasure land of feng shui and a land of fish and rice. At that time, the Mongol Empire had an unwritten rule that whoever conquered the territory would basically belong to whomever he wanted. At that time, compared with the Southern Song Dynasty, the land in Europe was obviously much more barren, and the degree of civilization was obviously much lower than that of the Southern Song Dynasty. Therefore, wokoutai's arrangement at that time was actually selfish.
However, although Wo Kuotai thought very well, his own son was a little angry. As the commander of the entire Southern Song Dynasty army, Kozuku was killed by a stray arrow when attacking Jiangling. When Kuo-chu was shot to death, his other son, Kuo-doo, was also frightened and returned with his army. Therefore, the sons of Wokoutai did not make any loud noises in the end on the battlefield of the Southern Song Dynasty.
(References: "Mongolian Gold History", "Mongolian Secret History")