The Mongol Empire: A Historical Encyclopedia [2 Volumes] by Timothy May

Author:Timothy May
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781610693400
Publisher: ABC-CLIO

Japan, Invasion of (1274, 1280)

The death of Mongke Khan led to a civil war among the Mongols. Ultimately Khubilai Khan emerged victorious over his brother, Ariq Boke. With this victory, Khubilai continued his conquest of Song Empire. At the same time, he sought to isolate the Song Empire from its allies and resources. This included Japan, where the Song conducted a considerable amount of trade that funded their resistance to Mongol conquest.

In 1268 and 1271, Khubilai Khan sent emissaries to Japan to establish contact as well as demand its submission, as the Mongols firmly believed that Tenggeri, or heaven, had decreed that the heirs of Chinggis Khan were meant to rule the world. On both occasions, the Japanese court refused to meet with the Mongol ambassadors. In 1272, another ambassador arrived with an ultimatum: submit or be destroyed. Again, he was denied an audience with the Japanese court. He returned and reported his failure to a furious Khubilai, now determined to subdue Japan. At this point, the Mongols had recently captured Xiangyang, thus allowing Khubilai to divert some of his army against the Japanese.

In November 1274, a large fleet of 700 to 800 ships, carrying 30,000 soldiers and sailors, sailed from Korea toward Japan. Landing on the islands of Tsushima and Iki, they quickly overcame all resistance. The Mongols then sailed to Hakata Bay on the island of Kyushu and anchored. As news of the Mongol conquest of Tsushima and Iki preceded them, the Mongols found a Japanese army at Hakata. Although the Japanese attacked the Mongol landing parties, they soon found themselves on the defensive. As the Japanese samurai attempted to gain individual glory, the Mongol army fought in disciplined units. Consisting of Mongols, Han Chinese, and Koreans, the Mongols repulsed the samurai and established a beachhead.

At the end of the day on November 19, the Japanese retreated under the cover of night. Taken aback by the Mongols’ style of warfare, which allowed individually less talented warriors to overcome the martial prowess of the samurai, the Japanese licked their wounds and waited for morning. The morning’s battle never came, though, as a typhoon hit the island. The Mongol navy attempted to reach open water before the winds destroyed its ships, but the storm moved too fast. Hundreds of ships were destroyed, and approximately 13,000 troops died from the storm, as did those trapped on the shore. The surviving ships had little choice but to return and report the disaster to Khubilai Khan.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.