Mongol siege of Kaifeng

Mongol siege of Kaifeng
Part of the Mongol–Jin War
Date April 8, 1232 – February 26, 1233 Location Kaifeng, Northern China Result Mongol victory Emperor Aizong flees to Caizhou
Belligerents
Jin dynasty	Mongol Empire
Commanders and leaders
Emperor Aizong of Jin Cui Li (defected)	Subutai Tolui Ögedei Tang Qing †
Strength
~104,000 soldiers and volunteers	Unknown
Casualties and losses
Almost all, though exact figures are unknown	very heavy: many Mongols killed or injured

Mongol victory

In the Mongol siege of Kaifeng from 1232 to 1233, the Mongol Empire captured Kaifeng, the capital of the Jurchen Jin dynasty. The Mongols and Jurchens had been at war for nearly two decades, beginning in 1211 after the Jurchens refused the Mongol offer to submit as a vassal. Ögedei Khan sent two armies to besiege Kaifeng, one led by himself, and the other by his brother Tolui. Command of the forces, once they converged into a single army, was given to Subutai who led the siege. The Mongols arrived at the walls of Kaifeng on April 8, 1232.

The siege deprived the city of resources, and its residents were beset with famine and disease. Jurchen soldiers defended the city with fire lances and bombs of gunpowder, killing many Mongols and severely injuring others. The Jurchens tried to arrange a peace treaty, but the assassination of a Mongol diplomat foiled their efforts. Emperor Aizong, the Jurchen emperor, fled the city for the town of Caizhou. The city was placed under the command of General Cui Li, who executed the emperor's loyalists and promptly surrendered to the Mongols. The Mongols captured Kaifeng on February 26, 1233, and looted the city. The dynasty fell two years later after the suicide of Aizong and the capture of Caizhou in 1234.

Genghis Khan was declared Khaghan in 1206. The Mongols had united under his leadership, and defeated the rival tribes of the steppes. In the same period, China was divided into three separate states. In the north, the Jurchen Jin dynasty controlled Manchuria and all of China north of the Huai River. The Tangut Western Xia ruled parts of the western China, while the Song Dynasty reigned over the south. The Mongols subjugated Western Xia in 1210. In that same year, the Mongols renounced their vassalage to the Jin. Hostilities between the Jin and Mongols had been building up. The Mongols coveted the prosperity of Jurchen territory. They may have also harbored a grudge against the Jin for assassinating Ambaghai, one of Genghis' predecessors, and for the Jin emperor Wanyan Yongji's rude behavior to Genghis when Wanyan Yongji was still a Jurchen prince.

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