Martin Antonenko
A Fixture
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2008
- Messages
- 9,001
Kiev succumbs to the Mongols!
In 1237 the Mongols begin under Batu Khan ...
... a long planned campaign against the Rus (the forerunner of today's Russia, Belarus and Ukraine).
They 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. Forget it, 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 Mongol army reached the city ...:
About 2,000 men who are leaded by Möngke Khan ...
... the cousin of Batu Khan.
This vanguard alone is twice as strong as the entire Kiev garrison - the voivode Dmitrij, who wants to defend Kiev, has just under 1,000 soldiers.
His boss, the prince of the city, Daniel Romanovich Golitsyn ...
... at the first news of the approach of the Mongols ...
... thrown on his horse and - without leaving an address - stormed to the west.
"We will 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 Slavs don't want to, then they just don't want to and can be pretty stubborn! In addition, it is clear to the Kievans that they will be left alive, but all of them will be led into slavery (after all, there is news from the cities that Batu took before ...)
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 ancient chronicles, the Mongol army was "tens of thousands" strong - 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 Mongolian storm begins ...:
**continued next post**
In 1237 the Mongols begin under Batu Khan ...
... a long planned campaign against the Rus (the forerunner of today's Russia, Belarus and Ukraine).
They 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. Forget it, 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 Mongol army reached the city ...:
About 2,000 men who are leaded by Möngke Khan ...
... the cousin of Batu Khan.
This vanguard alone is twice as strong as the entire Kiev garrison - the voivode Dmitrij, who wants to defend Kiev, has just under 1,000 soldiers.
His boss, the prince of the city, Daniel Romanovich Golitsyn ...
... at the first news of the approach of the Mongols ...
... thrown on his horse and - without leaving an address - stormed to the west.
"We will 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 Slavs don't want to, then they just don't want to and can be pretty stubborn! In addition, it is clear to the Kievans that they will be left alive, but all of them will be led into slavery (after all, there is news from the cities that Batu took before ...)
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 ancient chronicles, the Mongol army was "tens of thousands" strong - 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 Mongolian storm begins ...:
**continued next post**
