Mongol Siege of Kaifeng, (1232–33). A Mongol army commanded by Subedei captured the northern Chinese Jin dynasty capital, Kaifeng, overcoming defenders equipped with gunpowder bombs. The Jin emperor committed suicide, handing control of Jin territories in northern China to the recently elected Mongol khan, Ogödei.

Although the Mongols captured Beijing (Zhongdu) in 1215, the Jin maintained resistance. After Genghis Khan’s death in 1227 and the election of his son, Ogödei, as supreme khan in 1229, they attempted to reassert themselves. Jin leaders recaptured territory in Shensi Province and Honan and built fortresses along the Huang Ho (Yellow River), manned by a defensive army of 300,000. The Mongols launched a three-pronged invasion, with one army under Ogödei’s brother Tolui passing with permission through Song territory in the south.

The invaders began a siege of the vast city of Kaifeng in summer 1232. The defenders reportedly used a "thunder bomb," an iron vessel containing gunpowder that was fired by a large catapult and on explosion either blew attackers to pieces or injured them with flying debris. They also used cannon. In the course of the siege, Tolui was taken ill and died, leaving the campaign in the hands of Subedei. He requested reinforcements from the Song, and—after the arrival of a Song army of 20,000—victory was inevitable. The defenders were weakened by famine and illness, and many thousands died within the city.

The Jin emperor Ai-tsung ceded control to his general Tsui Lui, then fled and committed suicide. The city surrendered but, under orders from Ogödei, the Mongols did not massacre the population. Nonetheless, the Jin dynasty was at an end and northern China was in the possession of the Mongols.

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Losses: Mongol, unknown; Jin, thousands of subjects died during the siege, thousands more escaped when the city fell.