The idea that the mongols would carry the pest seems strikingly logical at first. After all, what did the conquistadors carry to the Americas? But that model d

The idea that the mongols would carry the pest seems strikingly logical at first. After all, what did the conquistadors carry to the Americas? But that model doesn't really work well, if one thinks about it. The mongols did move large armies. These armies were not exactly healthy. So any outbreak of the plague would have severely hampered them. But how would they carry it to then infect, for instance, a besieged city? So either the plague followed the conquest, e.g., via trade routes or it was caused by the conquest, e.g., due to malnutrition of the conquered. But none of that explains the devastating effect it had on europe.