The Mongol Great Khan Möngke launched an attack on the Southern Song Dynasty in an imposing manner, trying to take down the Southern Song Dynasty by dividing the Southern Song Dynasty by dividing the two by three. But unexpectedly, he encountered a setback in front of the small Fishing City in Chongqing, not only hanging around there for more than 7 months, but finally dying there. So why did Mungo die in Diaoyu City? How did he die?
(Portrait of Mungo)
Meng Ge was indeed ambitious and wanted to simply and neatly take the Southern Song Dynasty. As soon as he came to power, he sent his brother Kublai Khan to take Dali (Yunnan). Then he launched a large-scale war, starting from the Central Plains in the north, Sichuan in the west, and Dali in the south, and copied the Southern Song Dynasty. The north was commanded by Kublai Khan, the south by Wuliang Hetai, and the west by him. When he raised his army in the autumn and winter of that year, he told everyone that he hoped to meet in Lin'an in the Southern Song Dynasty in May of the following year.
But he actually stayed under the Fishing City for more than 7 months, and until August of the following year, he still failed to take the small Fishing City, and suddenly died there.
After Möngke's death, the main Mongol army to the west had to withdraw. When the Mongols withdrew, the Southern Song army was caught off guard and did not know what was happening. At that time, although diaoyu City had been holding on, in fact, the outer city had been breached by the Mongols, and the Mongols had established a stronghold on a platform in the outer city. As long as the Mongols continue to attack and eventually break through the Diaoyu City, it is a matter of time. Moreover, even if the Mongol army is still unable to break through the strong inner city of Diaoyu City, as long as it continues to besiege and not attack, Diaoyu City will eventually run out of food and the city gate will not be breached.
Diaoyu City also did not have any foreign aid at that time. Originally, the imperial court had sent Lü Wende to lead troops to aid Diaoyu City. However, Lü Wende's water army was defeated by the Mongol army in the middle of the road. Coupled with Kublai Khan's attack from the north, Lü Wende had to retreat to defend.
(Battle of Diaoyu City)
In short, the soldiers and civilians of Diaoyu City at that time were defending the city with the determination to coexist and die with the city.
Therefore, when they saw the sudden retreat of the Mongol army, they would be surprised.
How did Mungo die? In the historical records of the Southern Song Dynasty, Meng Ge was killed by the stone thrower of the Southern Song Dynasty.
When the Mongol army broke through the outer city of Diaoyu City and gained a stronghold. In order to make it easier to direct the battle, Möngke established a command post on a small hill in the stronghold. Since the command post could see the full picture of the attack, Mungo decided to go there and launch the general attack himself.
But what he did not expect was that because this command was located on a high ground, it was relatively close to the city. Therefore, wang Jian, the commander of the city, had a premonition that this place was unusual, and specially prepared a trebuchet to bombard the place with artillery. Who knew that Möngke was there at the time, and those stones, impartial, happened to hit Möngke's body, so Möngke was seriously injured.
After Möngke was seriously injured, he did not actually think about retreating, he retreated down the mountain and found a quiet place to treat. However, because the injuries were so severe, the drug did not save him, and Möngke died soon after. Before his death, he was unwilling and hateful, saying that he hoped that after the Mongol army took Diaoyu City, it would slaughter Diaoyu City and leave no one behind.
However, after Möngke's death, the Mongol army did not dare to continue the attack, so it had to transport Möngke's body back to Mongolia for burial. The Mongol army failed to take Diaoyu City, and the Great Khan was killed again, so they were very upset. At the same time, in order to block the news, he killed people along the way. When he saw the Southern Song Dynasty, he killed more than 20,000 people along the way.
Of course, it is precisely because the Mongol army is tightly sealed the news, so how Möngke died is not entirely clear. The idea of being killed by a stone thrower is definitely described by Wang Jian and other soldiers who are guarding the city. After all, they couldn't see the situation of the command post clearly, whether they had killed Möngke or not, it could only be regarded as an inference.
(Portrait of Kublai Khan)
In the Mongol historical records, they record that Möngke died of illness.
There is also some truth to this sick statement. The Mongols lived in the north, and the last thing they could tolerate was the humid heat of the weather in the south. They usually send troops to fight in the autumn and winter. At that time, not only were the war horses fat and strong, but the grain was well stockpiled. What's more, they can fight in the cold winter and warm spring, so they can avoid the hot and humid weather.
The main reason why Meng Ge agreed with everyone that in May of the following year, they would meet in Lin'an, and the main consideration was this factor.
But who knows, it was himself who couldn't take Diaoyu City after 7 months of fighting. And that was the hottest summer. At that time, the plague was rampant again in the Mongol army. Many people die of illness as a result. It is also possible that Möngke contracted the plague and died.
Later scholars believe that the most likely cause of Möngke's death was that he was both injured and infected with the plague. Coupled with the fact that I have not been able to take diaoyu City, I am very unhappy. Under the attack of many sides, Möngke finally fell.
The fall of Meng Ge also left a 20-year respite for the Southern Song Dynasty, and also achieved the myth that Diaoyu City could not be breached.
(References: History of the Song Dynasty, Secret History of Mongolia)