The Mongols attacked Europe
On August 25, 1227, Genghis Khan Temujin died on the eve of the fall of Western Xia, and was succeeded by Wokoutai, but in the two years after Temujin's death, he was first supervised by his youngest son Torre. In 1229, the Kuriletai Assembly was held in the Mongolian steppe, at which Wokoutai was officially elected as the Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, who was The Yuan Taizong in the "History of Yuan".
After Wokoutai took the throne, it began to deploy the situation outside. For the Central Plains, continuing Genghis Khan's legacy, he joined forces with the Southern Song Dynasty to deal with the Jin Dynasty, and at the same time sent Torre to attack the Capital of the Jin Dynasty through the Song Dynasty. In 1233, Torre forcibly borrowed the road by force, opened the gap, and reached the Area of Sanfeng Mountain in Jinguo from Hanzhong through Jinghu Lake, where a decisive battle broke out with the Jinguo army, known in history as the Battle of Sanfeng Mountain. After the war, the elite of the Golden State was lost. In 1234, the Song and Mongol armies invaded Caizhou, and the Jin state collapsed.
Yuan Taizong Wo Kuotai Khan
In the same year of the fall of the Jin Dynasty, the Mongolian steppe held another congress. The content of this meeting was mainly the development of two directions, one was to attack the Southern Song Dynasty in the south, and the other was to continue the western expedition to the Kievan Rus'(present-day Eastern Europe) region of Europe to complete the unfinished business of the last western expedition. In 1235, Wokoutai followed the advice of his second brother Chagatai and sent Batu (the eldest son of the eldest brother Wuchi), Guiyu (the eldest son of Wokoutai), Möngke (the eldest son of the younger brother Torre), as well as the ten thousand households, thousands of households, hundred households, and ten husbands of the various tribes, and whoever sent their eldest son to the west. These people set out, which was called the "Western Expedition of the Eldest Son" or the "Western Expedition of the Eldest Son" by historians.
March into the Caucasus
In 1236, Möngke and Guiyu began to lead the army first, and Batu and Subutai followed suit. They followed the route of the last western expedition to the Volga, where there was a Volga Bulgarian khanate. During the last western expedition, he was killed and plundered by Tetsubetsu and Subutai, and has not yet recovered. This time the Mongol army returned, easily attacked its capital, and the Volga Bulgarian Khanate was destroyed. Because the Volga Bulgarian khanate was rich in products, the Mongolian army used this place as a forward base for subsequent advances.
Pulldu is like
With the forward base, the Mongols attacked chinchabu. In the last western expedition, the Chincha department had already defected to Mongolia, and as soon as the Mongolian army retreated, the Chincha department immediately reversed. After the return of the Mongol army, most of the tribes of chincha surrendered to the Mongols, and only one of them resisted, and Möngke personally attacked, capturing its leader Bachiman alive and beheading him. After the surrender of the Chincha Ministry, the road to Kievan Rus' was cleared.
March into Kievan Rus'
At that time, there were many small countries in the European part of Russia, called principalities. Among the more powerful are the Grand Duchy of Vladimir-Suzdal, the Republic of Novgorod, and the Galicia-Volinian Kingdom, which are known as Kievan Rus' . However, the misfortune was that all three countries were in civil strife at that time. These countries are fragmented and at the same time constantly attacking each other. There was also a Ryazan principality in the south, which had previously clashed with the north and had not recovered.
Grand Duke of Kievan Rus'
After the arrival of the Mongol army, Batu sent emissaries to the Principality of Ryazan to demand its submission, and paid taxes and at the same time handed over the concubines of the Principality to the Mongol army to serve, and the Principality of Ryazan refused the demands of the Mongol army, and a great war between the two sides was inevitable. Grand Duke Yuri I of Ryazan appealed to the north for help, but it was of little help. They had to organize their own forces to fight, and the two sides fought a decisive battle at Volenesh, and the Ryazan army was defeated, and many generals and dukes were killed. The Mongol army then swept through the entire Principality of Ryazan and besieged the capital, Ryazan.
On 16 December 1237, the Mongol army attacked the city of Ryazan and massacred the entire city, killing Archduke Yuri I. After the destruction of Ryazan, the Mongol army came to the city of Kolomna, which was the border area of the Grand Duchy of Vladimir-Suzdal. There are also remnants of the Ryazan army here, and at the same time, the united armies of other countries fought the Mongol army to the death here. The Mongol army first sent light cavalry to lure the Principality army into the Area of Mechola, a swamp where cavalry combat was limited. After the multinational army entered, the main force of the Mongolian army dispatched to take advantage of the rapid cavalry to surround the multinational army on three sides, because the multinational army faced a swamp, and other roads were surrounded by the Mongolian army, and the Mongolian army slaughtered the multinational army like cutting melons and cutting vegetables. Soon, the city of Kolomna was occupied by the Mongols.
The Mongol army began to march into Moscow, which at this time was equivalent to the countryside, Kievan Rus could not hold it at all, and was occupied at once, likewise, the Mongolian army washed the entire city in blood. Next, the Mongol army rampaged through Kievan Rus' and burned and plundered. In February 1238, the Mongol army besieged the capital of the principality, Vladimir. The city of Vladimir has double walls, wooden and stone. On February 6, the Mongolian army used the return cannon, that is, the stone thrower, to attack the city, and because the shells of the return cannon were loaded with gunpowder, the city was full of fire. At the same time, the Mongolian army relied on rushing cars to constantly hit the city gates.
Schematic diagram of the Mongol Expedition to the West
By 7 February, the city walls had been smashed by the back cannons and a bunch of openings had been smashed into the city, setting fire to cause chaos and fighting with the defenders. The city of Vladimir was breached, and the Mongol army once again slaughtered the city. According to the Records of the Destruction of the Land of Rus, "Swords and axes are intertwined, sonorous, and warriors kill each other; the city of Beauty, the mighty army and the affection of father and son are like this, and in a blink of an eye, all have been destroyed and no longer exist in the world." By the beginning of March, the Mongol army had captured 14 cities in the vicinity of the relevant area, and the northeast of Kievan Rus was controlled by the Mongolian army.
So the Mongol army began to move south, passing through the Smolensk region, plundering the eastern half of the Principality of Chernigov and encircling the city of Kozersk. Because the other armies did not arrive, the Mongolian army besieged and did not attack. Two months later, the Mongol army returned to the artillery and launched a general attack, and the city was destroyed three days later. After the destruction of the city of Kozersk, the Mongol army temporarily rested. On the one hand, the losses in the early stage of the battle were not small, on the other hand, because the internal Batu and Guiyu were vying for power, the contradictions between the two sides were irreconcilable. Throughout the summer to the winter, the Mongolian army did not have much fighting.
The Mongol army attacked Kievan Rus' Army
In the spring of 1239, the Mongol army began to move again, led by the surrendered duchy, and advanced southward, reaching the Crimean Peninsula by the end of 1239. In 1240, when the Mongol army entered the Ukrainian region, several principalities west of Kiev united to fight the Mongol army. The Mongol army also besieged the city of Kiev. As before, the Mongol army attacked the city with a return cannon, and soon collapsed the city wall, and the defenders of the city stood on the city wall and continued to resist. The fighting between the two sides was fierce, and at its worst, the Military and Civilians of Kiev continued to fight at the Teschakina Church. However, because the Mongolian army attack was too strong, many people went to the top of the church to dodge, because there were too many people, the church was overwhelmed and eventually collapsed. The city of Kiev was destroyed.
Attack Poland, Hungary and the rest of Eastern Europe
After the destruction of Kievan Rus' army, the Mongol army continued westward, attacking Poland, Hungary and the Czech-Austrian region. In early 1241, the Mongol army divided into two routes, one attacking Hungary with Battus and Subutai (at this time Wokoutai was seriously ill and recalling Guiyu), and the other leading the attack on Poland led by Baidar and Wulianghetai (son of Subutai). In fact, the Eastern European countries at that time were also very crotch-pulling, although they had courage but lacked organization, and the Mongolian army first attacked Poland.
Knights Templar
The Mongols crossed the Vistula River and sent the general Haidu in the direction of Lynchcha, while preparing for an attack on Kraków. On the side of the Polish army, Henry II, Archduke of Silesia, one of the Dukes of Poland, gathered Silesian and Polish armies in Legnica, as well as reinforcements from the Duchy of Moravianity, the Germans and the Knights Templar. The two sides met in the Legnica area. Henry II held out at Legnica, waiting for his Czech reinforcements to arrive. However, the reinforcements were delayed, and Henry II saw that the delay was changing, so he had to go out of the city to fight with the Mongol army.
The Bavarian miners' army, led by the Moravian Marquis Boresław Dupold, began to encounter the Mongol army, which attacked with light cavalry and then retreated to lure the miners forward. The miners' army did not know the deception and blindly advanced. The Mongolian army saw the miners' militia pursuing, the formation was chaotic, and turned around to shoot it, eliminating the miners' army. Boresław Dipold was also killed. Henry II was also fighting the Mongols, and the Templars' heavy cavalry charged at the Mongols. The Mongol army was a light cavalry, not confronting the heavy cavalry head-on, but only attacking with bows and arrows, while shooting horses. The knight fell off his horse, and due to heavy armor, his mobility was inconvenient, which became a burden. The Mongols launched a charge, and after another meal of chopping melons and chopping vegetables, the Polish army was completely destroyed, and Henry II was killed.
Battle of Legnica
After the war, the Mongol army did not continue to advance westward, they cut off the ears of the dead, and at the same time put Henry's head on a wooden stake for public display, according to the Mongol records, the ears cut off in this battle were as many as 9 sacks of marijuana. At this time, the Czech army was still some distance from the front, but this army was well prepared. The Mongolian army did not choose to die, but went to attack other places. Coming to the Austrian border area of the Odemhof region, thanks to the help of the Austrians, the Mongolian army could not conquer for a long time. So the Mongol army divided its forces to plunder other places, and later went to the Czech Republic to join the Battus army.
In March 1241, an army led by Battus and Subutai invaded Hungary, burning villages and towns along the way and killing the inhabitants. King Bella IV of Hungary mobilized a large army to appeal to both the Pope and the Holy Roman Empire for help. But the divine horse and the pope ignored it, and only the nearby tribes helped to enter the war. At this time, the Combined Forces in Hungary were nearly 100,000, and the Army of the Mongolian Army in Batu also had 50,000 or 60,000. In order to better annihilate this coalition army, the Mongolian army once again withdrew its forward troops. Seeing the Mongol army retreating, Beira IV thought he was timid, so he led his army in pursuit, and the Hungarian army pursued to the Saijo River area.
Schematic diagram of the Battle of the Sayo River
As it was getting dark, the coalition did not continue the pursuit and was stationed at Szolnok, west of the Sayo River. In order to prevent the Mongols from attacking at night, Bella IV sent more than a thousand people to guard the bridgehead, while arranging a defensive circle with vans to prevent the Mongol cavalry from attacking. After nightfall, the Mongolian army bombarded the coalition defense circle with a return cannon, and for a time the fire was everywhere. The allied forces were suddenly attacked in disarray, so the Mongols launched an attack and seized the bridge. At this time, another army led by Subutai waded across the Saiyo River and attacked the left and flanks of the Coalition forces.
At this time, the Mongolian army was encircling the Hungarian coalition army, and the Mongolian army continued to bombard the coalition positions with a trebuchet, so that the coalition army continued to retreat and fled from the gap, which can be said to be a rout. The Mongol army took advantage of the situation to pursue, and it was another meal of cutting melons and cutting vegetables, and the Hungarian coalition army was completely destroyed. Bella IV escaped all the way and finally escaped to an island in the Adriatic Sea to gain safety.
After the Battle of the Sayo River, the Mongol army swept through Hungary and Slovakia and captured a bunch of cities. Because some of the cities in this area were constructed of stone, the Mongolian army could not conquer for a long time, and the Losses of the Mongolian Army in the previous battles were very large, coupled with the long-distance raid, the logistical pressure was also very large. Battus had intended to use Hungary as a logistics base for the next march, but due to the strong will of the Hungarian military and civilian resistance, Battus was unable to do so.
The Mongol army invaded Hungary
In March 1242, the Mongol army began to withdraw. It was mainly the news of Wokoutai's death on November 11, 1241, that came here, just to give the dilemma of Batu a step. The Batu army traveled through Bohnia, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Kievan Rus' to the area east of the Volga River, that is, the Chincha steppe, and took a large number of prisoners with it at the same time as it withdrew. In early 1243, the Mongol army returned to its forward base.
end
After returning to the army, Batu established a khanate in the Chincha steppe, also known as the Khanate of chincha for the Golden Horde. Genghis Khan's eldest son, the Chi Chi Lineage, began to continue in the Chincha steppe until it was later destroyed by Tsarist Russia. The Mongolian army's conquest in Eastern Europe will lure the enemy deeper and use the plan of siege and total annihilation to the fullest. The Mongolian army relied on the characteristics of mongolian horses with good endurance and great momentum and not picky eating to implement rapid maneuvering, and did not give the enemy any time to breathe. Its high mobility is no less than that of the german mechanical forces of the later World War II period.
Chincha Steppe
The Second Western Expedition of the Mongols and the "Western Expedition of the Eldest Son" brought disaster to the whole of Europe, and at the same time, because the Mongols broke the old European system, accelerated the awakening of Europe, and began to move towards the Renaissance.