Subutai
Final years

After subduing a Cuman revolt in what is now Russia, Subutai turned towards Mongolia. Subutai insisted that Batu attend the kurultai to elect the successor of Ogedei in the Mongolian heartland. Batu declined to come and Güyük was elected after three years, with Subutai's support. Güyük had no love for Batu and wanted the best of the Mongol generals to be made unavailable to Batu if the feud between them came to open war. The new Khagan placed Subutai in charge, at the age of 71, of the campaign against the Song dynasty for 1246–1247. The Papal envoy Plano Carpini saw him when he was in Karakorum, Mongolia. He said Subutai was well respected among the Mongols and called him a Knight/Valiant/Hero (translation of Baghatur). Subutai returned to Mongolia from the Song campaign in 1248 and spent the remainder of his life at his home in the vicinity of the Tuul River (near modern Ulaanbaatar), dying there at the age of 72. A folk legend claimed that Subutai wished to die by his son Uriyangkhadai by the banks of the Danube river.

Subutai's descendants such as Uriyangkhadai and Aju would serve the Great Khans for the next three decades as commanders. Uriyangkhadai would successfully conquer the kingdom of Dali, but not Dai Viet however. He later achieved great success invading Song China from the southwest in the 1258 invasion of Möngke Khan. Aju fought with his father, and then later led the successful five-year Mongol siege of the pivotal dual fortress of Xiangyang-Fancheng in the battle of Xiangyang, which opened up a gateway into the heart of the Song and enabled their total conquest six years later in 1279.
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