Mongol River Fleet in the Conquest of Jin

Timeline

1. 1211–1220Great Wall line and north of the Yellow River · BeijingIn 1211 the Mongol army crossed the Great Wall to attack the Jin, but the Jin relied on the natural barrier of the Yellow River and its inland fleet to hold off the enemy. Mongol cavalry were unskilled in naval combat, and early river crossings repeatedly met counterattacks from Jin warships. At this stage the Mongol fleet was still experimental, relying mainly on simple rafts and the defection of Jin naval forces.
2. 1220–1230Liaodong and the Shandong coast · ShandongThe Mongol army recruited surrendered Jin commanders and advisors such as Yelü Chucai, systematically absorbing Jin naval forces and Han Chinese shipwrights. Tower ships, warships, and ferries were built in Liaodong, Shandong, and elsewhere, forming a standing inland fleet and learning Jin naval tactics and the hydrology of the Yellow River.
3. 1232–1233Yellow River section outside Bianjing (Kaifeng) · KaifengAfter the Jin main force was destroyed at the Battle of Sanfengshan in 1232, the Mongol fleet blockaded the Yellow River crossings and besieged the Jin capital Bianjing. The fleet encamped outside the city, cutting off the Jin's waterborne supplies and bombarding the gate towers with fire projectiles. After the Jin's last large-scale naval counterattack failed, the fall of the capital was imminent.
4. 1233–1234Caizhou · ZhumadianAfter Emperor Aizong of Jin relocated to Caizhou, a joint Mongol–Southern Song army besieged the city. The Mongol fleet controlled the Ru River and Huai tributaries, blocking the Jin's last waterborne escape route. In 1234 the city fell, Emperor Aizong hanged himself, and the Jin dynasty ended. The experience of the Mongol river fleet was directly applied in the subsequent Mongol–Song War.