Battle of Mohi (Sajo River)
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On April 10, 1241, at the Battle of Mohi during the Mongolian invasion of Europe, Batu Khan and his chief general, Subutai, inflicted a crushing defeat on King Béla IV’s Hungarian army, which was renowned for having the best cavalry in Europe. The Mongols burned the city of Pest and seized control of the Hungarian plain.
Having subjugated Kievan Rus in 1240, Mongol general Subutai planned an invasion of Europe in which a three-pronged assault on Hungary was supported by a campaign in Poland, one critical episode of which was a devastating Mongol victory at the Battle of Legnica on April 9, destroying the army of Prince Henry of Silesia. The main invasion force destroyed Hungarian defenses in the Carpathians and swept across Hungary, stopping on the banks of the River Sajo. King Béla IV encamped on the opposite bank, his army of 100,000 outnumbering the Mongols by at least 20,000.
On 10 April, Batu Khan attacked: he and his brother, Prince Shiban, led a frontal assault across the river while Subutai rode northward in search of a ford by which his troops could cross and attack the Hungarians from behind. Batu and Shiban struggled to make headway, but then unleashed catapult-fired explosives that drove the Hungarians back. Once across, they wheeled around and turned the Hungarian position so it would be vulnerable to Subutai when he arrived; then Batu ordered his men to retreat and line up in single file.
Subutai’s troops arrived and deployed in the same way behind the Hungarians, who—realizing they were about to be encircled by archers—charged out to regain their camp. Subutai pursued them and bombarded the camp with explosives, finally sending in his heavy cavalry. A column of Hungarians fled back toward Pest but was pursued and shot down by the mounted Mongol archers. The Magyar nobility and vaunted cavalry suffered heavy losses, while Béla himself fled, taking refuge in Croatia.
After burning Pest and massacring its inhabitants, for the next ten months the Mongols ravaged the Hungarian countryside. Most of the rest of Europe was saved from further Mongol depredations by the death of the great khan Ogödei and consequent withdrawal of Mongol forces to select a new leader. For his part, Béla, with most of his army and realm destroyed, returned to Hungary and began a great campaign of rebuilding, including a strong network of fortifications.
Losses: Mongol, unknown of 80,000; Hungarian, 60,000 of 100,000.
