Why is it always Poland that is hurt? Before the Mongol army prepared to attack Hungary, it decided to go north and destroy Poland. As soon as Kievan Rus' perished, why did the Mongol army have to destroy Poland? Historically, Poland has been a country that has been beaten a lot, but it has not resisted. Whether it is Germany in the west, Mongolia and Russia in the east, Poland cannot afford to provoke. But Poland is unwilling to be lonely, loves to stand out, and loves to cause trouble. Today, the Russian army is attacking Ukraine, and the most nervous NATO countries are not Britain, France and Germany, but Poland. What Poland is particularly afraid of is that Ukraine is gone, and Poland will be next.
When the eldest son of the Mongol Empire marched westward and destroyed Kievan Rus', Poland suddenly felt cold. At that time, Poland, like Kievan Rus', was a model of "dividing the world and building princes". This Polish version of Zhou Tianzi is an old aristocrat with no soldiers and no power. The real speakers of Poland are the four principalities, among which the Duchy of Silesia is the most powerful. These four principalities usually fight each other, and no one takes anyone into account, which seems to be the unification of the country, but in fact it is internal.
This Polish king was married to the Hungarian king, and the two countries were close to each other. If the Mongol army concentrated its forces and attacked Hungary, Poland would inevitably send troops to help. After all, Kievan Rus' has already perished, and if Hungary is to fall, Poland will be left alone.
However, for the Mongols, if Poland and Hungary were allowed to join forces, the opponent would form a huge superiority in troops, and it would be difficult to conquer the fortified city.
The Mongol army was limited in strength and could not fight a protracted war, and if it wanted to defeat Hungary, it was necessary to contain Poland. Therefore, Batu decided to divide the troops into three routes, break them one by one, and finally meet one more army to encircle Hungary. The First Route Army, commanded by Chagatai's second son, Baidar, attacked Poland head-on from the north. The Second Route Army, led by Ogedei's concubine Hedan, moved south along the Carpathian Mountains to the Danube, pinning down the Byzantine Empire and preventing Serbia and Bulgaria from aiding Hungary. The Third Route Army, commanded by Batu and Subutai, went straight to Budapest, the capital of Hungary.
It's just that what people didn't expect was that this war, which was mainly against Hungary, destroyed Poland first. Chagatai's second son, Baidar, was the most capable of fighting among Genghis Khan's many descendants. He is not tall, and he is nicknamed "King of Shorty". Don't look at the short people, but they are brave and good at fighting, riding **, is a sharpshooter, specializes in fighting tough battles, attacking cities, and has abundant martial virtues, not weaker than Batu and Kublai Khan. With only 20,000 cavalry, Baidar swept through Poland. Baidar had only one son, named Arukhu, who later became the fifth Great Khan of Chagatai and became the head of the Chagatai Khanate.
Hearing that the Mongol army was coming, the Polish king hurriedly organized his men and rushed to the border to stop the invasion of the Mongol cavalry. But the Polish king was a soft bone, and he didn't have a few soldiers in his hands, so he scraped together 5,000 Polish troops. With 5,000 against 20,000 Mongolian cavalry, isn't this a sheep into the mouth of a wolf? In the first battle of Pomon, the Mongol cavalry charged head-on and annihilated 5,000 Polish troops. When the report of the battle came, the Polish king was frightened. What else is there to fight here? Let's run. Stay in the green mountains, not afraid of no firewood. The king of Poland rolled up his bed overnight, took his wife and children with him, and fled to his uncle's house in the west: the Duchy of Silesia.
As soon as the king ran, the unarmed common people of Poland followed. The Mongol cavalry marched in and captured the Polish capital of Krakow. The Polish capital fell, the whole of Europe shook, and Duke Henry II of Silesia was highly nervous. What should Henry II do if he realized that he could not stop the Mongol cavalry on his own? Shake people up. Because Poland is the gateway to Europe, Poland perishes, and Europe is dying. Henry II's popularity was also good, and under his request for help, the Holy Roman Empire responded positively, and the Teutonic Knights of Germany and the Knights Templar of France joined the Polish coalition one after another, and some crusaders composed of civilians also came.
Among them, the Teutonic Knights, Templars, and Polish Knights are all the top elite heavy cavalry in Europe, which basically represents the most powerful cavalry alliance in Europe. Henry II saw that he was in command of the strongest cavalry alliance in Europe, and he unconsciously had a feeling of "Lao Tzu is invincible in the world". Europe, let me guard it!
Seeing the continuous influx of reinforcements into Poland, Baidar was also anxious. In order to defeat Poland as soon as possible and avoid the arrival of more reinforcements, the Mongol cavalry rushed day and night, lightning surprises, like a violent storm, unstoppable, and chased to Rignitz, which was the lair of Henry II. At the beginning, Baidar was not in a hurry to attack the city, but repeated the old trick, first swept all the surrounding villages and towns, burned, killed and looted, and did all kinds of evil. Why? It's a psychological tactic. If your army does not come out to fight, I will kill all the Poles, and then lure Henry II out of the city to fight.
Henry II was under great pressure, the Poles outside the city were killed every day, and he led the strongest cavalry alliance in Europe, but he hid in the city in front of a turtle with a shrunken head, aggrieved, shameful! Moreover, the Teutonic knights and Templars, the cavalry reinforced by Germany and France, did not see the strength of the Mongols. They are all from aristocratic backgrounds and do not want to be shrunken turtles. If you want to fight, you will fight, this person is here, how can there be a reason not to fight? I can't shrink back, and sooner or later I will be besieged and die. Instead of being a turtle with a shrunken head, it is better to go out of the city to fight a decisive battle and fight a way out.
Henry II's fighting spirit was also aroused, since everyone wanted to fight, let's fight. Henry II led the cavalry alliance of Europe and poured out the nest, and the first battle was a decisive battle. This European heavy cavalry, with men and horses in armor, charged head-on when the formation was stable, and the lethality was quite strong. The Mongol cavalry did not want to be tough on the front, so they resorted to the old routine: "feign defeat and retreat, and the two wings are roundabout." "As the saying goes, one trick is fresh, and you can eat it all over the world. The Mongols relied on this trick to fight from East Asia to Eastern Europe, and they tried and tested repeatedly.
What is the best business model? It's simple and repeatable, and so do the Mongols fighting. Originally, Henry II was eager to win. The Mongol cavalry showed a little bit of their horses, and Henry II thought that he had won the battle and pursued it. This chase fell into the pit.
The Mongols suddenly did not run, but lined up in place, artillery ready, and cavalry came out from behind the Poles. By the time Henry II realized the crisis, it was too late. In front were catapults, rockets, and artillery, and in the rear, the Mongol cavalry cut off the retreat, and the Polish coalition was caught in the front and rear. Baidar also played a "Trojan horse". He asked the captured Poles to blend in with the Polish coalition army, and shouted in Polish: "Finish the calf, surrounded, run!" Because the artillery caused a thick smoke, so that the Polish army could not see each other's direction clearly, only heard their voices, but did not see their people, they immediately panicked, and in an instant, the whole army broke up, and each ran for his life.
This brings the time of the Mongol hunt. In this battle, Baidar won a great victory, the Polish coalition was completely annihilated, Henry II himself was beheaded, and the Mongols cut off his head, took it to the city of Rignitz, and demonstrated it. At this point, Poland was destroyed. After cutting off the Hungarian flank threat, Baidar did not stay long, but moved south, and joined forces with Badu's division to attack Hungary. What will happen to the Battle of Hungary? We'll move on to that in the next issue.