Why don't Mongols fight in Eastern Europe? Why not call all over Europe?

The Mongols fought Europe, mainly during the second Western Expedition. The first western expedition also hit Europe, but there was no large-scale battle. The main direction of the third Western Expedition was the Arab Empire, and they didn't put too much energy into fighting in Europe. When the Mongols hit eastern Europe, they stopped attacking. There are many reasons, such as the purpose of the Western Expedition, the sweat of Mongols, the specific situation of military operations, and the inability to digest too much occupied land. As will be discussed below.

Three Western Expeditions When Europe first made the Western Expedition, it was a partial division led by Su Butai of Zhe Bie, with about 20,000 people. They arrived in today's Russian territory at that time, but their purpose was not to attack the European countries at that time, but after capturing the capital of Huameizi Empire, its king Maha fled, and Genghis Khan sent Zhe Bie and Subutai to pursue Maha. In other words, Zhe Bie and Subutai's task at that time was to catch up with Maha.

The main object of the third Western Expedition was the Arab Empire at that time. In this Western Expedition, the Mongols perished the Arab Empire and arrived in Asia Minor and the Middle East. However, at this time, Mongolian Khan Mungo died unexpectedly when attacking Sichuan Fishing City. Xu Liewu, commander-in-chief of the Western Expedition, led the main force of the Western Expedition back to the Mongolian Plateau to compete for the position of Khan, leaving Kitbuqa and some Mongolian troops stationed there, and the Western Expedition ended. So here we mainly talk about the second Western Expedition.

The second Western Expedition is also known as the eldest son's Western Expedition, because the commanders of this Western Expedition are all the eldest sons of the great khanates in Mongolia, namely, the eldest son of Genghis Khan, the eldest son of Chagatai, Shu Chi, the eldest son of Wokuotai, Bai Da, the third son of Gui You, and the eldest son of Tuo Lei, Mongo, with the eldest son of Shu Chi as the coach. The main attack direction is today's Russian region, and then after capturing the Russian region, it goes deep into Europe. The Western Expedition began at 1236, and the total number of Mongolian troops participating in the Western Expedition was about150,000.

At that time, the Russian state had not yet formed, and it was basically a few scattered duchies, so the Mongolian army did not encounter much resistance in Russia, but spent some time in some siege wars. Generally speaking, the Russian army did not cause any losses to the Mongolian army. By the beginning of 1240, the Russian region had been basically taken care of by the Mongolian army. After that, Mongolian soldiers were divided into three roads, and the main attack direction was Hungary today, except for leaving 30 thousand troops in Russia.

The remaining 654.38+200,000 troops took part in the attack. North Road, with Baidal as commander in chief, led 30,000 people under Chahetai to wipe out Polish foreign aid from Madzar. South Road, with He Dan as the commander-in-chief, led 30,000 people under Wokuotai, bypassed the Carpathian Mountains and made a detour from the south. In the middle of the road, with Batou and Subutai as commanders-in-chief, he led 60,000 troops across the Carpathian Mountains and went straight to Pisiti (near Budapest, Hungary).

In the process of attacking Poland, North Lu Baidal met the strongest Knights in Europe at that time-Teutonic Knights (there were three Knights Templar, Hospital Knights and Teutonic Knights at that time), and launched a big war near Yugnitz. About 65,438+00000 Knights of Dunton took part in this battle. These 65,438+000,000 knights are characterized by their tall figure and heavy armor.

At that time, Teutonic knights were all equipped with heavy armor, even men and horses. Because the armor is too heavy, it needs to be assembled with a crane. At that time, it was no exaggeration to describe Teutonic knights with tanks. In the face of such knights, if the Mongols confront them head-on, there is basically no chance of winning, but the Mongolian tactics are very good. In combat, the Mongols first sent light cavalry to fight against it, while the light cavalry only shot arrows when they met knights, and did not fight with each other, and then ran away after shooting arrows.

And because Teutonic knights have heavy armor, once the hussars escape, they can't catch up at all. Then the hussars fled and turned back to Teutonic knights, shooting arrows and running again. In this cycle, Teutonic knights kept chasing Mongolian hussars until they were exhausted by Mongols. The Mongols sent heavy troops to launch a deadly attack on Teutonic knights. In this war, more than 10 thousand people of Teutonic Order basically joined the whole army.

However, the South Route Army did not encounter many obstacles. In April of the following year, it joined forces with the Middle Route Army. Let me explain the military situation in Europe at that time. At that time, Europe was divided into many small countries and composed of many aristocratic territories, and knights were the absolute main force in the European army at that time. Knights are often small masters, and his equipment was the most expensive at that time. In Europe at that time, if a Lord sent 10 knights, it didn't mean that the Lord only had 10 soldiers, but at least 30-30.

In a specific battle, if the knight is defeated by the other side, then this unit has basically no fighting capacity. After concentrating three troops, the Mongolian army of the Western Expedition began to attack Hungary and arrived near Pace, the capital of Hungary at that time, in April of 124 1. Budapest, the capital of Hungary, was originally two cities, Perth to the east of the Danube and Buda to the west. Later, the two cities merged into Budapest, with Perth, east of the Danube, as its capital.

At that time, King IV of Hungary. Bella gathered 654.38 million troops near Perth and was in no hurry to fight the Mongols. However, when the Mongols continued to attack the city, they cheated and retreated. When IV. Bella saw this. He led 65,438+10,000 troops to pursue the Mongols, leaving 65,438+10,000 soldiers to guard the bridge when chasing the west of the Seyo River. He continued to lead the main force to cross the river to pursue the Mongols.

On April 124 1 day and night, the Mongolian army launched a general attack on the Hungarian army. All the way, commander Badou led his troops to attack the Hungarian army guarding the bridge, while the other commander Butai detoured to the rear of the main force of the Hungarian army to attack. Badou captured the bridge after a fierce battle. At dawn in June of 5438+0 1, he failed to return to the rear of the Hungarian army, so the Mongolian army launched a general attack on the Hungarian army, and the Hungarian army suffered heavy casualties under the onslaught of the Mongolian army. Badou ordered the Mongolian army to camp on three sides, leaving a gap for the Hungarian army to escape. During the escape, the Hungarian army fell into chaos and was constantly pursued by the Mongolian army.

In this battle, the Hungarian army killed more than 70 thousand people, but the Mongolian army itself suffered heavy casualties. After that, Batou won Perth, the capital of Hungary. After the battle of Saiyo River wiped out the main force of the Hungarian army, the Mongolian army swept other parts of Hungary, but at the beginning of 1242, news came from the Mongolian plateau that Wokuotai Khan was dead, and the troops of the Western Expedition stopped their western expedition and returned to the Mongolian plateau. So why did the Mongols basically hit Eastern Europe (in fact, the second Western Expedition had already hit Central Europe) and then came back? It is not difficult to see the reasons from the process of the Mongols' Western Expedition:

The first is the problem of sweat level in Mongolian plateau. In particular, the second and third western expeditions were all due to the death of Mongolian Khan at that time, and the western expedition stopped immediately. Because for the high-level generals of the Western Expedition (they are all qualified to inherit the position of Khan's supreme commander), Khan's position in the Mongolian plateau is the most important to them. Once Khan dies, they will definitely lose Khan's position if they don't go back. Therefore, in the second and third Western Expeditions, once Khan died in the Mongolian Plateau, they immediately stopped the Western Expedition and led the main force of the Western Expedition to return.

Second, the road is too far. In fact, the Mongols spent two years on their way to the west for the first time, and the second time started at 1236 and ended at 124 1. From 1236 to 1237, the main force arrived in Russia to fight, and it almost took/kloc-. The Western Expedition ended at 124 1, but at this time, the main force of the Western Expedition was still in Europe, and the time to go back was not counted. If you count the time to go back, it will take about 1 year.

The situation of the third Western Expedition was similar, and the round-trip time was basically about 2 years. Although the Mongols were basically cavalry, the traffic conditions in ancient times were far less developed than now. The Mongols dispatched troops and needed to travel in droves, so their speed was naturally much slower than riding alone. Because of the long distance, we spend a lot of time on the road, which greatly increases the difficulty of the western expedition and the variables of the political pattern in the Mongolian Plateau.

Third, the Mongolian army of the Western Expedition could not be supplemented. In fact, for the Mongolian army of the Western Expedition, their biggest taboo is to fight hard or hand-to-hand with the enemy, because there are so many troops brought with them, and there is basically no compensation for the losses. In the process of the Western Expedition, the Mongolian army also suffered heavy casualties. Once the troops are consumed too much, the offensive ability will inevitably drop sharply. It can be said that even if there is no problem in the Mongolian plateau during the second and third Western Expeditions and the Mongolian Khan is not dead, the attack intensity of the Mongols behind will gradually decrease.

Fourth, Mongolians have never met a truly powerful opponent. In fact, the Mongols did not meet too strong opponents in the three western expeditions. In fact, the most powerful country in Europe at that time was the Holy Roman Empire. The Mongols almost hit the Holy Roman Empire in their second expedition to the west, but they just quit without a fight. At that time, in addition to the holy Roman Empire, the Frankish Kingdom and Britain were also powerful countries. If the Mongols continued their westward expedition, they would inevitably meet these countries.

At that time, the Holy Roman Empire, the Frankish Kingdom and Britain all belonged to the category of Christianity. Once they meet a strong opponent, the three countries will inevitably unite against the Mongols. For Mongolians, the real tough opponents are these three countries. The organizational capacity and military combat effectiveness of these three countries were not comparable to those of eastern European countries at that time, which would be a great test for Mongolians.

Secondly, it is located in the Middle East. In fact, when the Mongols first made the Western Expedition, it was also the period when the Ayub dynasty flourished. But at that time, Genghis Khan's main task was to defeat the Hua La Empire, and he came back without hitting the Middle East. By the time of the third Western Expedition, the Ayub dynasty had declined, while the Mamluk dynasty in the Arab world was on the rise. After Xu Liewu led the main force to defend, the Mongolian army was defeated by Mamluk cavalry.

In other words, the Mongols were very lucky in their three voyages to the West and did not meet any really powerful opponents. In other words, even if the Mongols can continue their Western Expedition, they may be defeated when they meet a really powerful opponent. Even if it is not defeated, it will suffer heavy losses. For the expeditionary Mongolian army, once the losses are too heavy, the Western Expedition will only end (because there is no supplement).

Fifth, there are too many occupied areas. This is a problem that any empire in history will encounter. The occupied territory is too big to rule at all, that is, it suffers from the "acromegaly" of the empire. The Mongolian solution is to divide into four khanates. After the Mongols were divided into four great khanates, civil wars often occurred between them. Therefore, after the three Western Expeditions, the Mongols did not organize a large-scale Western Expedition.