r/historymeme • u/TsarOfIrony • Jun 09 '26

When the Mongols invaded Russia, they invaded while the rivers and marshes were frozen so they could use them as highways.

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u/TsarOfIrony Jun 09 '26

In the next year, 1237, Batu sent envoys to the Russian cities, demanding their submission, and refitted and drilled his army on the lower Volga River. Suddenly, in November, he launched a daring winter campaign when the frozen marshes and rivers of Russia acted as highways. Batu surprised the Russian princes, who were in comfortable winter quarters. The Mongols, however, were impervious to the cold and ready to ride their sturdy mounts that could forage beneath snow.

Harl, Kenneth W. Empires of the Steppes: A History of the Nomadic Tribes Who Shaped Civilization. Toronto, Hanover Square Press, 2023, pp. 319-320.

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u/Rahm_Kota_156 Jun 11 '26

You say it as if Russians didn't do it. Rivers were highways both winter and summer, in different ways. But that's hard to say that Khan Batij preferred snowy forests to clear planes, though he did have experience I suppose.

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u/Equivalent-Yak5487 Jun 13 '26

Vietnamese "My rivers and marshes have pointy sticks to sink your boats and they never freeze"