 As the Mongols of the Ilkhanate continued to move towards the Holy Land , city after city fell to the Mongols . The typical Mongol pattern was to give a region one chance to surrender . If the target acquiesced , the Mongols absorbed the populace and warriors into their own Mongol army , which they would then use to further expand the empire . If a community did not surrender , the Mongols forcefully took the settlement or settlements and slaughtered everyone they found . Faced with the option of subjugation to or combat with the nearby Mongol horde , many communities chose the former , including some Christian realms . 
