At the end of the 13th century, Japan faced a danger far more serious than any internal strife. In 1271, the Yuan dynasty, founded by Kublai Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan, established itself in China. His army was truly enormous: tens of thousands of soldiers — Chinese, Koreans, Jurchen, and especially Mongols, who had conquered the territory from Korea to Poland and from the northern taiga to Egypt. Only one country remained unconquered — Japan.
Kublai sent embassies to the imperial court with demands to recognize his authority and threats in case of refusal, but the Japanese did not respond to any of them. They knew that an attack was coming and prepared for it, although they did not realize the full power of the enemy.
The first invasion (1274)
In November 1274, Kublai's army set out for the island of Kyushu. The fleet consisted of 900 ships carrying 25,000 Mongols with horses, 10,000 Chinese, and 5,000 Koreans. In a matter of months, the Great Khan had assembled a huge army.
The Mongols easily captured the islands of Tsushima and Iki, after which they entered Hakata Bay, the only place on the northwestern coast of Kyushu suitable for a mass landing. Three coastal villages were taken, but there the invaders met fierce resistance.
There were few samurai — between 3,500 and 6,000 men. They bravely attacked the enemy, but the forces were too unequal. Many fell in battle, and the few survivors retreated under the protection of old, dilapidated fortifications. One of the warriors wrote: “All night long we mourned our fate, thinking that we were doomed and would be exterminated to the last man.”
The Mongols were cruel: in the captured villages, they killed all the men, infants, and old people, and took the women into slavery, stretching ropes through their palms cut with daggers.
However, the enemy did not advance any further. Night fell, Chinese commander Liu was wounded in battle, and the army withdrew to their ships to continue the offensive in the morning. But a storm broke out during the night. About 200 ships were wrecked on the rocks, and approximately 13,000 soldiers died at sea. The rest of the fleet returned with difficulty. The Japanese celebrated their victory and called the storm kamikaze, meaning “divine wind.”
Preparing for a new storm
Hojo Tokimune, head of the bakufu, understood that defeat would not stop Kublai Khan. The new campaign was only postponed. Only after the Mongols conquered the Song Empire did the khan begin to prepare for invasion again.
The second army was even larger. It was divided into two fleets. The eastern fleet, consisting of Mongols and Koreans, numbered 42,000 men and 900 ships. The southern fleet, according to the chronicles, included 3,500 ships and 100,000 Chinese soldiers. Although these figures are clearly exaggerated, the Mongols' superiority was absolute. Moreover, their ships were equipped with siege engines and primitive explosive bombs.
The second invasion (1281)
In May 1281, the eastern flotilla set sail. The Mongols again captured the islands of Tsushima and Iki and on June 21 approached Hakata Bay. But now the Japanese were ready: a stone wall called Genko Borui, up to 2.8 meters high, stretched along the coast for twenty kilometers. The shore was patrolled by mounted samurai.
The landing attempt was met with a hail of arrows. The Japanese fought desperately, dying but taking their enemies with them. The battles lasted several days. The Mongols burned the fortifications but were only able to land a small detachment.
Meanwhile, the samurai began to attack the ships. In fast boats, they approached the large junks, climbed aboard, and killed the crews in hand-to-hand combat. Once, thirty samurai swam to a ship, killed its crew, and returned victorious.
Another warrior, Kono Mitiari, pretended to surrender. His men hid their weapons under their clothes, boarded the enemy ship, and suddenly launched an attack. Mitiari killed the captain, captured the commander, and burned the ship.
The legendary Kusano Jiro attacked the enemy in broad daylight. Despite having his arm torn off by a cannonball, he stormed the enemy ship and personally killed 21 warriors, then set the ship on fire.
The Mongols tried to land several times, but without success. They began to wait for the Southern Fleet. But the heat, lack of water and food, unsanitary conditions, and disease killed about three thousand warriors. Morale was falling.
On August 12, the two fleets joined forces and attacked Takashima Island, intending to land in Imari Bay. The Japanese prayed to the gods for salvation.
Divine Wind
On August 16, a terrible typhoon struck. The sky turned black, and huge waves lifted and smashed ships. The Mongols had chained their ships together in advance, and now they dragged each other to the bottom.
The storm lasted three days. Almost the entire fleet was destroyed. The Mongols lost about 100,000 soldiers. The few survivors were killed by the samurai. Japan was saved.
Consequences
Kublai Khan planned another invasion, but it never took place: wars in Korea, South China, and Vietnam prevented it. From that moment until World War II, the Japanese islands remained out of reach for invaders.
See also
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The Third Siege of Takatenjin Castle
The history of the castle prior to the conflict between the Tokugawa and Takeda clans is rather unclear. According to one version, the castle was built in 1416, when Imagawa Sadayoshi (1325–1420) was governor of Suruga Province and half of Totomi Province. Allegedly, it was he who ordered Imagawa Norimasa (1364–1433) to build this fortification. However, no reliable evidence has been found to support this. Another version is considered more plausible, according to which the castle was built during the conquest of Totomi Province at the end of the 15th century by Imagawa Ujitsuna (1473–1526) and his general Ise Shinkuro (Hojo Soon). In this case, another of Ujitsuna's generals, Kusima Masashige (1492–1521), is considered responsible for the construction.
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Battle of Mimigawa
In 1556, the Shimazu clan launched a campaign aimed at systematically conquering the island of Kyushu. In the same year, the province of Osumi was annexed and a war began with the Ito clan for control of the province of Hyuga. In 1577, Ito Yoshisuke was defeated and fled north, where he sought help from Otomo Sorin, the Christian daimyo of Bungo Province.
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The Siege of Kozuki Castle
The battle for Kozuki Castle was a consequence of Oda Nobunaga's expansion in the Chugoku region. Toyotomi Hideyoshi was appointed to lead the campaign, which aimed to weaken the influence of the Mori clan in these lands. Under his command were famous samurai: Kuroda Kanbei, Takenaka Shigeharu, and Hachisuka Koroku. Amago Katsuhisa, who cherished the hope of one day restoring the Amago clan's lost dominance in western Japan, also joined Oda's army.
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The Siege of Nagashino Castle
Despite his reputation as a failure, created by 20th-century popular culture, especially cinema, Takeda Katsuyori (1546–1582) was in fact a brave warrior and talented commander. However, he always remained in the shadow of his great father, the legendary Takeda Shingen. After Shingen's death, Katsuyori sought to at least equal him, if not surpass him. Therefore, his actions were not always determined by pragmatic calculation. This character trait greatly influenced the subsequent events that led to the demise of the Takeda clan.
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Siege of Nagashima Fortifications
The Buddhist peasant movement Ikko-Ikki, which emerged in the 15th century, had grown considerably stronger and larger by the middle of the following century. It had effectively turned into a large feudal army used for territorial conquests. The Ikko-ikki fought fiercely not only against other branches of Buddhism, but also against the provincial daimyo and the central government.
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The Second Battle of Konodai
Hojo Ujiasu (1515–1571), one of the greatest representatives of the Hojo clan, spent almost his entire life at war. His possessions were in a difficult position: they were surrounded on all sides by aggressive neighbors ready to attack at any moment. In implementing his plans to expand the Hojo clan's influence in the Kanto region, Ujiasu was forced to confront well-known and powerful opponents—the Uesugi and Takeda clans. In the east, his main rival was the Satomi clan.
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The Fourth Battle of Kawanakajima
The Kawanakajima Plain is located at the confluence of the Saigawa and Tikumagawa rivers in the Japanese Alps. Between 1553 and 1564, five battles took place on this plain between the forces of Uesugi Kenshin and Takeda Shingen.
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Battle of Tonamoto (Nagahama)
At the beginning of the Sengoku Jidai period, the Teshokabe clan was one of the smaller clans in Tosa Province. Its neighbors were constantly at war with each other, engaging in endless skirmishes. Among them, Yosokabe Kunitika stood out as a military strategist of extraordinary talent. It was thanks to these abilities that he managed to defeat the neighboring clans step by step by the middle of the 16th century, expanding the influence of his clan. At that time, the clan's headquarters was Oko Castle.
