The Mongol War against the Western Xia Dynasty

夏桓宗 The 12th year of Tianqing (1205), the year before the founding of Mongolia, had sent troops to conquer The Western Xia Dynasty (206 B.C.) . After the founding of Mongolia, the spearhead pointed to The Western Xia Dynasty (206 B.C.) and Jin State Adopt the strategy of first weak and then strong, and send troops against the Western Xia first. 夏襄宗 In the second year of Ying Tian (1207), the Mongol army attacked Xia in a large scale and destroyed the city of Wulahai (today's Inner Mongolia) Alashan Right Banner Southwest) and also. In the fourth year, the Mongols attacked Xia for the third time and besieged Zhongxing Fu (today's Yinchuan, Ningxia), the capital of the Western Xia Dynasty. Xia and Jin fought for many years, both sides were hurt, and both sides negotiated peace. 夏献宗 Dry fixing In the second year (1224), the Mongols attacked Xia and captured Yinzhou (now Mizhixi, Shaanxi). In 1226, the Mongols launched a large-scale war to destroy the summer. The Mongol army successively captured Shazhou (west of present-day Dunhuang, Gansu), Suzhou (present-day Jiuquan, Gansu), Ganzhou (present-day Zhangye, Gansu), Nishiryongfu (present Wuwei, Gansu Province), Lingju (Present-day Ningxia Lingwu Southwest) and other places, into the encircling Zhongxing Prefecture. The following July, Xia Late Emperor Surrender was killed, Xixia died. ^[1]

The Western Xia Dynasty was originally a regional separatist regime in northwest China, and was associated with a nomadic people in the north Krebe Very friendly. But the leader Mongolian province Temujin destroyed the Kreibu in 1203, leaving the Western Xia without a portion of the buffer between Monxia. In 1205, Genghis Khan officially invaded Western Xia, ^[1] Launched the first Summer War and sacked a number of towns on the Xia frontier. ^[2]

In 1206, Great Mongolia Officially established. For Genghis Khan to conquer another dynasty -- Jin Dynasty Must be isolated Jin Dynasty . The way to isolate the Jin Dynasty was to destroy the alliance between Jin and Xia, so Genghis Khan decided to destroy the Western Xia first. In 1207, Genghis Khan launched the second Summer Campaign and attacked The city of Orus (Present-day Inner Mongolia Urat However, due to the resistance of the Western Xia army, it ended in failure. In 1209, the Mongols succeeded Gaochang Uighur This also caused the Hexi area of the western Xia to lose the buffer between the Mont-Xia. Later the third Mongolian summer, from the Hexi area began to invade, attack Orus . Xixia general and son of Xiangzong Lee Seung Jeong After the defeat, his general Gauil was taken prisoner. The Mongols then took Orus and closed in kleimen -- The Capital Zhongxingfu The final line of defense. General of Western Xia Dynasty The king of the way Although the ambush plan was implemented, it was still defeated by the Mongol army. ^[3] In the end, only by giving a large amount of reparations to Mongolia and accepting the condition of "attached Mongol destruction of gold" did the Mongols accept it for peace. ^[4-5]

After accepting the Mongol condition of "attaching Mongolia to attack Jin", the Western Xia only attacked its original ally, the Jin Dynasty. This series of wars lasted more than a decade and greatly weakened the power of Jinxia. Therefore, the people of the Western Xia Dynasty also suffered from hard labor, and the country's economy and productivity were greatly affected by hard labor. The army was also weakened by long campaigns, and official politics was dark and corrupt. And therefore, the king of Qi Li Zunxu He succeeded in a coup d 'etat and seized power in 1211 The Emperor of the Western Xia . However, Xia Shenzong was not a wise emperor, and continued to attack the Jin Dynasty. As a result, the country became very unstable and civil unrest erupted.

In 1217, Genghis Khan launched the fourth Xia War, because the Western Xia refused to assist him the previous year Genghis Khan To the west. Fearing the Mongol army, Shenzong fled to Lingju But let the prince Li Devan Stay in the capital, Zhongxing Prefecture. Ridvan could only Sue for peace.

In 1223, Xia Shenzong Pass to Li Devan The reason was that Emperor Shenzong did not want to become a subjured monarch. And Ridevan is 夏献宗 . The strategy of the Western Xia was to unite the neighboring countries to attack Mongolia during the western expedition of the Mongol army. It's a pity the general is stationed in Mongolia Chiru Discovered the plot of the Western Xia, so that in 1224, he immediately attacked the Western Xia from the east and west, and successfully captured the Silver State of the Western Xia, and captured the general of the Western Xia Tahai . After his return in 1225, Genghis Khan immediately invaded the Western Xia sandbank. The Western Xia had no choice but to Sue for peace and accede to the Mongol demands. ^[4-5]

In 1226, Genghis Khan again attacked the Western Xia for violating the peace treaty. This war finally destroyed the Western Xia Dynasty. Leading the main force, Genghis Khan first took the area west of the city Blackwater City And later defeated located Helan Mountain The Western Xia general Asha dare not And finally reached Hunchui Mountain. On the other hand, the Mongol general Adachi Led another army to win Ganzhou , sand state and Sukju Wait for the town. Although on the way to meet the Western Xia general He is also afraid of law Genghis Khan had to put down the resistance, but the Mongol offensive was generally successful. Li Fu Boarded, while Lee Che Xia Late Emperor He was the last emperor of the Western Xia Dynasty. ^[4-5]

In August 1226, the Mongol army carried out the "nine crossings of the Yellow River" and successfully occupied it answer Xia Zhou and other places, and decided to besiege Lingju . General Wei Ming Ling Gong led reinforcements to help fight the enemy, but finally failed to resist the Mongol invasion, more defeated and died. After that, the Mongol army took it very smoothly Jishi Prefecture , Sining Etc. Until this time, the Mongol army was only short of the last territory of the Western Xia, the capital Zhongxing Prefecture, which was still not lost.

In 1227, the last emperor left the city to surrender, The Western Xia Dynasty (206 B.C.) Officially declared its demise, and the 22-year war of exterminating the Western Xia Dynasty was also declared over. ^[6] Towing mine Later, according to Genghis Khan's wish to kill the last emperor, the Mongol army immediately moved to the Western Xia capital Zhongxingfu Most of the buildings of the Western Xia Dynasty were destroyed and destroyed. The final cause of the massacre Chahan The end of the remonstrance. ^{[5] 7 [8]}

The Mongol destruction of the summer caused the Jin Dynasty to lose an ally, but also caused the Jin Dynasty to lose a buffer from the West, which led to the demise of the Jin Dynasty. The Mongols were thus able to further invade the Central Plains, laying the foundation for the future unification of the Central Plains.