In 1206, after Genghis Khan established the Great Mongolian State, it became stronger and stronger, and the large-scale use of troops in Western Xia and the intrusion into the Jin border gradually attracted the attention and concern of the border guards of the Jin State. In 1211, the Jin general Nahe Maiju, who was stationed on the northern border, had detected the Mongol military movements and rushed to King Weishao, the Jin lord.
However, at that time, King Wei Shao did not take it seriously, fearing to disturb the people's hearts, not only strictly forbade the people to talk about the border passes, but also imprisoned Nahe for the crime of trespassing on the border. Soon after, Mongolia really invaded the Yunzhong and Jiuyuan regions, breaking through the flood. Genghis Khan plundered a large area of the Jin Kingdom with a strong force, and after Genghis Khan, how did his successors treat the Jin Kingdom?
1. Mu Huali and Xiaolu Jing briefly attacked in the Central Plains period
Mu Huali, a famous Mongolian general and commander of the gold attack, was known as one of the "four masters" of Mongolia, and was later named a master and king by Genghis Khan, entrusted with a heavy task, and had full authority to command the attack on gold. After Genghis Khan captured Zhongdu in the fourth gold attack, although he sent troops to tentatively cross the Tong Pass to attack Nanjing, at this time Genghis Khan's main force turned to Western Xia and prepared for the Western Expedition, so in the six months after the fourth gold harvest, there were only some minor military conflicts and wars between the two.
It was not until the second half of 1217 that Mu Huali led the southern expeditionary army through the Central Plains. There have been many studies in academic circles about the number of troops led by Muhua Li during the southern expedition, and here I agree with Huang Shijian's view that the unified army is 100,000, including more than 10,000 Wangu cavalry, more than 13,000 Mongolian Tanma Chi army, plus 80,000 Han army and Khitan army.
Under the leadership of Mu Huali, the 100,000 Southern Expeditionary Army first attacked Qinzhou (present-day Lixian County, Shanxi) in August 1217, "Ba Suicheng (modern Xushui County, Hebei), Lizhou (present-day Lixian County, Hebei)" (September), and Dayuan soldiers attacked Qinzhou (present-day Fenxian County, Shanxi)... Yiwei, Dayuan soldiers attacked Taiyuan dustpan palm village. Ding You, Bo Taiyuan City, attacked Jiaocheng (present-day Gujiao City, Shanxi), Qingyuan (present-day Qingxu County, Shanxi)" In October, the Southern Expeditionary Army mainly attacked the Shandong region.
In November, in addition to advancing into some unreached areas of Shandong, the main force was also allocated to attack the Shanxi region. As stated in the "History of Jin": "(November) Peng, the Dayuan army attacked Taiyuan Prefecture. "In the process of Mongol attack, some areas in the middle were also recovered by the Jin Dynasty, so the Mongols will attack again.
The "History of Jin" states: "(December Geng) was the day, Dayuan Bingpingyi Province (present-day Qingzhou, Shandong). ...... Before he could do so, the Dayuan army recaptured Yizhou (present-day west of Linyi, Shandong), and the officials and people abandoned the city. Xin You, Xiami Prefecture (present-day Zhucheng, Shandong), caused Yan Yu to die. ”
In the first half of 1218, the Mongols had no major war against Jin, and the larger war of the year began in August, when Mu Huali led an army to the south, marched out of Zijingkou, and captured Zhang Rou, the leader of the landlords' armed forces. After that, "Muhuali entered Hedong from Xijing, Ketaiyuan, Pingyang and Xin, Dai, Ze, Lu, Fen, Huo and other prefectures. Zhang Rou, who was subdued, did not disappoint Mu Huali and fought hard.
In the spring of 1219, "Zhang Rou defeated Wuxian and surrendered the cities of Qiyang, Quyang, and Zhongshan" In the first half of 1219, the southern expeditionary army mainly attacked in Hebei, and in the second half of the year, it mainly attacked the Shanxi region. Due to the limited number of troops, Mu Huali reused the generals who surrendered during the battle and ordered them to follow the battle. For example, those who participated in the battle were Liu Bolin, Shi Tianni, and others, "Ji Xuan, Jilu, Jianghe Volcano, and Wenxi Zhuzhou County." In 1220, Mu Huali continued to attack the undescended lands and subdued Wuxian, Wugui, and Yanshi.
"Dongping Yanshi returned from Zhangde (present-day Anyang City, Henan), Daimyo (present-day Daming County, Hebei), Ci (present-day Cixian County, Hebei), Huan (present-day Yongnian County, Hebei), En (present-day Wuting County, Shandong), Bo (present-day Liaocheng, Shandong), Hua (present-day Hua County, Henan), and Huan (present-day Jun County, Henan), and other prefectures, and Mu Huali undertook to grant Jin Ziguanglu Daifu and Xingshangshu to save affairs."
In this year, Mu Huali could not attack Dongping for a long time, and finally had to garrison under him and surround it. In 1221, "the parallel province of Jindong abandoned the city and strictly guarded it." "This year, troops were mainly used in Shaanxi, but they could not attack Yan'an for a long time." (Winter and October of the 16th year) Muhua Li went out of Hexi, and attacked Yan'an, including Kejing, Suide (present-day Suide County, Shaanxi), Baoan (present-day Zhidan County, Shaanxi), Yan (present-day Fu County, Shaanxi), Fang (present-day Huangling County, Shaanxi), and Dan (present-day Yichuan County, Shaanxi). ”
Until February 1222, Mu Huali continued to attack Shaanxi, but Yan'an remained unbroken. Battles in various places, such as Yanshi attacking Luzhou, Xialingchuan, and Muhuali going to Yunzhong to capture Taiyuan, were relatively smooth. However, Fengxiang Mansion, Shaanxi, which was mainly attacked in November, could not break the city for a long time.
It can be seen that when Mu Huali used troops in Shaanxi, he suffered many setbacks, which also caused the military morale of the Southern Expeditionary Army to be hit, and in March 1223, Mu Huali died of illness in the Fengxiang battlefield at the age of 54. According to Genghis Khan's intention when he gave the gold seal: "The descendants will pass on the kingdom to the generations."
Let the army be commanded, passing through the Central Plains. After Mu Huali's death, Genghis Khan ordered his son Xiaolu to attack the throne, and the southern expeditionary army also had a relatively reduced number of operations against the Jin Dynasty during this period, so the Jin Dynasty was able to breathe and regain some lost territory. Such as Fenxi County, Hezhong Province, Wanrong County, Huozhou City and Hongdong County in Shanxi, Meng County, Pinglu County, Weihui City, Yuchi County and Yongning County in Henan. This year, the Jin army also achieved some victories in battles against the Song army and the Western Xia army.
But in December of the same year that Mu Huali died, the gold lord Xuanzong died at the age of 61. Jin Xuanzong's son Wanyan Shouxu became emperor and was for Jin Sorrow. After Emperor Laizong's accession to the throne in 1224, the Jin kingdom began to make peace with Western Xia. In response, Xiao Lu, who inherited Mu Huali's power, was ordered to attack Western Xia. In the Central Plains, both He Shi and Yuharaba launched offensive battles.
In 1225, the major event that occurred in this year was Wuxian's rebellion against Mengxian and surrendered to gold, so this year, the Mongolian army mainly attacked Wuxian. The Mongolian army attacked strongly, and the Wuxian army was defeated. Although he was able to connect with the Southern Song general Peng Yibin, who was trying to regain the lost territory, he could not withstand the vicious battle of the Mongolian army, and the combined forces of Peng and Wu were defeated. In 1226, by this time, Genghis Khan had ended his western expedition, and the Mongol forces were focused on large-scale attacks on Western Xia.
The battle against the Central Plains was mainly in Qingzhou, where Li Quan, the leader of the former Red Jacket Army, was overwhelmed by the attack of the Mongolian army and finally gave up resistance and surrendered to Mongolia. At this time, Jin was able to recover some lost territory because of the Mongol focus on using troops against Western Xia. In 1227, the Mongol campaign against Western Xia was nearing its end. Genghis Khan left part of his army in Western Xia to attack, and he himself led his army to Jindi. It has successively broken through Lintao Province, Sindh Province, and Deshun Province. Escape the summer in June at Liupan Mountain.
In July, Genghis Khan died. He was sixty-six years old and reigned for twenty-two years. Before his death, Genghis Khan asked for a secret not to be mourned, and also deliberately left an important strategy for dying gold: "The golden elite soldiers are in Tongguan, the south is based on the mountains, and the north is limited to the big river, which is difficult to break." If the false way is to the Song, Song and Jin Shifei will be able to allow me, then send troops to Tang and Deng, and directly attack the big beams. Jin Ji, must be conscripted to Tongguan. However, tens of thousands of people, thousands of miles to help, the people and horses are tired, although they can fight, they will be broken. ”
This last words of Genghis Khan are his experience of using Jin troops for many years, although the Jin country is exhausted, but if it wants to die smoothly, the false way is the best policy in the Song Dynasty. In 1228, Xiao Lu "heard of the collapse of Taizu and went to the Northern Court to mourn the illness", and died in May of that year, and his son Tasi ascended the throne.
Second, the conquest of Jin by the Wokotai Khan
After Genghis Khan's death, the Great Mongolia was first dragged by the fourth son who had been by Genghis Khan's side. Later, in August 1229, the third son Wo Kuotai succeeded to the throne as Emperor Taizong. After Emperor Taizong came to power, he focused on improving the authority of King Khan, perfecting decrees, strengthening army building, and continuing the Mongol War of Dynasty.
Jin Guo once sent envoys to Mongolia to express condolences because of Genghis Khan's illness, hoping to ease relations with Mongolia, but Wo Kuotai made his attitude clear and rejected Jin Guo's property, "Lord Ru does not surrender for a long time, so that the first emperor is old among the soldiers, how can I forget it, what is it." "Deliberate, resolutely cut gold. In September, the Mongol army failed to attack Luzhou.
By October, turn around Qingyang. In the spring of 1230, Wo Kuotai sent troops to besiege Jingzhaofu (Xi'an, Shaanxi), and although the Jin Dynasty led its division to help, the Mongolian army was unstoppable and defeated. Because Qingyang had been trapped for a long time, in the first month of the same year, the reinforcements sent by the Jin State fought with the Mongol army at Dachangyuan near Qingyang, and the Jin army won and the siege of Qingyang was lifted. The attack in Shaanxi was not as smooth as expected by Wokuotai Khan, so when Emperor Taizong learned of the situation, he agreed to personally lead a large army to fight.
"In the autumn moon, the emperor himself went on a southern expedition, and the emperor's brother Tuo Lei and the emperor's nephew Meng Ge led his followers, and Ba Tiancheng (present-day Tianzhen County, Shanxi) and other forts, and then crossed the river to attack Fengxiang." Then they attacked Luzhou, Tongguan and Languan, but all of them were not smooth. By the end of the year, he won the battles of Pucheng, Hancheng and Tiansheng Zhai. In early 1231, Wokuotai Khan sent troops to try to attack Tongguan, but as Genghis Khan said, Tongguan was garrisoned by heavy troops of the Jin State, and the Mongolian army was defeated. In the first month of the same year, Wokuotai Khan once again sent troops to besiege Fengxiang Mansion. In February, "Kefengxiang, attack Luoyang and the cities in the river, and go down." ”
In April, he was able to successfully capture Fengxiang. In September, based on the strategy discussed with the ministers during the summer vacation, Wokuotai Khan decided to divide his army into three ways to destroy the Jin Kingdom. Wokuotai Khan personally led the Chinese army to direct Hezhong Province, and in December, captured Hezhong Province. In the same month, the Mongolian army and the Jin army fought the Battle of Yushan, and the Mongolian army occupied Zhengzhou. In 1232, the famous Battle of Sanfeng Mountain began in the first month, and the Tuo Lei division surrendered the Jin general Pua. After this battle, the Mongol army took advantage of the victory to pursue and attack Junzhou, and took several prefectures.
In March, the Mongol general Su Butai besieged Bianjing, and the Jin state was in danger, and Jin promised to send his brother Cao Wang Wei as a hostage into Mongolia, and because Bianjing was difficult to capture for a while, the Mongolian army finally agreed to withdraw. "The emperor is still there, stay fast and do not defend Henan." In July, Wokuotai Khan "sent Tang Qing to make Jin surrender and Jin kill him." "Jin Guo killed the Mongolian envoy, which was done by the Flying Tiger sergeants Shenfu and Cai Yuan.
The gold lord was afraid that the Mongols would take this opportunity to besiege again, so he planned to abandon Bianjing. In September, Wokotai Khan returned to Helin after the death of Thunder, but the army remained in Kindi to continue its offensive. In panic, Emperor Jin abandoned Bianjing in December of the same year and fled east. At first, it was decided to go to Weizhou, but after several days of attack, Weizhou was not reached, and the Mongol army pursued behind, so it decided to run to Guide.
In 1233, Wokuotai Khan sent troops to strengthen his offensive against Bianjing, and also sent troops to pursue the Jin Emperor. After the gold lord fled the city, Bianjing was leaderless, the city was extremely chaotic, coupled with the strong offensive of the Mongolian army, there was nothing to do, and finally Cui Li launched a mutiny in the city, the Mongolian army broke the city, and Bianjing fell.
The Jin dynasty lost Nanjing. In May, Wokuotai Khan sent troops to attack Luoyang, Zhongjing, and although the defenders of Luoyang resisted stubbornly, they were still attacked by the Mongol army in June.
Because Zhongjing was broken, Emperor Jin abandoned and fled to Bozhou and then to Caizhou. According to Genghis Khan's plan, Wokotai Khan instigated the Southern Song Dynasty and its combined forces to march to Caizhou. "(September) Xinhai, Dayuan soldiers built a long fortress to surround Caicheng." At this time, the Southern Song Dynasty also brought grain and grass to Caizhou to break Cai together. In December of the same year, the combined forces of the Mongol and Song dynasties defeated Wuxian at Xizhou (present-day Xi County, Henan), and the Jin people offered several prefectures to surrender.
In the first month of 1234, Emperor Jin Weizong realized that he was powerless to return to heaven, so "(Pengshen) was located in the eastern marshal Chenglin. "The Mongol-Song coalition launched a final attack, and five days after the throne of Emperor Laizong, the Mongol army invaded the city of Caizhou, and Emperor Moizong hanged himself in Youlanxuan, and Jin died.
III. Summary
In the overall situation of war, grasping and maintaining the strategic initiative is the key to winning the war. During the Mongol-Kim War, Genghis Khan and his successors politically called for resistance to oppression and exerted the vigor of a new nation.
In terms of strategy, he was good at using the contradictions within the Jin, Song, Xia and Jin dynasties, and broke each one, especially by using the feud relationship between Song and Jin, and uniting with Mongolia to attack the Jin state. In terms of tactics, the strategy of attacking the east and attacking the west by surprise is adopted; In terms of weapons and equipment, it is good at absorbing the advanced technology of the Central Plains, which has enhanced the ability of the Mongolian army, which is long in field battles, to attack tough problems. The Mongol destruction of the Jin Dynasty laid a solid foundation for the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty and the unification of the world.