The Foundations of Kublai Khan's Conquest of China

The Mongol invasion of China began in the time of Genghis Khan and continued for decades, before finally being completed under Kublai Khan. Today The Wild Chronicles takes you through the foundations that led to Kublai Khan's conquest of China.

China at that time was not unified at all. It was divided into three major kingdoms: the Western Xia of the Tangut people, the Jin of the Jurchen people, and the Han Chinese kingdom, the Southern Song dynasty.

...All three kingdoms were eyeing each other's territory...

When Genghis Khan rose to become supreme leader of the steppe tribes, with a strong army ready for battle, he began invading China right away. His first target was the "Jin kingdom."

Genghis Khan's troops were superbly skilled at fighting on horseback and at archery. They endured every kind of weather, and they were extremely fast and decisive in attack... you could call them "unbeatable."

Few could resist that level of skill. The Jin kingdom was defeated and had to retreat, moving its capital to Kaifeng (the former capital of the Northern Song, which the Jin had themselves knocked down earlier).

However, Genghis Khan chose not to keep chasing the Jin, because he thought it would "take too long." Instead he turned around and smacked down the "Western Xia kingdom" to the west.

He crushed the Western Xia in 1227, and sent his youngest son "Tolui" to attack the western route, the Khwarazmian kingdom, which let the Mongol Empire expand its territory on a grand scale.

When Genghis Khan died, his son Ogedei Khan carried on his father's wish to keep invading China. His goal was to conquer the Jin kingdom at all costs! Ogedei briefly allied with the Southern Song to attack the Jin and won a decisive victory in 1234.

...However, the two sides were friends only for a short while, and then they began attacking each other again...

But the invasion of China stalled when Ogedei Khan died, which led to a power struggle inside the Mongol court over "who would become Great Khan," between "Guyuk," Ogedei's son, and "Mongke," Tolui's son.

In the end, Guyuk became Great Khan in 1246.

But wait! Guyuk Khan died after only two years on the throne, so the candidacy for Great Khan fell into Mongke's hands once more, and he later took the title of Great Khan.

Mongke Khan restarted the policy of expanding the Mongol Empire. He sent "Hulagu," his full brother, to conquer the Persian kingdom (and he succeeded), while he himself led a huge army with "Kublai," another brother, to attack the Southern Song dynasty!

Everything seemed to be going smoothly... but Mongke Khan died suddenly, which led to another fight over the throne, and this too brought the invasion of China to a halt...

This struggle for the throne led to a civil war between "Ariq Boke" and "Kublai," both of whom claimed a rightful claim to the throne.

In the end, Kublai led his own army from northern China, marched north, smacked down his younger brother and won, and took the position of Great Khan.

Kublai Khan then took up the old mission right away: "smash the Southern Song." The Mongol army was extremely strong, while the Southern Song at that time was in disarray and ready to fall at any moment. You could call it a different class of bones.

:::: :::: :::: ::::
However, no matter how strong they were, it got hard as soon as they faced the Southern Song's "city of Xiangyang." What was that story? Read on in the comments.

#TWCHistory #TWCome