THE KHAN'S MARCH TO WAR
History of War|Issue 105, 2022
In the late 13th century, the ruler of the vast Mongol Empire set his sights east in search of new lands to conquer
THE KHAN'S MARCH TO WAR
In 1259, after the Mongol Emperor Möngke died, his ferocious brother Kublai Khan became ruler of all the Mongols. Over the next decade, Kublai intensified the conquest of China, setting up a capital at Yanjing (modern Beijing). By the time the Korean kingdom of Koryo fell, Kublai’s empire sprawled all the way west through Central Europe, to Syria. Despite being drained by years of war, Korea’s capitulation gave the Mongols access to what historian Stephen Turnbull calls the peninsula’s “considerable naval tradition”. As Kublai continued to assault the Southern Song, the last Chinese power left standing, he set his sights further east, to the Japanese archipelago across the Tsushima Strait.

Japan was long known regionally to be an abundant source of precious metals. By the 13th century, its reputation for immeasurable stores of gold was so widespread that the Portuguese traveller Marco Polo regurgitated rumours that: “The king’s palace is roofed with pure gold… and the floors are paved in gold two fingers thick.” It was also home to some of the Far East’s mightiest warriors: the noble samurai, the nation’s ruling class to whom warfare was a way of life. They would make a fine Mongol vassal.

This story is from the Issue 105, 2022 edition of History of War.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the Issue 105, 2022 edition of History of War.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM HISTORY OF WARView All
NAUMACHIA TRUTH BEHIND ROME'S GLADIATOR SEA BATTLES
History of War

NAUMACHIA TRUTH BEHIND ROME'S GLADIATOR SEA BATTLES

In their quest for evermore novel and bloody entertainment, the Romans staged enormous naval fights on artificial lakes

time-read
6 mins  |
Issue 138
OPERATION MANNA
History of War

OPERATION MANNA

In late April 1945, millions of Dutch civilians were starving as Nazi retribution for the failed Operation Market Garden cut off supplies. eet as In response, Allied bombers launched a risky mission to air-drop food

time-read
10+ mins  |
Issue 138
GASSING HITLER
History of War

GASSING HITLER

Just a month before the end of WWI, the future Fuhrer was blinded by a British shell and invalided away from the frontline. Over a century later, has the artillery brigade that launched the fateful attack finally been identified?

time-read
8 mins  |
Issue 138
SALAMANCA
History of War

SALAMANCA

After years of largely defensive campaigning, Lieutenant General Arthur Wellesley went on the offensive against a French invasion of Andalusia

time-read
8 mins  |
Issue 138
HUMBERT 'ROCKY'VERSACE
History of War

HUMBERT 'ROCKY'VERSACE

Early in the Vietnam War, a dedicated US Special Forces officer defied his merciless Viet Cong captors and inspired his fellow POWs to survive

time-read
7 mins  |
Issue 138
LEYTE 1944 SINKING THE RISING SUN
History of War

LEYTE 1944 SINKING THE RISING SUN

One of the more difficult island campaigns in WWII's Pacific Theatre saw a brutal months-long fight that exhausted Japan’s military strength

time-read
10+ mins  |
Issue 138
MAD DAWN
History of War

MAD DAWN

How technology transformed strategic thinking and military doctrine from the Cold War to the current day

time-read
3 mins  |
Issue 138
BRUSHES WITH ARMAGEDDON
History of War

BRUSHES WITH ARMAGEDDON

Humanity came close to self-annihilation with the Cuban Missile Crisis, Broken Arrows’ and other nuclear near misses

time-read
3 mins  |
Issue 138
THE DEADLY RACE
History of War

THE DEADLY RACE

How the road to peace led to an arms contest between the USA and USSR, with prototypes, proliferation and the world’s biggest bomb

time-read
3 mins  |
Issue 138
THE MANHATTAN PROJECT
History of War

THE MANHATTAN PROJECT

Einstein, Oppenheimer and the race to beat Hitler to the bomb. How a science project in the desert helped win a war

time-read
3 mins  |
Issue 138