Mongolia is a weak and unwilling country with a population of only more than 3 million. Why does it frequently launch wars?

Mongolia is located between the Republic of China and the Russian Federation. It is a truly landlocked country. Mongolia covers an area of ??1.56 million square kilometers, but has a population of only more than 3 million. Hainan, the smallest province in my country with a land area of ??only 35,400 square kilometers, has a permanent population of more than 9 million.

Why is such a vast country with such a small population? Taking a closer look at the history of Mongolia, the people on this land are very aggressive. Genghis Khan, a genius of his generation, conquered all directions, spanning the Eurasian continent, making the Mongol Empire's territory exceed 30 million square kilometers.

Kublai Khan, the grandson of Genghis Khan, was both the Great Khan of Mongolia and the founding emperor of the Yuan Dynasty. He ended the more than 300 years of territorial division and political separatism in China since the Tang Dynasty, established a Yuan Empire that dominated the world, made China's territory larger than that of the Han and Tang Dynasties, and established the basic territory of today's China.

Not only that, Kublai Khan did not suppress Han culture. Instead, he highly praised Confucianism, which greatly promoted cultural exchanges among various ethnic groups and laid the foundation for my country to become a multi-ethnic country today. It can be said that he has made great contributions.

So why does Mongolia abandon its vast land and continue to launch wars frequently? War often involves competition for interests, but in ancient times it was more about survival. So from today's God's perspective, if we look at the satellite images of Mongolia, we can find a serious problem. This is one of the reasons why Mongolia is bound to go to war.

Mongolia is yellow on the satellite map. On the satellite image, blue represents the ocean, green represents the forest vegetation on land, and yellow represents the Gobi Desert. 80% of Mongolia's land is the Gobi Desert.

Mongolia is located in the prevailing westerly wind belt. The prevailing westerly wind is affected by the warm and humid air currents over the sea. Theoretically, the annual precipitation can reach between 700 and 1000 mm. Therefore, the climate is humid and it is easy to form a temperate maritime climate.

Tragically, Mongolia is located to the east of the mainland, which prevents the moist air from the Atlantic Ocean from the west. Because Mongolia is deeply inland, water vapor from the Pacific Ocean in the east cannot reach it, so Mongolia is dry and rainy. , instead forming a continental temperate steppe climate.

Not only that, Mongolia is also located at a high latitude, which makes Mongolia not only dry, but also very cold in winter, with the lowest temperature reaching minus 40 degrees Celsius. However, cold is not entirely a bad thing. Take a refrigerator as an example. Frost will form in the refrigerator compartment after being used for a long time. The same is true in Mongolia.

Northern Mongolia is affected by the Arctic Ocean. The Hangai Mountains and Kent Mountains in the north of Mongolia are like frost on the refrigerator, nourishing the two major river basins of the Selenge River (Orkhon River) and Heilongjiang River, with sufficient water. , becoming a rare pasture.

Lake Kusugur, the largest freshwater lake in Mongolia, is located here. It can directly lead to the Selenga River, and then from Lake Baikal in Russia (the deepest lake in the world and the largest lake in Eurasia). Freshwater lake) enters the Yenisei River (one of the world's largest rivers), and then flows into the Arctic Ocean and all the way to the Pacific Ocean. Therefore, Kusugurhu is an important freshwater reserve in Mongolia.

However, the only green space in Mongolia is not all beneficial. Once the global cold period enters, famine may occur in the Central Plains, but extreme weather changes will occur here, such as strong cooling, strong winds, etc. And it is often accompanied by heavy snowfall, which may eventually form a destructive blizzard. It has had a serious impact on people, livestock, and buildings.

Under this situation, they could only find another place suitable for survival, so the Mongolians set their sights on a fertile land - the Hetao area, known as "the south of the Yangtze River". The Hetao area is at the top of the "ji" characters of the Yellow River, which is now Bameng, Baotou, Hohhot and other places in Inner Mongolia.

The Hetao area, called "Monanland" by the nomads, is the junction of the Mongolian Plateau and Guanzhong, so it greatly threatens the security of the Central Plains. Liu Bang, the emperor of the Han Dynasty, almost died due to the fall of the Hetao area. It was not until the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty that, under the leadership of Wei Qing and Huo Qubing, the Han army launched the "Decisive Battle of Mobei" against the Xiongnu and successfully recovered Monan.

The Han Dynasty also established a reputation for sealing the wolf from Xu and strangling the Yanran. In fact, this Langjuxu Mountain is the Kent Mountain mentioned earlier, and Yanran Mountain is the Hangai Mountain. It can be seen that the Han Dynasty pursued the Huns deeply. No wonder Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty has the title of "one emperor through the ages".

In addition to the Hetao area, nomadic people have two choices. One is in the east, in the Liaohe River Basin, which is now Chifeng, Tongliao and other places in Inner Mongolia. It is also a pasture with abundant forage. An oasis in the west, nourished by the melting snow and glaciers of the Qilian Mountains. This is a special economic zone for nomads, and it is China's "Hexi Corridor".

As the saying goes, "cutting the grass and eradicating the roots", Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and later Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty both chose to open up the Liaohe River Basin and later the Hexi Corridor in order to completely solve the problem of nomads. At the same time, it strengthened its control over the Western Region to avoid the recurrence of crises.

From the Western Han Dynasty when Zhang Qian went on an envoy to the Western Regions, to the Eastern Han Dynasty when Ban Chao abandoned his pen and joined the army and returned to the Western Regions, he went to the Western Regions Protectorate established by the Tang Dynasty. All the measures taken to manage the Western Regions were designed to completely cut off the wings of the eagles that depended on the Selenge River and prevent them from connecting from the east to the west. They also created the "rooster model" of China's territory.

The reason why they want to curb the "east-to-east alliance and westward advance" is because for Mongolia, not only is the south a warm and humid place that they want to compete for, but the European continent in the west is also a place they want to compete for.

If we do a distance measurement, we will find that the distance from the Hangai Mountains in northern Mongolia to the Ural Mountains in Europe is much closer than to Guangzhou, and the road to the west is flat and smooth, with no obstacles. This is why the Huns and Turkic Khanate were able to fight all the way to Eastern Rome.

The funniest thing is that the nomads were defeated steadily when they were beaten by the Han and Tang Dynasties, so they had no choice but to move westward. But during the Jin and Song dynasties, the roles were reversed, and Mongolia became the nation with the strongest combat effectiveness. The Jin Dynasty destroyed the Northern Song Dynasty and caused the Jingkang Disgrace, forcing the remaining forces of the Song Dynasty to go south and establish the Southern Song Dynasty.

Then the Mongolian Mantis followed, first destroying the Jin Dynasty, and then went all the way south, taking over the south that Mobei had failed to take over in previous dynasties, and wiped out the Southern Song Dynasty. After there was no obstruction, the nomads began to move west smoothly, and the journey was unstoppable. Fortunately, they finally stopped when they reached Poland and Austria. After the countries in Western Europe heard about Mongolia's conquest journey, they hurriedly united to fight and finally avoided being conquered.

However, there is an excellent port, the Crimea Peninsula, a peninsula located in eastern Europe and on the northern coast of the Black Sea. After being successfully occupied by the Mongols, it was used as a pasture for sheep. This can be said to be a killing. Chickens use a bull's knife to waste natural resources. So the Italians next door took a look at it and proposed the idea of ??leasing the Crimean Peninsula to Mongolia.

Mongolia agreed, but regretted it just after renting it out, and launched a war to get it back. At that time, there was a plague in the Mongolian grasslands. The virus also spread with the war, and many Italians were also infected with the plague (called the Black Death by Europeans).

As soon as the Italians returned, more people were naturally infected with the Black Death. This was an extremely tragic period for Europe. The vigorous "European Medieval Plague" happened here. time to erupt. Although the Black Death spurred the Renaissance, the plague claimed the lives of 25 million Europeans, which was 1/3 of the total population of Europe at the time. It can be described as a world-class disaster.

Mongolia, the main culprit, probably did not expect such serious consequences, which directly affected the course of the world.

To this day, the mention of the Black Death still gives people a lingering feeling of fear...