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| The Expedition to Russia In early
spring of A.D.1237, the Mongol attacked the half-original paganism
that lived in Russian grassland and was a nomadic tribe. The Muslim
writers called them Khifshak, Hungarian and Byzantium called them
Kumanese and Russian called them Boluofuqinese. Because of some Khifshak
surrendering, it constructed the race and geography base of Mongolian
Han State that was called Khifshak Han State. The expedition to Russia
was divided into 2 steps. The first step was to attack North Russia;
the second step was to attack South Russia.
A. Attacking North Russia a. The Battles for Ryazan In December, 1237 (the 9th year of Wokuotaikhan), the Mongol West Expedition Army took Ruomaoerduying people as the guides and was divided into three parts to enter Russian borders along the Don River and the Donetsk River. The scouts collected information, reconnoiter the topography, knew the enemy’s frontier sentry and captured the enemy soldiers for Subutai troops. The offered information was: the enemy built the fortification that was difficult to attack and stand tall city walls. In summer, there were forest, marshland and quagmire. In severe winter only, the road was unimpeded. A communication unit was established to keep the communication between the headquarters and every group armies unimpeded. They established a large camel train to carry tent, felt slips, pat, wheat flower, forgage, table salt, oil and other goods. The each cavalryman had prepared two or more horses for a long march to speed up the attack. So the Mongol West Expedition Army advanced with an astonishing speed. When the army entered the forest, they ordered the Russian Prisoner of War to cut trees. The army crossed the forest and arrived in Ryazan Dukedom. They attacked Pulongsk City (a city near the Puluonir River, which was a branch of the Oka River). Under the powerful pressure and without any foreign aid, the Ryazan Duke hided in his castle. Meanwhile, he made an order that recruiting all men who were older than 16 years old and prepared for fighting to death. At first, the Mongol West Expedition Army surrounded the Ryazan City. There was a tall earth wall around the city and lots of woodpiles were planted outside the wall. The surface of piles was poured water to ice and to form an ice bound slope that couldn’t be climbed the inner wall of the city. The wood fence made of large wood surrounded the inner wall of the city. There were many watchtowers and castles. For coping with long tern surrounding, lots of food were stored in the city. So, people thought it was an unassailable castle. At this moment, the Batu order soldiers capture the first defense line-Ryazan. The attack troops found the breach and research the way to attack. They made a conclusion that they couldn’t breach it without preparing the scaling ladders and special weapons. They organized Prisoners of War to produce scaling ladders and used sleds to carry weapons. After that, the attack signal by bugle, innumerable scaling ladders reached the wall end like the dragons. The soldiers climbed the ladders and fought violently with the enemies. The attack lasted 5 days. The troops pushed a large mallet with wheels to knock the city gate. The thick gate began to rock and was eventually destroyed. The troops entered the city like the tidal water. At the same time, the troops fighting on the city wall and entered the urban district. The defense troops retreated the second defense line and stand on defensive. The attack troops began to attack continuously and the defense troops couldn’t hold on. On the 6th day of attacking city (on December 27th, 1227), the attack troops joined forces in urban district from all directions with the momentum of an avalanche and destroyed Ryazan City. The Russian general headed by Urey Ygelieweiqi Marquis died in battle. Pulongsk City and other cities were subsided in succession. After destroying the Ryazan City, the main forces of the Mongol West Expedition Army went forward Kolomna City. The Mongol West Expedition Army fought with the Roman Army and Usavloto Army near the Kolomna City. The Kolomna troops was defeated and retreated back to the city. The attack troops attacked the city in turns and the defense troops couldn’t hold on. The attack troops breached the defense line and entered the city. The Roman Army and Usavloto Army were defeated and annihilated. Roman died in battle and Usavloto Army went back to Vladimir. The Mongol West Expedition Army attacked and occupied the Kolomna City and Leles City in succession. In Kolomna battle, because of Mongolian royal highness Kuoliejian died in the last ditch, Mongol troops massacred the inhabitants of the captured city. To here, the Mongol West Expedition Army successfully ended the first battle in Russia and occupied the Ryazan Dukedom. After occupying Ryazan, the Mongol West Expedition Army began to attack Vladimir Dukedom. On February 3rd, 1238 (in the 10th year of Wokuotaikhan), the attack troops carried lots of attacking weapons such as Destroying Gate Mallet made of large wood and cross stone machines. On February 7th, 1238, the attack troops started to attack violently. Because of continuous knocking, the gate was opened. The attack troops rushed into the city and fought with the defense troops. The two sons of the Archduke Ureyfsaioloduoweiqi and some senior officials died in battle. On February 8th, the Mongol West Expedition Army occupied the capital of Vladimir Dukedom. After attacking, the Mongol Commander Batu led other generals to visit the city and inspect the situation. b. The Battles for Xiji River The Archduke Ureyfsaioloduoweiqi wrote the letters to each dukedom when he arrived at Ростов‐на‐Дону. He ordered their troops joined forces on the Xiji River bank and prepared to build a Russian allied force base to prevent the Mongolian troops’ attack. He hoped his nephew Aleksand Yalosilaweiqi help him. He ordered soldiers build houses on the riverbank, dug the trench, cut pine tree and installed the barriers. Lots of new houses had been built on the bank and the deep trench had been dug at the edge of marsh. During several days, lots of logs and clusters were piled to form a long defense. Before long, the Russian skirmishers who were defeated by Botu troops, gathered here. At the same time, the Ростов‐на‐Дону Archduke led thousand of cavalrymen and infantrymen to arrive here. The Mongol West Expedition Army was divided into three groups to attack the whole dukedom. The East Group set off from Suzidar to the east and occupied Gelojieci (a city on the left bank of the Volga River), and then they attacked the north along the Volga River and occupied Ureyeweici, Kesitemoma and Jialiqi (a city near the Jialiqi Lake). Within the Suzidar border, the Mongol West Expedition Army occupied 14th cities except the church's villages and districts. The West Group set off from Vladimir City and attack toward the northwest and occupied Urev. From Urev to the west, they overcome Dmitrov and Vlokelamsk， then occupied Kvr and arrived in Tornoke. They surrounded Novklod and Tornoke on the east border in advance. They cut the aid of Aleksand Yalosilaweiqi. The Middle Group set off from Vladimir City and attacked toward the North. They occupied Suzidar and Ростов‐на‐Дону. At this time, a part of the West Group occupied Pailoyaslavr and continued to advance. They arrived in Ростов‐на‐Дону and joined forces with the Middle Group. The West Group and the Middle Group attacked toward the North and occupied Yaluoslavr. Then, they attacked the west and occupied Ugeliq. From then on, Boluantai commanded the Middle Group vanguard of the Mongol West Expedition Army and collected the armed forces to attack the fleeing main forces of the Archduke Ureyfsaioloduoweiqi. The troops advanced in the winding and narrow path. From the P.O.W's statement, Boluantai knew that the main forces of the Archduke Vladimir were nearby. He sent the soldiers to report to Batu that our troops had been close to the enemy’s battlefield and prepared to attack on tomorrow morning. At the same time, he sent scouts to watch the enemy’s defense and attack route. The next morning, Boluantai’s troops began to attack enemy’s battlefield and the Russian troops beat back violently. The Boluantai’s troops spared no effort to attack the enemy like the tempestuous flood. The unprecedented fierce battle happened between two sides. The Archduke Vladimir and hundreds of soldiers who he led in person were surrounded by the Boluantai's troops. The Russian troops were utterly routed and scattered here and there. The Archduke Ureyfsaioloduoweiqi died from shooting by arrows. The other allied dukes had died in battle. When Batu and Subutai’ main forces came, they destroyed all Russian troops. In A.D.1238, Urey Ⅱ was defeated in the Xidi River Side and his other illustrious colleagues also died in battle. This battle decided the Russian destiny in two and a half centuries. After that, the Middle Group pushed forward Tornoke City and attacked it with the West Group. The defense troops resisted two weeks. The civilians in the city were tired and couldn't get aid from Novlod. The attack troops used attack machines ad attacked Tornoke City violently. On May 5th, 1238 (the 10th year of Wokuotaikhan), they occupied the city. So the whole Vladimir Dukedom basically surrendered to the Mongol West Expedition Army. The Mongol West Expedition Army advanced toward Novklod Manor. When they arrived at a place where is 100 kilometers away form the city, they didn’t continue to push forward. Because of snow melting and muddy path, the troops moved difficulty. Except that, Batu predicted that occupying the Volga River Valley could control Pomorze (large landlord, Pomorze allied with businessmen and held the power, result in princes and marquises lost their power. It formed the functional Pomorze social class). When the Mongol West Expedition Army pushed towards the South, they went across the east territory of Smolensk Dukedom and Qiernikv Dukedom. When the Mongol West Expedition Army arrived at Kezersk, the defense troops resisted. The Commander Batu ordered Buli and Hedan to attack together. They surrounded and attacked this city. The battle was fierce and both sides fought hand to hand repeatedly. The Mongol West Expedition Army had surrounded this city for seven weeks ad eventually destroyed it. After this battle, the Mongol West Expedition Army continued to push forward and arrived in the lower level of the Volga River. They had a rest and planned to attack Russia. B. Attacking South Russia a. The Battles for Kiev Kiev was an important city in South Russia and was the former capital. When two capitals were established, Vladimir was better than Kiev. Kiev was located in west bank of middle reaches of the Днепр River. It used the Днепр River and the Black Sea to have trade relations with the East Rome, so it was a rich city. The Commander Batu thought that they had to occupy Kiev if they wanted to occupy Russia. At the earlier stage of A.D.1239, the Mongol West Expedition Army pushed forward the South Russia. At the end of same year, another troops were sent to the North and conquered Mordov. Then, they occupied the Mulom City, which was in the upper reaches of the Oka River. On March 3rd, nest year, the Commander Batu led the troops in person to attack Geleihuov of Qiernikv district and Pailoyaslavr. So the Mongol West Expedition Army had occupied the northwest Jialoya City and the east Don River. The aid was cut and Kiev was isolated. In autumn, A.D.1240, Batu led the main forces of the Mongol West Expedition Army to cross the border of Pailoyaslavr Dukedom and entered the Kiev Dukedom. The deputy Commander Subutai, senior generals Boluantai and Guiyou were in the troops. In winter, A.D.1240, Днепр River froze and the Mongol West Expedition Army attacked Kiev. Batu ordered the troops to cross the river on the ice and build a bank, and attacked day and night. The defense troops couldn’t resist and they were completely annihilated. Kiev fell into the Mongol West Expedition Army's hands. Dimituoli was hurt and captured. Batu praised that he was brave and released him. b. The Battles
for Jialixiya Written
by www.travel-silkroad.com |
