Throughout history, we find that the Mongols fought many campaigns against the Tangut, but failed to capture the 500,000-strong army in the first four times. However, the last one succeeded with ease. This raises the question of why the Mongols had difficulty conquering Western Xia on the first four occasions and achieved such a smooth victory in the last one
This last battle took place between 1224 and 1226 and is considered the final decisive battle between them. Although Mongolia withdrew briefly during the war, and some even thought it was two wars, we still see it as one because of its coherent actions. Why, then, did the Mongols fight five wars with the Western Xia before and after?
First, the reasons for the Mongol repeated attacks on Western Xia were varied. First, because Western Xia had a close relationship with the sworn enemy of the Mongols, the Jin State, and may unite the Jin State against the Mongols. The second is that the Western Xia did not pay the annual coin due to Mongolia according to the agreement. In addition, Western Xia did not participate in the Mongol invasion of other countries at that time. The last reason was that the Western Xia did not submit protons to Mongolia on time. In addition, the pretext for the Mongol attack on Western Xia was actually the mouth of the Mongols themselves, not the real purpose.
There are several reasons why the Mongols attacked Western Xia many times, but never once completely destroyed it. First of all, the Mongols were initially weak, and the group could not defeat the Western Xia at once. As early as 1205, Genghis Khan was not yet known as the Great Khan, and the Mongol army was relatively weak. Secondly, Western Xia became a training ground for Mongolia. Since the Mongols wanted to conquer the powerful Jin state, they needed to find a place to train their troops, and the situation in Western Xia was similar to that of the Jin state, making it an ideal place for military training. In addition, Mongolia needed food and other logistical support from Western Xia. Each time they attacked Western Xia, the other side eventually surrendered and promised to provide food and coins. The Mongols themselves lacked food, and in the absence of a complete capture of the Tangut, it was a good choice to let the Tangut provide food for their country.
The reason for the last success was that the Mongols had a good understanding of the situation in the Western Xia, and the strength of the Mongols, coupled with the general fear of the Mongols in the Western Xia army, so they easily captured the Western Xia.