Chapter 436: Mongolian Turf
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In June 1252, Kublai Khan went to Qu Xiannaoer to meet Möngke Khan. Pen ~ fun ~ Pavilion www.biquge.info Meng Ge ordered Kublai Khan to lead an army to Yunnan. In 1253, Kublai Khan led his army to spend the summer in Liupan Mountain. In the autumn, the army passed through Lintao and entered the Tibetan area and reached the Thorn area. In early 1254, Kublai Khan's army besieged the city of Dali. The Dali army and civilians went out of the city to meet the defeat. Duan Xingzhi and Gao Xiang abandoned the city and fled, and the city of Dali fell. Kublai Khan sent his generals Yegu and Baturu to pursue Gao Xiang and behead Yaozhou2 to conquer the Southern Song DynastyAfter the supreme power struggle within the Golden Family ended, the Yuan Dynasty resumed its plan to conquer the Southern Song Dynasty. Emperor Lizong of the Song Dynasty relied on the powerful minister Jia Nidao, and the rule of Jia Nidao made the rebellion of the Southern Song Dynasty military and people come to naught. After the death of Emperor Lizong of Song, Jia Rudao supported the four-year-old child Emperor Song Gong to ascend the throne and manipulated the government in the name of Emperor Gong. In the war against the Southern Song Dynasty, Kublai Khan was fortunate to have two prominent generals, Boyan and Ashu, as well as the support of the Uighur Ali Hague
The reason why the Mongol cavalry was invincible in the world was not by swords and guns, but by bows and arrows. The Mongols had the longest-range and most lethal combined bow at that time, and combined with the mobility of the Mongol cavalry, the Mongols were able to cross Europe and Asia without stopping.
The Mongols were extremely adept at what the ancient Romans called "Sabbatical archery", in which the mounted archers fled while shooting arrows at the enemy in the rear. The Mongols called this method of warfare "Manguya"). The essence of this tactic is to attack the enemy from a distance, to attack the enemy continuously, and not to give the enemy a chance to fight back. No matter how strong the enemy's spirit and armor may be under such an attack, it is only a matter of time before it completely collapses. At that time, most European knights were equipped with heavy armor, and although they were very powerful in close combat, their mobility was not comparable to that of the Mongol cavalry. If you encounter a Mongolian cavalry archer, not only can you not catch up, but you can't even escape, you can only use it as a target. Moreover, the Mongol cavalry did not rely entirely on strong attacks like the European knights, and they only engaged the enemy in close quarters when they had first killed most of the enemy with their bows and arrows. In April 1241, the Mongol cavalry relied on this method of warfare to break the 100,000 Hungarian army, the most elite in Europe, on the banks of the Danube, killing more than 70,000 enemies, and playing the "Red Danube" song with bows and arrows, almost completely eliminating the European resistance. If it weren't for the untimely death of Ögedei, the yellow race would have unified the entire Eurasian continent as early as 800 years ago.
The enemy is the enemy, the enemy is the enemy, and the enemy is far away
The Mongol cavalry archers were enough to make them invincible in field battles, and in the face of strong walls. The Mongols also had a siege weapon, that is, the giant cannon "imported" from the Western Regions, and in the face of the huge projectiles thrown by such super-large trebuchets, no matter how strong the walls were, they were no different from papier-mâché. According to historical records, this kind of giant cannon "fired, the sound shook the heavens and the earth, and all the hits were destroyed, and they fell into the ground seven feet." The Mongols relied on it, in 1273 A.D., they captured the city of Xiangyang, which had been attacked for several years, when the Mongols' trebuchet only had a range of 100 meters, and the moat of Xiangyang City was only 150 meters wide, and later the Mongols invited several craftsmen from Persia to improve the trebuchet, and the range of the improved trebuchet was about 180-200 meters, so the Mongols also called this cannon "Xiangyang cannon" and "Huihui cannon". The Mongols fought in the north and south, and won almost every battle, and in addition to cavalry, the possession of huge artillery was also an important factor.
Why the Mongol Army Was Invincible in the WestHistory The Mongol army launched several large-scale westward expeditions in the thirteenth century, defeating all enemies with a small army and long logistical supplies, changing the history of the entire Eurasian and European history, and also promoting the military revolution in Europe and the Near East. In several western expeditions, the number of Mongol troops was usually very small, the total number was only about 200,000 at most, and the number of people in a single battle was even smaller, and there was no situation in which the Central Plains was "layered on top of each other, 20 miles thick" in the first battle of Junzhou against the Jin State. What are the reasons for this? I would like to analyze the following aspects.
Most people will have a simple understanding of how the Great Mongol Empire, the largest super empire in human history, which once ruled over most of the world, attacked cities and plundered land. In the most tragic war of the Middle Ages, the Mongols took their understanding of war to the extreme, and their military expansion also had a profound and lasting impact on world history, which has influenced mankind to this day. However, one has to ask which military operations have had an important impact on world history. Take a look at the following information about the three western expeditions of the Mongol army, and you may understand a thing or two.
After the founding of the Mongol state, from 1219 to 1260 A.D., it carried out three large-scale expeditions to the west, established a huge empire, and had a profound and far-reaching impact on world history.
The First Western Expedition 1219-1225 In 1219 AD, Genghis Khan, in order to eliminate the remnants of the Nabarian tribe and eliminate the powerful Khorazm Khorazm in the Western Regions, killed the Mongol caravan and its envoys under the pretext of Khorazm, and personally led an army of 200,000 troops to the west. Genghis Khan's sons Jochi, Chagatai, Ogedai, and Tuolei, as well as the generals Subutai and Jebe, accompanied him. After the Mongol army drove straight into Central Asia, in 1220 they captured Samarkand, the capital of Khorezm, and its king fled westward, and Genghis Khan ordered Subutai and Jebe to pursue him. Therefore, the Mongol army crossed the Caucasus between the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea to the west, penetrated into Russia, and defeated the Kipchak and Russian coalition forces in 1223. In addition, Genghis Khan marched his army to pursue the prince of Khorezm, Zayadin, and defeated him in the Indus Valley. In 1225, Genghis Khan returned to the east in triumph and divided the land of the Western Regions and the newly conquered Western Regions among his four sons, which later developed into the four khanates.
In 1227, Genghis Khan died shortly before the fall of Western Xia, and his third son, Ogedei, succeeded him as Great Khan. In 1235, Ögedei sent his brother Jochi's second son, Batu, to lead an army of 500,000 to the west. The Western Expeditionary Army soon completely destroyed Khorezm and killed Zaddin. Soon after, he conquered Russia on a large scale, captured Moscow and Kiev, and divided his troops into several ways to advance into the heart of Europe. In 1241, the Mongol army of the Northern Route defeated the combined forces of Poland and Germany at Lignizlegnica in southwestern Poland. Batu personally led the main force of the Mongolian army into Hungary from the middle and won a great victory, and its forward went straight to Venice in Italy, which shocked the whole of Europe and was called the "Yellow Peril". Just when the Western countries were panicking, Batu suddenly received the bad news of the death of Wokotai, so he hurriedly took the class. This western expedition shook the whole of Europe, and the Russian Empire slowly rose to the top of the Mongol rule, and for the first time in human history, the East and the West began to fully connect.
The Third Western Expedition 1253-1260 After Meng Ke became the Great Khan in 1251, he ordered his brother Hulegu to lead an army to the west. The main direction of this westward expedition was southwest Asia, and the primary goal was to eliminate the Murayi kingdom of Murahida, in northern Iran on the southern shore of the Caspian Sea. In 1257, the Mongol army leveled the land of Murayi and continued its westward march to capture Baghdad in Baoda, present-day Baghdad.
"No matter what order he gave them, no matter what time or place, no matter whether the order was to go to war, dead or alive, they obeyed it absolutely and did not object to it a word. Even if he wanted their unmarried daughter or sister, they gave her to him without complaining. "The Envoy to Mongolia"
Can you find a people who are more obedient than the Mongols? Although some of us say that this is blind obedience consciousness, this is slave consciousness. However, in the army, such a consciousness is needed, and without such an extreme sense of obedience, it is simply impossible to win the war.
Of course, their extreme sense of obedience was also guaranteed by strict discipline, and the Mongols' military discipline was rare in the world. “
While they were fighting, if one of the ten, or two, or three, or even men escaped, all ten of them were put to death. If all the ten men escaped, the rest of the centurions, even if they did not flee, were to be put to death, and in a word, all those who fled were to be put to death unless they all retreated. In the same way, if one or two or two men of the ten, go forward and fight bravely, and the rest do not follow, they are to be put to death; If one or more of the men of the Ten are captured by the enemy, and their companions do not rescue them, they are to be put to death. "The Envoy to Mongolia"
This is a typical Zhulian policy, one person escapes, and all his comrades are executed. As a result, even if you want to run away, others will not agree. In the end, it is necessary to die and live. On the battlefield, the Mongol army became an army that would never retreat. Although this kind of policy is not very humane, the effect is quite good. After the unification of the Mongolian tribes, they almost relied on foreign wars for their national survival, and basically stopped carrying out grazing and other production activities, and Mongolia moved towards a completely militarized road. In order to train the best army, Mongol children as young as three or four years old were put into a special military training department for military studies. They were rigorously trained in horseback riding and archery. The quality and skill of these cavalry troops, formed by children who have been trained from an early age, are extremely striking, and they can accurately shoot the enemy on horseback, whether it is charging or retreating quickly. Under such a training method, all ordinary soldiers are like sharpshooters like Flying General Li Guang. No other nation can do this, and such a warrior is unmatched by others.
Isn't it obvious who these soldiers, who have been trained according to the standards of warriors since childhood, fight against those soldiers who have left home halfway?
。 In the Mongol army, there was a special group, the "Signing Army". The so-called signing army is that the Mongols used local residents and prisoners as cannon fodder for attacking the enemy. The Mongols took their captured captives to attack another country, and these captives were placed in the front line. If they didn't do a good job, the Mongols killed them. If they fought well, the Mongols promised to give them high officials.
These "signing army" cannon fodder are often used in siege cities. These captives paved the way for victory for the Mongols with their own flesh and blood, which is why the Mongols suffered so few casualties in battle
It is worth mentioning the bows and arrows of the Mongols, whose bows and arrows were long and large, and required about 80 kilograms of strength to pull off the TV "Marco. There is a scene in Polo where he was never able to pull the Mongol hard bow, which had a long range and was almost the most important weapon of destruction for the Mongol cavalry. This bow was more lethal than the British longbow, and its armor-piercing arrows could kill enemies at 600 feet, their arrows were very sharp, and the sides of the arrows were sharpened, like a sword with blades on both sides. Such a strong bow, such a sharp arrow, can basically shoot through the enemy's armor. Among them, some of them also had spears. The spear had a hook on its iron neck, and they used it to pull the enemy off the saddle.
In addition, the Mongol cavalry was often equipped with other weapons according to their personal preferences, such as the rope sheath of the horse and the net sheath of the net horse, which seemed unthinkable and unstoppable to the regular European army.
Their protective armor is also in place.
The Mongol cavalry had helmets and armor, their legs were also covered with armor, and their horses were also armoured horses. Their armor was made of leather and was twice or triple thick.
This leather armor is light and tough, free and flexible, and easy to maintain combat effectiveness for a long time; The European cavalry was often ironclad, clumsy and fatal, and it was so cold in the bitter cold season that the soldiers could not move, and as a result, the bulky European cavalry had to become a living target for beating. Although the number of the Mongol army was several times smaller than that of the Mamluk army, the timid Buhua still looked calm and confident, and his self-confidence infected all the Mongol soldiers. In contrast, the atmosphere in the Mamluk camp was tense and depressing, and everyone from the commander Kudusi to the ordinary soldiers was a little panicked. Although the Mamluk army was recognized as a formidable force in the Islamic world, it has become a myth that the Mongol army was invincible and invincible in decades of conquest, and any army would be afraid to fight against the Mongol heroes. The decisive battle finally began, and the Mongol army took the lead in attacking, while the Mamluk Front was weakened by the onslaught of the Mongol cavalry and quickly retreated. (51)