Martin Antonenko
A Fixture
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2008
- Messages
- 9,001
Kiev falls to the Mongols!
In 1237 the Mongols begin under Batu Khan ...
... a long-planned campaign against the Kievan Rus (the forerunner of today's Russia).
You proceed carefully and methodically, conquering one important city after another.
First they attack Volhynia (in the northwest), then the Principality of Ryazan, then the cities of Suzdal and Vladmir (the capitals of the principality of the same name), then Pereyaslav, Khmelnytskyi and Chernihiv.
And Moscow? One or the other will ask. Moscow was an insignificant nest at that time!
The most important city of the Rus, however, is Kiev - and Khan Batu wants to take that now!
At the beginning of November 1240, the advance guards of the Monglish army reached the city ...:
About 2,000 men who were leaded by Möngke Khan ...
... the cousin of Batus Khan.
This vanguard alone is doubly stronger than the entire Kiev garrison - the voivode Dmitry, who wants to defend Kiev, has just under 1,000 soldiers.
His boss, the prince of the city, Daniel Romanovich of Galicia ...
... at the first news of the approach of the Mongols ...
... thrown on his horse and - without leaving an address - fled westward.
"We'll have that in a moment!", Möngke Khan will have thought. He sends a delegation to the city to urge the Kievans to surrender without a fight!
In return, the lives of all residents should be spared, says Möngke Khan.
But if Slavians don't want to, then they don't want to and can be pretty stubborn! In addition, it is clear to the Kievans that they will be allowed to live, but that they will all be led into slavery (after all, there is news from the cities previously taken by Bau ...)
So the Kievans answer as follows:
The Mongolian parliamentarians are beheaded publicly in the main square of Kiev - and their corpses and their separate heads are thrown over the city walls.
Möngke Khan has understood and is preparing the siege of the city.
The fighting for the city begins on November 28, 1240, as soon as the main Batus army has arrived ...:
According to old chronicles, it was said to have been "tens of thousands" - and the Kievans only have 1,000 soldiers and their city walls.
The old city walls of Kiev withstand the incessant catapult shelling of the Mongols ...
... did not stand very long - on December 5th the so-called "Polish Wall" (the wall in the west of the city) collapsed completely and the Mongol storm begins ...:
Batus fighters invade the city and bitter street fighting ensues, with heavy casualties on both sides!
But wherever a Mongol falls, there are two or three others, while the Kievans cannot compensate for their losses.
The voivode Dmyitij is also badly wounded by an arrow.
Towards evening the remnants of the Kiev armed forces have to retreat to the inner city, which is fortified with a separate wall, but they can still maintain it. The Mongols rule the outskirts ...:
Many civilians have fled the fighting in a house of God, the so-called "Church of the Tithing" ...:
In the early morning of December 6th, the completely overloaded church collapsed (there were simply too many refugees climbed into the galleries) and buried several thousand Kievans ...:
The next Mongol storm - on the city center - ends with the complete capture of Kiev by Batu's troops!
As a punishment for being insubordinate, the Khan releases Kiev to plunder his soldiers, with the Mongols causing a revenge massacre and slaughtering at least 30,000 residents ...:
Only the voivode Dmytro remains alive ...
... the rest of his soldiers and the civilians who fell into the hands of the Mongols in the city center.
This suggests that the massacre took place spontaneously and was not ordered! The khan was in the city center at that time, so the discipline there was stronger and no prisoners were slaughtered!
After extensive sacking of the city, Khan ordered Batu to march out the next day - and his rear guards set fire to everything in Kiev that could be set on fire.
Batu leads his master further west, towards Poland.
Kiev remains as a smoking heap of rubble, in which there are a few survivors who can hardly believe that they are not yet dead ...
Personal note:
Today I really wanted to write something about Ukrainian-Russian history, because today it is clear that I will spend the coming holidays and the New Year with a wonderful woman in Odessa ...
In 1237 the Mongols begin under Batu Khan ...
... a long-planned campaign against the Kievan Rus (the forerunner of today's Russia).
You proceed carefully and methodically, conquering one important city after another.
First they attack Volhynia (in the northwest), then the Principality of Ryazan, then the cities of Suzdal and Vladmir (the capitals of the principality of the same name), then Pereyaslav, Khmelnytskyi and Chernihiv.
And Moscow? One or the other will ask. Moscow was an insignificant nest at that time!
The most important city of the Rus, however, is Kiev - and Khan Batu wants to take that now!
At the beginning of November 1240, the advance guards of the Monglish army reached the city ...:
About 2,000 men who were leaded by Möngke Khan ...
... the cousin of Batus Khan.
This vanguard alone is doubly stronger than the entire Kiev garrison - the voivode Dmitry, who wants to defend Kiev, has just under 1,000 soldiers.
His boss, the prince of the city, Daniel Romanovich of Galicia ...
... at the first news of the approach of the Mongols ...
... thrown on his horse and - without leaving an address - fled westward.
"We'll have that in a moment!", Möngke Khan will have thought. He sends a delegation to the city to urge the Kievans to surrender without a fight!
In return, the lives of all residents should be spared, says Möngke Khan.
But if Slavians don't want to, then they don't want to and can be pretty stubborn! In addition, it is clear to the Kievans that they will be allowed to live, but that they will all be led into slavery (after all, there is news from the cities previously taken by Bau ...)
So the Kievans answer as follows:
The Mongolian parliamentarians are beheaded publicly in the main square of Kiev - and their corpses and their separate heads are thrown over the city walls.
Möngke Khan has understood and is preparing the siege of the city.
The fighting for the city begins on November 28, 1240, as soon as the main Batus army has arrived ...:
According to old chronicles, it was said to have been "tens of thousands" - and the Kievans only have 1,000 soldiers and their city walls.
The old city walls of Kiev withstand the incessant catapult shelling of the Mongols ...
... did not stand very long - on December 5th the so-called "Polish Wall" (the wall in the west of the city) collapsed completely and the Mongol storm begins ...:
Batus fighters invade the city and bitter street fighting ensues, with heavy casualties on both sides!
But wherever a Mongol falls, there are two or three others, while the Kievans cannot compensate for their losses.
The voivode Dmyitij is also badly wounded by an arrow.
Towards evening the remnants of the Kiev armed forces have to retreat to the inner city, which is fortified with a separate wall, but they can still maintain it. The Mongols rule the outskirts ...:
Many civilians have fled the fighting in a house of God, the so-called "Church of the Tithing" ...:
In the early morning of December 6th, the completely overloaded church collapsed (there were simply too many refugees climbed into the galleries) and buried several thousand Kievans ...:
The next Mongol storm - on the city center - ends with the complete capture of Kiev by Batu's troops!
As a punishment for being insubordinate, the Khan releases Kiev to plunder his soldiers, with the Mongols causing a revenge massacre and slaughtering at least 30,000 residents ...:
Only the voivode Dmytro remains alive ...
... the rest of his soldiers and the civilians who fell into the hands of the Mongols in the city center.
This suggests that the massacre took place spontaneously and was not ordered! The khan was in the city center at that time, so the discipline there was stronger and no prisoners were slaughtered!
After extensive sacking of the city, Khan ordered Batu to march out the next day - and his rear guards set fire to everything in Kiev that could be set on fire.
Batu leads his master further west, towards Poland.
Kiev remains as a smoking heap of rubble, in which there are a few survivors who can hardly believe that they are not yet dead ...
Personal note:
Today I really wanted to write something about Ukrainian-Russian history, because today it is clear that I will spend the coming holidays and the New Year with a wonderful woman in Odessa ...
