CHAPTER 2 MONGOL APOCALYPTIC INVASION OF THE WORLD After utterly defeating the Khwarizmi Empire (comprising present-day Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and part of Afghanistan) in 1220, Genghis Khan gathered his forces in Persia and Armenia to return to Mongolia. However, following the suggestion of General Subutai, the Mongol army was split into two forces. Genghis Khan led the main army on a raid through Afghanistan and northern India towards Mongolia, while a small army of 20,000 men marched through the Caucasus and into Russia under Generals Jebe and Subutai.They pushed deep into Armenia and Azerbaijan and destroyed the kingdom of Georgia. Heading home three years later, they attacked the allied forces of the Cuman-Kipchaks and the 80,000 poorly coordinated Kievan Rus troops, defeating them at the Battle of the Kalka River in 1223. These campaigns are generally regarded as reconnaissance campaigns; a prelude to the Mongols’later conquest of all of Eurasia. The Mongols resumed their invasion of Eurasia in 1236 under Batu Khan, a grandson of Genghis Khan, and General Subutai, with an army of 130,000 soldiers. The army crossed the Volga and invaded Volga Bulgaria, annihilating a considerable part of the population and burning many cities. In November 1237, the Mongols attacked Ryazan, totally annihilated it, and then after having burned Kolomna and Moscow, they laid siege to Vladimir, capturing it and burning it to the ground in February 1238. Next, Batu Khan dispatched small units of his army to ransack a dozen more cities including Rostov, Uglich andGalich. Smolensk escaped destruction by submitting to the Mongols and paying tribute, while Novgorod was saved thanks to the considerable distance, marshlands and cold winter, which made the city difficult to reach. Afterwards, the Mongols devastated the Crimea which they rapidly subjugated in 1239. Most of the Russian and Slavic princes fled when it became clear that resistance was futile and nothing could stop the Mongol sweeping terror. The Mongols then attacked and burned Kiev on December 6, 1240, and conquered other Ukrainian areas. Next, the Mongols turned their attention to Central Europe, and in the beginning of April 1241, they invaded Poland and Hungary. In Poland, the Mongol army under Baidar and Kadan ambushed and obliterated almost the entire Polish army at Chmielnik and burned Krakow and other Polish cities. Then, on April 9, 1241, at Liegnitz they annihilated a great European army comprising the best European fighters at the time, such as the Teutonic Knights from Northern Germany, Templars and Hospitallers from France, and the south German chivalry. The next day in Hungary, the Mongol army under Batu Khan,massacred 60,000 soldiers from the Hungarian army at the Battle of Mohi. In addition, he slaughtered half of the Hungarian population and burned many Hungarian cities. Hungary was almost annihilated on that day. Next, the Mongol armies advanced into Croatia and, in the winter of 1241, crossed the Danube and continued their systematic advance reaching the Austrian frontiers and the Adriatic shores in Dalmatia. The Mongols were posing for an all-out devastating invasion of Western Europe to reach the “Great Sea” (the Atlantic Ocean), when the death of the Great Khan Ogedei in December 1241 saved it. All the “Princes of the Blood” of Genghis Khan had to rush back to Mongolia to elect the new Khan. In fact, shortly before the death of Ogedei Khan, Subutai and Batu Khan were finishing plans to invade Austria, Italy and Germany.
Posted on: Thu, 01 Jan 2015 20:14:31 +0000
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