When talking about the Han generals who led their armies to fight the farthest in ancient times, you may think of Huo Qubing, who defeated the wolves near Lake Baikal, and Su Dingfang, who destroyed the Western Turks and fought all the way to the Aral Sea in Central Asia. The gen

Talking about the Han generals who led their armies to fight the farthest in ancient times, you may think of Huo Qubing, who sealed the wolf home near Lake Baikal, , and Su Dingfang, who destroyed the Western Turks and fought all the way to the Aral Sea in Central Asia. The general who really fought the furthest was not from the prosperous Tang Dynasty, but Guo Kan, the grandson of the famous general Guo Baoyu who served in the Mongol Empire. He traveled from the Central Plains to the Mediterranean Sea coast at the western end of the Eurasian continent, defeating enemies along the way and making every country in the Middle East change his mind.

Pictured above_ Guo Ziyi (697-781)

• After becoming a famous general, he participated in the extermination of the Jin Dynasty

In 217, Guo Kan was born in Zheng County, Huazhou, Shaanxi. His ancestor is Guo Ziyi, a famous general in the Tang Dynasty who made great achievements in the Anshi Rebellion, and his grandfather was Guo Baoyu, a general who was demoted in the Jin Dynasty and later became one of the most important Han generals in the Mongolian Empire. Guo Baoyu proposed to Genghis Khan the strategy of how to eliminate the Jin Kingdom and then unify the world, so it was reused.

232, after the last elite troops of the Jin Kingdom were all wiped out in the Battle of Sanfeng Mountain, the demise of the Jin Kingdom was only a matter of time. This year, the 15-year-old Guo Kan participated in the war to defeat the Jin Dynasty and fought very bravely. Jin general Bosa attacked Weizhou , and Guo Kan was ordered to guard it and defeated more than 40,000 people who besieged him. Then he pursued the fleeing Jin emperor all the way to Guide. This is hard not to remind people of Tang Taizong Li Shimin, who started fighting at the age of 16. Later, the Mongolian army attacked Bianjing, and Guo Kan led his army to attack the west gate, forcing the Jin Dynasty Marshal Cui Li who was stationed in the city to surrender. At a young age, he was promoted to head of a hundred households.

During the War of Conquest against Jin, Guo Kan's father Guo Dehai was killed on the battlefield, and he inherited the mantle of the Guo family. The boss he always followed was the famous Mongolian general Shi Tianze. Shi Tianze also admired him very much and recommended him to be the chief of the Thousand Households . Later, he went to the Mongolian Khan's court to hold the official post of copying the manayan. However, he did not participate in the war against the Song Dynasty during the three great Khans of Ogedai, Guiyou and Mengge.

Above picture_Mongol Empire Territory Map

• marched westward to attack and destroy the Arab Empire

In 11253, the Mongolian Empire launched the third large-scale western expedition, targeting a group of Islamic countries in the Middle East. The main targets were the Mulai Kingdom and the Arab Empire.

Meng Ge Khan appointed Hulagu as the commander-in-chief, and organized a mixed army including the Mongolian, Jin, Han armies and other Central Asian ethnic servant armies, equipped with trebuchets and engineering troops to attack the city. Naturally, what awaits these Middle Eastern countries will not be good news for such a powerful army that requires combat capability and technology. As an ordinary general at the time, Guo Kan was far less famous than the generals such as Baishu and Cowardly Buhua, but he would later prove his killer demeanor.

This time, the Western Expeditionary Army stopped for supplies and rest while walking on the road. It took more than two years before they arrived at the Mulai Kingdom in northern Iran. The Mongols have always been good at collecting intelligence in advance during combat operations, so they have a pretty good grasp of the situation of Mulai . Mulai had about 100,000 troops nationwide and chose a defensive strategy of defending castles and fortresses built on high ground. The Mongolian army surrounded the important city of Guerdu. Guo Kan sent people to persuade the defenders to surrender. When the defenders refused to surrender, he ordered trebuchets to attack the city. The castles built by the Mulai people were all made of wood and stone. To them, the trebuchet was like an enemy cheating, and it was riddled with holes in an instant. Guo Kan used the same method to lead the Mongolian army to conquer 128 castles in Mulaya and wipe out more than 50,000 enemy troops, which was equivalent to half of the opponent's troops.

Picture above_ Hulagu and Tuogu Si Ketun

The city that Hulagu was unable to conquer, asked Guo Kan to bring a trebuchet and blast it, and he would be able to capture it. Hulagu sent Guo Kan to persuade Sultan Uluru to surrender. Guo Kan failed to persuade him to surrender, so he only had to capture the city.In the city of Mulier, he laid an ambush and wiped out the enemy troops, and surrendered to the Sultan of The Hague. In Alatin, he collected 30,000 remnants of the army, and the leader was defeated and the Sultan surrendered. Because of his high prestige, when he conquered other areas of Mulai and Kashmir, all the places surrendered, and he was known as a victorious general who could conquer others without fighting.

After the end of the first Western Expedition, many areas in Persia and Caucasus broke away from Mongolian rule. After cleaning up Mulaiyi, I asked Zhu and the timid Buhua to calm down these places. At the end of 1257, Hulagu led the main force to prepare to march into Baghdad, the capital of the Arab Empire. Baghdad was captured once before by the Seljuk Turks, and the country never regained its strength after that. Guo Kan led the cavalry in a battle with 70,000 Arab troops outside Baghdad, and was another complete victory against the opponent.

Picture above_ The noble generals of the Arab Empire

experienced a tragic battle to defend Baghdad. Caliph Mustasin tried to escape on a boat, but saw a pontoon blocking the river. Knowing that he could not escape now, he had no choice but to surrender to the Mongolian army. The Arab Empire, which had been in existence for more than 600 years, was officially destroyed. Baghdad suffered a brutal massacre by the Mongolian army. It is said that as many as 800,000 soldiers and civilians were massacred. This is also a portrayal of the cruel and cruel side of the Mongolian conquest.

Then Hulagu's army continued to advance westward and arrived at Tianfang (i.e. Saudi Arabia ). The Tianfang general held the stone and asked to surrender. Guo Kan's men all believed that the enemy was really surrendering and did not make any preparations. Guo Kan said: "Those who underestimate the enemy will die. Soldiers never tire of deception. If they fall into his trap, it will be a great shame." He ordered to take strict precautions. Guo Kan's expectation was good. Zhuishi led his army to sneak attack and was defeated by the well-prepared Mongolian army. Subsequently, Bar Sultan surrendered and the Mongolian army captured 185 cities.

Pictured above_ The Crusader Knights

• arrived in Asia Minor and defeated the Crusaders

In the subsequent military operation to attack the Ayyubid Dynasty in Syria, Guo Kan made another outstanding achievement. Once when the troops were stationed for a rest on the march, Guo Kan expected that there would be a sneak attack by the enemy, so he summoned his troops to go west for more than ten miles and then set up camp, leaving only a few soldiers in place. Sure enough, the enemy did not capture Guo Kan's main force. But when the Sultan heard this, he was shocked and said: "The general from the East is really a god." Knowing that he could not defeat him, he chose to surrender.

260, Guo Kan was ordered to set sail on the east coast of the Mediterranean to capture Fulang (today Cyprus ). The island was controlled by the Crusader Knights at the time. With a small number of people, Guo Kan easily captured its 120 castles. Then he marched north to the Asia Minor Peninsula and attacked or conquered various local tribes. So far, Guo Kan has captured more than 700 cities, which can be said to be a brilliant achievement.

picture above_ Bo'er Jijin·Mengge (January 10, 1209 - August 11, 1259), The Great Khan of the Great Mongolia

Hulagu sent Guo Kan back to China to report the victory to Meng Ge, but Guo Kan was still on the way, and Hulagu learned that Meng Ge Khan died in battle at Diaoyu City in 1259. So Hulagu terminated his plan to continue the Western Expedition, leaving the timid Buhua to lead a partial division to guard Syria , and led the main force back to help Kublai Khan participate in the battle for the Mongolian Khan. The remaining Mongolian army was defeated by the Mamluk dynasty of Egypt because of its cowardice and underestimation of the enemy.

Guo Kan, who returned to China, was appointed as the governor of Jianghuai to deal with the Song army on the front line of Mongolia and Song Dynasty. During the struggle between Kublai Khan and Ali Buge , Guo Kan prevented the Song army from advancing northward along the Jianghuai River. But as his old boss Shi Tianze was demoted, he was also implicated and only served as a magistrate at the prefecture level. He also participated in the Yuan army's attack on the Song Dynasty, but he completely became a marginal role, not as famous as he was during the Western Expedition. After the Southern Song Dynasty court surrendered to the Yuan army, Guo Kan reached the end of his life.

Picture above_ Kublai Khan's Battle to Destroy the Song Dynasty

Guo Kan is undoubtedly the best Han general in the Mongolian army. He has won many battles and is good at using artillery , trebuchets and other long-range weapons, bringing devastating blows to the enemy. But he is different from many butcher types who only care about killing and not burying people. He attaches great importance to military discipline and would rather eat and sleep in the wild than disturb civilians. Wherever the army goes, it must engage in local agricultural production. This is indeed a breath of fresh air in the Mongolian army where thatch is used too much and stone is used too much.

Author: Tieqi Rufeng Editor: Lilith

Reference: Rene Grusset: "History of the Mongol Empire"

The text is created by the History University Team, and the illustrations are from the Internet. The copyright belongs to the original author