Chapter 3 Prologue The Two Collapses of the Empire

Mengge Khan handed over the Nile River to his younger brother Hulagu. In 1252, Xu Liegu led 20,000 Mongolian cavalry to set off for the westward expedition. The countries that stood in the way of the Isman sect religion, the Abbasid dynasty of the Arab empire, Armenia, Antioch, etc. were either wiped out or voluntarily surrendered.Subsequently, Damascus in Syria was also captured, and the road to Egypt was unimpeded. As for the Yangtze River, Mengge Khan left it to himself.Hiding behind the Yangtze River is the extremely rich and weak Southern Song Dynasty. This is a war that must be won. In 1258, Mengge Khan's troops marched southward in two ways.Zongwang Tachaer (son of Genghis Khan's younger brother Chijin) led the East Route Army to attack Jingxiang and Lianghuai, while he personally led the West Route Army that attacked Sichuan.

This is a force of 40,000 people. In the world at that time, a Mongolian army of more than 20,000 people was enough to destroy any enemy.What's more, this is just the way of the two armies. The smug Mengge Khan had already begun to consider the distribution of the seizures after the war on the way to the march. When embarking on the journey, no one would tell him that the glory that started with his grandfather would fade away in this seemingly inevitable war of conquest. Khan's glory ended in a small place called "Diaoyu City". Under Mengge Khan's strong attack all the way, from July to December, Jianmen Kuzhu Pass, Changning Mountain City (now southwest of Guangyuan, Sichuan), Pengzhou Yunshan City, Langzhou Dahuo City, Liju Mountain (now Sichuan Nanchong City), Daliang Mountain, Longzhou (now Renshou, Sichuan), and Yazhou (now Ya'an, Sichuan) fell successively.

At this time, Tachar led the East Route Army to attack Fancheng in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, but returned with almost no success.Therefore, Mengge Khan ordered his younger brother Kublai Khan to lead the East Route Army to attack Ezhou (now Wuchang, Hubei); and dispatched Marshal Wuliang Hatai from Yunnan to outflank the Southern Song Dynasty. The two-way army became a three-way army, and it was a strategic encirclement. The fate of the Southern Song Dynasty was in jeopardy. At the beginning of 1259, Mengge Khan's soldiers approached the Diaoyu City of Hezhou, the east gate of Sichuan.

Diaoyu City is located on Diaoyu Mountain, 5 kilometers east of Hechuan County, Sichuan Province. The mountain stands abruptly, with a relative height of about 300 meters.At the foot of the mountain, Jialing River, Qujiang River and Fujiang River converge, surrounded by water on three sides in the south, north and west, and the terrain is extremely dangerous. This fortress is the core fortress in the mountain city defense system created by the famous Southern Song Dynasty general Yu Jie, and has been further improved by the current defender Wang Jian.The city is divided into inner and outer cities. The outer city is built on the cliffs, and the city walls are all made of stone strips, which are extremely strong.There is also a "one" wall outside the outer city. The defenders can use it to hinder the movement of the enemy outside the city, but they can move through the outer city wall to the "one" wall to resist the enemy, and form an angle with the outer city wall to attack. point.

There are large fields and abundant water sources in the city, and there are many arable fields in the surrounding mountains.It can be said that there are natural barriers outside to resist the strong attack of the army, and there are food and fodder inside for long-term persistence. In the hearts of the soldiers of the Southern Song Dynasty, this place is indestructible. The guard Wang Jian beheaded the envoy sent by Mengge Khan to persuade him to surrender, and the governor led his troops to prepare for a fight to the death. Since Genghis Khan, I don't know how many city guards would rather die than surrender, and the final outcome is that people and the city will die together.Mengge Khan didn't care about such toughness and ordered to attack the city.

On February 7, the battle began. With the roar of artillery and flying arrows like locusts, the Mongolian army attacked Diaoyu City like a tide.They first encountered the blocking of the "one" city wall, suffered heavy casualties, and were forced to retreat. On February 9, the Mongolian army stormed Zhenximen again, but it still failed.On the same day, Shi Tianze, the Mongolian host army, also arrived at Diaoyu City to join the battle.The Mongolian army under the city has increased to 70,000. The increase in the number of people did not make the siege smooth. More and more people died in the battle, and the Diaoyu City has not yet been broken.

In March, the Mongolian army failed to attack Dongxinmen, Qishengmen and Zhenximen Fort. In April, heavy thunderstorms lasted for more than 20 days.After the rain stopped, the Mongolian army reorganized to attack the gate of the country. On the night of the 24th, he boarded the outer city and fought fiercely with the Song army defending the city.Both sides suffered casualties, and the Mongolian army was pushed out of the city due to lack of support. In May, the siege continued, and the casualties of the Mongolian army increased day by day, but Diaoyucheng still stood firm. As time passed day by day, Mengge Khan's anger and anxiety accumulated day by day. He continued to command troops to attack, but there was no progress in the battle except for leaving more corpses.

Generals Wang Dechen and Dong Wenwei died in the army one after another, and it was obvious that a hard attack would not work.In June, the weather gradually became hot, malaria and cholera were rampant in the army, and morale was low.Mengge Khan had no choice but to convene all the generals to discuss countermeasures. General Shusu Khuli proposed to leave a small number of troops to trouble, and to use the main force to go eastward along the Yangtze River by land and water, and join forces with Kublai Khan and other troops. This is a much better strategy than a strong city, but Meng Ge Khan didn't adopt it. He couldn't tolerate a small fortress that made him helpless. .

This decision cost Mengge Khan his life. In July of that year, Mengge Khan, the supreme ruler of the Mongolian Empire and the commander-in-chief of the Southern Expedition, died in Wentang Gorge of Jinjian Mountain (now North Hot Spring, Chongqing). There are records that he was suffering from dysentery, and there are records that he was injured by cannon stones.But the important thing is not the cause, but the result. With the death of Meng Ge Khan, the huge wave of conquest of the Mongol Empire ebbed rapidly. Kublai Khan, who led the Eastern Route Army to surround Ezhou, retreated one after another from Wulianghetai, who went up from Yunnan to the north of Tanzhou (now Changsha) through Guangxi. .When Hulagu, who was far away in West Asia, heard the news of the death of the Great Khan, he also led his main force back east, and the troops left in Syria were annihilated by the Egyptian Mabruk Dynasty army.

The Mongolian army failed to advance to the Nile, nor to cross the Yangtze River.Not only that, but the Mongol Empire itself began to fall apart. The split stemmed from two "Khuriltai Conferences" held at the same time. In Mongolia, there is no tradition of identifying successors by previous kings, and the succession of each Great Khan must be elected by the "Khuritai Assembly" held by the noble Zongwang. Such a form of democracy can barely operate when a small country has few people, but when it comes to determining the ruler of a large empire, there is often a crisis.The three Great Khans after Genghis Khan were more or less troublesome, and some even died.

This time, the crisis is the worst. After the death of Mengge Khan, his youngest brother Alibuge stayed in Helin, the capital of the empire (now north of Erdeni Zhaobei, Houhangai Province, Mongolia), in the town of Mobei's Zongwang Asutai (Queen of Wokuotai) , Yulong Dashi (son of Mengge), Xiliji (son of Mengge), Aluhu (Queen of Chagatai), Muhaer (son of Xu Liewu), Alan Daer, Tuolichi, etc. The position of the Great Khan was supported by the orthodox faction. At the same time, Kublai Khan, who marched south with Mengge Khan, returned to Kaiping. , Kings Tachaer, Yixiangge (son of Genghis Khan's brother Hasaer), Hulahuer (son of Genghis Khan's Hachiwen son), Zhadu (son of Genghis Khan's brother Belgutai) and other kings of the host country , that is, sweating bit. Overnight, two Great Khans appeared in the empire.According to the Mongolian tradition, the "Kuriltai Conference" for the selection of Khan should be held in the place of Onan River, and all clan kings must participate.Brother Ali did not convene all the Zongwang meetings, which was against tradition, and Kublai Khan's self-assessment in Han Dynasty also violated tradition.The two Khans, who are not well-known, can only rely on their strength to prove who is orthodox. The two brothers fought in the same room, and the khanates and kings also joined the camps of both sides. After four years of civil war, Brother Ali was defeated and was imprisoned by Kublai Khan for life. Finally, there was only one Great Khan left, but after this turmoil, three of the four major Mongolian Khanates began to act independently.Except for the Ilkhanate established by his younger brother Hulagu who insisted on his subjects, Kublai Khan's ruling area was limited to China, Mongolia and Tibet.Many Western historians simply called the area it ruled the "Kublai Khan Khanate", downgrading it to an equal position with other Khanates. This is the first collapse of the Mongolian Empire, and that small fishing city is a veritable "place where God broke the whip".