In the mid-14th century, the Golden Horde remained the dominant region on the Great Plains of Ukraine. But destructive court battles and preventive vendettas are gradually wearing away at the orthodox bloodline of the Golden Family. The resulting collapsing civil war threatened large swathes of territory close to the West.
In the end, lithuanians from the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea attacked first, winning the Battle of Bluewater in 1263. Not only did it succeed in taking half of Ukraine, but it also sounded the death knell for the descendants of Genghis Khan.
Derived from the pre-judgment of the old times
The Mongol cavalry that defeated the Rus' coalition twice
As early as 1223, the Mongol army at its peak crossed the Caucasus Mountains and destroyed the Kuman Khanate that had survived here for many years. The latter immediately appealed to the Rus' Grand Dukes, including Kiev and Novgorod, for help, but did not want to be completely annihilated in the ensuing Battle of the Calgar River. Although the Mongols were defeated on the banks of the Samara River by the Bulgar Turks on their way back, their ambition to continue their western conquests of Europe was determined.
So in 1236, Wokoutai, who had ascended to the throne of the Great Khan, ordered a second army to be sent and swept through the Rus' states with the power of destruction. With the exception of Novgorod, who was aware of the times, the likes of Ryazan, Vladimir and Oligović were completely conquered in a short period of time. As for Kiev, the mother of the Rus' cities, it was even more devastated because of its reputation and strong will to resist.
The Mongol Empire army besieging Kiev
However, the Mongols did not intend to exercise direct jurisdiction over the land, but instead relied on their own puppets to collect taxes on their behalf and give the Rus' cities relatively loose autonomy. This tradition will also continue with the newly formed Golden Horde until its complete demise in the 15th century. Although they always feel inferior and have to be asked for a large amount of tribute every year, they are ultimately better than those who are completely defeated who cannot even maintain the family state system. In many cases, even the obligation to send troops to join the khanate army was exempted.
In fact, the Mongols' "tolerance" of the Rus' cities was not an improvisation of a whimsy. As long as they perceive the whole world from their perspective, they will not be surprised by such arrangements. After all, although the Golden Family was happy to be crowned princes at each head, it always insisted on taking the Mongolian plateau as the absolute center. At the same time, the Empire had not yet built a vast bureaucracy of direct subordination, so it would not easily lay siege to more distant areas.
Map of the Golden Horde at its height
On the other hand, the international trade network at this time was basically based on the traditional Silk Road as the main artery. Compared to the Meadows of the Caucasus Mountains, the Crimean Peninsula and the Caspian Sea coast under the Golden Horde, Rus' whose half of the trade came from Eastern Europe seems very minor. Finally, the overly dense intercity forests and swamps were not the preferred battlefields of the Mongols. This allowed the Rus' people, who had lost their hopes, to be lucky enough to have the hope of rebirth.
Because of this, at a time when the Golden Horde was still in control of the overall situation, the Mongol nobles all aimed their spearheads at the southeast. Not only was he always ready to attack the Chagatai Khanate from southern Siberia, but he was always expected to take Azerbaijan and the plains of northern Iran from the Hands of the Ilkhanate. Even allied with Mamluk Egypt, the fiercest resistance to the Mongol conquests, to constantly enrich the slave army barracks of the other side with men from the Black Sea. It was not until the national strength was greatly depleted that he gradually realized that the threat was getting closer and closer to him.
Well-armed Soldiers of the Golden Horde
Lithuania emerged
Flag of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
Compared with the great splendor of the Golden Horde Mongols, the origins of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania are unusually low-key. As descendants of the ancient forest dwellers of Eastern Europe, their ancestors may have long been associated with some of the most powerful powers, but they were always insignificant and not recorded by the outside world. It was not until the arrival of the Converted German Knights that they were finally featured in the chronicles as pagans.
At the same time, Vikings from Sweden also flocked to the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. One of them went inland from the Neva River, establishing the Rus' states along several major river systems. At the height of its national power, it also became the suzerainty and protector of lithuanian forest dwellers. But the latter's attitude towards these eastern neighbors is also very pragmatic, always remaining offline, and does not choose to follow up after the other party converts to Orthodox Christianity. Therefore, it was often necessary to resist the German Knights from Prussia on their own, desperately defending themselves in the embarrassment of being under heavy pressure on both the east and the west. Finally, this intermediate relationship is also used to bring together as many tribes as possible.
Two Lithuanian nobles traveling on horseback
Of course, the real turnaround in Lithuania took place in the 13th century. Thanks to the rise of the Hanseatic League, the economy of the Baltic coast took off rapidly, and incidentally created more wealth for the locals. The Rus' princes, who had originally dominated the east, had no time to look west under the two heavy blows of the Mongols. The Lithuanians seized the opportunity to defeat the German knights at the Battle of Sul in 1236, thus earning themselves a badge of bravery throughout Europe. Subsequently, in order to defend against the threat of the East, in 1250 he chose to convert to Roman Catholicism and obtain the official title of Grand Duke. Fortunately, due to the remoteness of the area, it successfully avoided many Mongol attacks on Poland and Hungary. Finally, it will also use the chicken feathers created by the war to steadily expand the territory of the principality.
Thus, by the 14th century, Lithuania suddenly sprang out to annex land in a way that the Mongols could not understand. In 1320, for example, they won the Battle of the Irpin River, thus indirectly controlling the rebuilt Grand Duchy of Kiev. While the suspicious Berdybe Khan was busy slaughtering his close relatives, Grand Duke Algerdas's army had succeeded in making the capital of the important town of Vilnius. Then he continued to turn his gun and directly occupy Chernihiv in northern Ukraine, with the threat of taking the entire plain for himself. On the other hand, the Golden Horde, on the other hand, was still fighting for internal strife and was unable to take care of the political security of its vassals.
Grand Duke of Lithuania Argildas
In the end, it was Archduke Algerdas who went a step further, preemptively attacking in the autumn of 1263, and directly led his army south along the Dnieper River in order to completely control Kiev. Along the way, he did not forget to collect several decaying rus' cities, and actively encouraged the local Ruthenian people to be loyal to him. As Lithuania had grown to become a strong man between the Baltic Sea and the Great Plains, it was almost effortless to recruit a large number of vassals. However, he crossed the river to the west in preparation for the conquest of Puertoria, located in the western part of present-day Ukraine.
However, this bold whale swallowing operation finally made the local Mongol governors smell threatened. Three governors on the western frontier stepped forward and led an army of about 20,000 men to block the attack. They were Kutlubey, Hajibey, and Prince Dmitry, who controlled the exit to the Black Sea. The cultural nature of this name alone will give the reader a glimpse of the indigenization of some of the Mongol-Turkic nobility at the time.
Lithuanian light and heavy infantry and cavalry
Blue River Showdown
The Lithuanian army on the march
In the autumn of 1263, the combined Lithuanian-Ruthenian army of Grand Duke Algierda officially met the Golden Horde Mongols on the banks of the Sinuha River in western Ukraine. Relying on the snowball effect, the former has expanded its troop size to about 25,000 people. The latter could barely scrape together more than 20,000 people, of which only 50% of the cavalry could actually participate in the counterattack. Because the nearby river is blue, it is gradually called the Battle of the Blue River by later generations.
Due to their long-term confrontation with Western armies from Europe, the Lithuanian nobility at that time had converged with knights in terms of armament style. But after all, these elites wearing heavy armor are still a minority, and it is impossible to be as independent as the imitators. Thus the principality's main force was still the civilian infantry, especially the heavily armored samurai from small landlord families, who were not afraid to encounter the strong cavalry in a melee. The introduction of a large number of crossbow machines has increased a lot of firepower for the already weak long-range guns. Even from a certain point of view, this is a replica of the Rus' armed force that was completely annihilated by the Mongols, but it has only been strengthened at many details such as the level of weapons.
Lithuanian cavalry heavily influenced by the Medieval West
Fortunately, the Army of the Golden Horde in the chaotic period was no longer the devil's division that made the settled peoples feel frightened. Years of long-distance division and mutual hostility have allowed them to no longer be as tacit as their ancestors. Many people are no longer accustomed to continuous long-distance attacks, but are more willing to divide the winners and losers in short confrontations. It is even more impossible to create a huge encirclement that stretches the entire battlefield, and look for flaws in the continuous ring attack day and night. So in the upcoming Showdown on the Blue River, they will face the Lithuanians in a very awkward state.
Dismounted knights in the Lithuanian army, heavy infantry and crossbowmen
Relatively speaking, the soldiers of the Lithuanian camp, although they had no special advantage, were familiar with the cavalry on both the east and the west. They were not easily intimidated by the unmasked massive steppe cavalry, as the Rus' of the past had done. At the same time, he is also aware of the dilemma he will face and can continue to fight by constantly revising traditions. Because of this, Archduke Algierda calmly divided the army into 6 detachments, and each team maintained a semi-circular defensive posture. Heavy infantry with giant shields topped the center, followed by crossbowmen on both flanks, and were pressed by a small number of Westernized noble cavalry.
It turned out that the poor Golden Horde Mongols could hardly collide with Lithuania, whose rank, numbers, and morale were superior to their own. At the beginning of the war, they sent a large number of light cavalry to the weak links on both sides to find defensive loopholes. However, neither the light arrows with a longer range nor the heavy arrows that are more effective at close range have not been able to effectively break the shield array of the opposing infantry. Instead, they used this as a barrier to keep advancing toward the middle of the Mongol cavalry. The latter's limited elite heavy horses, just as they are customarily arranged in the same area, had to retreat under heavy pressure.
The steadily advancing Lithuanian infantry made it impossible for the Golden Horde to shoot arrows easily
At the crucial moment, the Lithuanians fought on both wings that were easily overlooked. Taking advantage of the intermittent adjustment period of the brief retreat of the Mongol cavalry, they took the initiative to send a large number of crossbowmen forward to suppress it. This move immediately caused rapid confusion to the disorganized Golden Horde army, and was then completely expelled from the battlefield by the heavy infantry shield wall that approached again.
Although the Mongol fronts of the time were often supported by infantry from Rus' city-states or Slavic cottages, they were always placed on a completely secondary position. Seeing that the suzerain cavalry in front of him had collapsed, he involuntarily turned around and fled to safety.
A standardized report
Rehearsal of the ending of the Golden Horde
Expanding three-dimensional wow territory
The result of the Battle of the Blue River was the annexation of all of Ukraine by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Kiev, which had previously enjoyed the status of two subordinates, only completely confessed after the news of the battle came. Lithuania, on the other hand, successfully opened up trade routes to the Black Sea, forming an effective link with merchants far away on the Baltic Sea.
More importantly, the Battle of the Blue River was also the first time that the Golden Horde suffered a serious defeat in its own sphere of influence. The essence of the external strength and the middle cadre was initially exposed, which made the surrounding clans or vassals feel that the times had changed. Although later there will be hard-core leaders such as Mamai and Disengagement, there is no way to reverse the declining decline of the khanate.