This article by Tom Bornholdt first appeared on Today in Alternate History.
By 1274, the Mongol invasion of Japan was underway. In 1266, Kublai Khan, a grandson of Genghis Khan and ruler of
the Mongol Empire under the Yuan Dynasty, had sent emissaries to Japan demanding that it become
a vassal. At that time the real ruler of Japan was Hojo Tokimune, whose
official post was that of Shikken, which was the regent of the
shogunate. He sent the emissaries back without an answer. Meanwhile, he
ordered Kyushu, the Japanese island most likely to be invaded because it
was closest to the Korean peninsula to prepare for war. On November 2 ,
a Mongol invasion fleet
with 22,000 soldiers and 7,000 sailors departed Korea. On the way to
Japan, it captured Tsushima Island
and Iki Island before landing at Hakata Bay on the north coast of
Kyushu. There they were confronted by several thousand Japanese, who
were soon confused by the tactics used by the invaders. This included
phalanxes and the throwing of paper and iron-casing bombs, which
disoriented the soldiers
and made their horses uncontrollable. Though the Japanese fought
bravely, by nightfall the Yuan had
driven them a few miles inland and burned the town of Hataka. The
Japanese prepared to make a last stand at Mizuki where there was a very
old earthwork moat fort.
The
three Yuan generals then had a meeting. Holdon wanted to keep pursuing
the Japanese. Hong Dagu worried about his men being exhausted and
getting ambushed during the night. He
therefore advocated returning to the ships. After some debate, Liu
Fuxiang agreed with Holdon and the
attack continue. After midnight, a great storm arrived without warning.
More than a third of the Yuan ships were dashed against the rocks and
destroyed. Many others were blown far out to sea while a few were
beached in repairable conditions. In the morning, generals realized that
if they had moved their
soldiers back aboard the destroyed ships they would have perished during
the storm. There were not enough ships left to evacuate the entire army
so the generals concluded they were stuck. Because of
the loss of supplies, they needed to proceed cautiously. In the afternoon,
they encircled the Japanese
forces at Mizuki but made no assault, intending to starve them out while
their soldiers finally got some
badly needed rest. Eight days later, the Japanese sortied and were
annihilated. In the meantime, the Yuan army had sacked Dazaifu, the
political center of Kyushu.
By the end of the year they had
defeated
the Japanese in detail several times and gained control of the northern
half of Kyushu. During the winter the army raided the southern part of the
island resulting in a few small engagements.
In early March of
1275, the Yuan expedition received some reinforcements along with
supplies. On March 26, they landed on the north shore of Nagato Province,
which lay on the opposite side of Kanmon Straits. This resulted in a
fierce 13-day battle which ended with the Yuan invaders being forced
back to their ships and departing. The Japanese on Honshu had previously
heard stories of Yuan atrocities committed on Kyushu, the majority of
which were true. The fighting in Nagato Province
produced more stories that were all the more frightening because they
occurred closer to home. The failure of this operation made Kublai Khan
realize that conquering Japan was going to be harder than he had
expected. However, at this time he could not afford to further reinforce his
expedition with anything
more than penny packets since he was still at war with the
Southern Song.
During the summer, Hojo Tokimune slowly moved
samurai to southern Kyushu. The
commander of the Japanese forces there mounted an invasion of the north
in early September, despite being ordered by Hojo Tokimune to wait
another month. This offensive surprised the Mongols and
caused them some grief at first but were eventually able to soundly
defeat it south of Dazaifu on September 15. After that, the Mongols
concluded that they needed to conquer all of Kyushu before
trying again to invade Honshu. This turned out to be a lengthy campaign
with the Japanese increasingly
turning to guerilla tactics. This, in turn, provoked the Mongols to commit
more atrocities. It wasn't until
the spring of 1277 that they felt that they could try again to invade
Nagato Province. They attempted a
landing there on May 25 and found to their dismay that the Japanese had
greatly improved the coastal
defenses there, including building a wall. The landing was costly failure
for the Mongols. In October, the
Japanese sent another expedition to southern Kyushu but within two
months it was obliterated. After
that, the war went into another lull with Mongols content to further
consolidate their hold on Kyushu.
The war was an increasing drain on the finances of both the Mongol
Empire and Japan, but the Mongols
were better able to afford it. Hojo Tokimune was forced to raise taxes
and then raise them again. In
late 1278, a few rich merchants decided to the move to the Kuril Islands
to escape the burdensome taxes,
bringing their guards with them to protect them from the Ainu
inhabitants.
On March 19, 1279, the Yuan Dynasty crushed the Song Dynasty at the naval Battle of Yamen.
This was the end of the Song Dynasty. While this allowed Kublai Khan to focus on the conquest of Japan,
it had no immediate discernible effect. Indeed 1279 was the quietest year of the war. This lull
continued into 1280. In the autumn of that year Kublai held a conference at his summer palaces. A
number of options were discussed. One of them was to incorporate Kyushu into their empire but to
give up on trying to subjugate the rest of Japan. Another was to again try to land in Nagato Province but
using a much larger force. Even if the landing was successful, advancing through the very rugged terrain
of northern Honshu would be difficult. It was acknowledged by all that it would take over a year to
reach the Imperial Court at Kyoto. Another option was to invade Shikoku next and only invade Honshu
after it was captured and subdued. This was the plan that Kublai initially favored, but there were still
others that intrigued him.
At this time public opinion inside Honshu was decidedly mixed. There was still a great deal of
dread. However, there was also growing frustration with the shogunate's inability to liberate Kyushu
from the grip of the Mongols. This was coupled with the growing dissatisfaction with the heavy taxes.
1291 started off as another quiet year, but Hojo Tokimune worried that with the defeat of the Song
Dynasty another attempt to invade Honshu was highly likely. He concluded that retaking Kyushu was
necessary to prevent an invasion of Honshu. Since the beginning of the invasion he had been working
diligently to improve the Japanese navy in both quantity and quality. He did not believe that the enemy
knew the full size of the fleet he had amassed. On August 7, most of this fleet arrived at Taka Island
carrying a large force of soldiers. They quickly captured Taka Island. Two days later, they landed at
Hakata Bay but sustained heavy losses. For the next five days there was a protracted bloody battle in
the nearby countryside which favored the Japanese but turned into a stalemate.
Then on August 15 a typhoon, known to the Japanese as the akumakaze, struck this fleet at
anchor and devastated it. By this time, most of the soldiers had landed but the commander of the
expedition ordered the soldiers to retreat back on to the ships once the storm had cleared. However,
there was not enough space on the surviving ships to cram everyone aboard. More than half of the
soldiers were left behind. On the way back to Honshu two overcrowded vessels foundered. It took the
Yuan army in northern Kyushu three more days to eliminate the Japanese soldiers who had been left behind.
The afternoon August 31 a large Yuan fleet carrying 54,000 men (incl. sailors) arrived off the
Kanmon Straits which separated Honshu and Kyushu. The fleet's departure had been delayed nearly
three months because Kublai Khan had trouble deciding which plan he wanted. He eventually asked
the Polos for advice on this matter. Since the plan he finally chose was the one they favored, he decided
to send them along with the expedition to witness firsthand the fruits of their counsel.
That night the great Yuan fleet carefully passed through the Kanmon Straits. Once it was
through it sailed ESE inside the Inland Sea. During the day there were some skirmishes with small
Japanese craft but they proved to be little more than a nuisance. When it arrived off Iwai Island, the
great fleet split into two groups. The smaller group which was under the command of Fan Wenhu had
about 20,000 men. It proceeded to Hiroshima Bay where it methodically proceeded to land its soldiers.
Half of what was left of the Japanese navy was in the Inland Sea and most of them converged on
Hiroshima Bay. There generated some naval action but it interfered with the landing only a little. The
Yuan soldiers encountered very weak resistance on the beaches. Once they had landed, they were
ordered to proceed northwest until they reached the Sea of Japan. Their mission was to cut the lines of
communications between Nagato Province, where nearly half of what was left of the Japanese army was
currently located, and the capital at Kamakura. It also succeeded as a diversion drawing away some of
the Japanese reserves in central Honshu.
Meanwhile, the larger part of the Yuan fleet under the command of Arakhan sailed SSE until it
passed Okinoshima Island. It then turned to the east and swung around to the south of Shikoku. The
afternoon of September 8, it began to enter Osaka Bay having fought off a few small Japanese warships
during the morning. At dusk, it started to land its soldiers on Osaka's beaches where they encountered
only weak resistance. They continued landing during the night. The following morning a substantial
Yuan detachment was also landed on Awaji Island to the west of Osaka Bay. This would protect the rear
of the Yuan army from Japanese forces on Shikoku. By nightfall the Mongols had captured the
important city of Osaka. However, 30 miles to the northeast there lay an even greater prize: Kyoto and the Imperial Court!
Arakhan did not wait for the landing of soldiers and supplies to finish but set out at first light for
Kyoto with the troops he had at hand. His route passed through the Kamo River Valley so he did not
have any rough terrain to contend with. That evening Emperor Fushimi received word that Osaka had
fallen and a large Mongol was heading his way. He was frankly told that the forces guarding Kyoto were
too weak to withstand the enemy. That night Fushimi along with his retinue were evacuated to the east
with the fortified capital city of Kamakura as their ultimate destination. The rest of the Imperial Court
was left behind to fight to death to defend the Chrysanthemum Throne.
The next day, the Mongols' vanguard reached the outskirts of Kyoto. They made no attempt to
storm the city but scouted it and, when more units arrived, began to surround it. Arakhan had been in a
hurry to reach Kyoto, but he was in no rush to capture it. Once his soldiers had surrounded the city, he
let them rest as long as they remained prepared to counter a sortie. He brought up supplies from
Osaka. He sent out parties to scout and raid. He prepared catapults and constructed both an inner and
outer circle of ramparts. Marco Polo was reminded of a cat playing with a mouse. Arakhan knew that
the capital city of Kamakura was a natural fortress that would be very difficult to capture. His hope was
that the Shikken would feel compelled to rush to this most sacred place with what forces he had
available. Sure enough on September 22, Arakhan received word from his scouts that an enemy force
was approaching from the east. This consisted of a mere 900 samurai plus their retainers as well as 700
sohei (warrior monks) and some armed civilians. Arakhan then ordered all work to cease on the
catapults and the inner ring of ramparts and to concentrate solely on the outer ramparts. Two days
later the Japanese army arrived at Kyoto late in the day. The samurai, many of whom were elderly,
were mounted on horseback but the others were on foot and had been subjected to a grueling forced
march for several days. The Shikken, Hojo Tokimune was leading them.
Arakhan did his best to hide the full size of his army from the enemy fearing it might scare them
off. Despite this, Hojo Tokimune saw enough to realize he was very badly outnumbered. For not the
first time in this war, he experienced fear. He had once asked his Zen Master, Mugaku Sogen, what to do
to overcome his cowardice. Mugaku Sogen told him to sit in meditation and seek out the source of the
cowardice within himself. The Shikken allowed his men and their horses to rest beyond the range of the
Yuan bows for two hours. He spent the last hour in deep meditation. When he was done, he received
final reports from his subordinates. By this time, the sun had set. The twilight illuminated the Yuan army
to west but the Japanese were difficult to see in the growing darkness. Unfortunately this meant that
he did not see the Yuan soldiers Arakhan was sending well to his east to cut off his line of retreat. He
moved his army within bow range of the ramparts. He ordered a volley of arrows to be unleashed. The
enemy did not respond. He ordered two more volleys. He shouted, "Katsu!" (Victory), then lead his
samurai in a great charge on horseback. The sohei unleashed one more volleys of arrows then joined
the charge along with the armed civilians.
Arakhan then gave the signal for the two bonfires he had prepared to be lit. The catapults flung
bombs that exploded in the midst of the samurai while a dense mass of arrows rained down on them.
Despite this, the samurai kept on coming. If they were unhorsed, they advanced on foot as best they
could. A few managed to reach the ramparts only to contend with a line of polearms. In less than an
hour, the slaughter was over. Only three samurai were captured, and that was because they had been
stunned. All of the rest including Hojo Tokimune were either dead or dying. So too were most of the
sohei. It was a different story with the armed civilians who had minimal training. Some of them fought
fiercely albeit ineffectively inspired by heroic samurai but the majority of them soon panicked and fled.
Most of those were caught by the soldiers Arakhan had sent to the east though a few managed to
escape in the darkness. Marco Polo would later write of this engagement, "It was magnificent but it
was not war. It was madness."
Having slaughtered the Shikken and his men, Arahan decided that the time had come to capture
Kyoto. He let his men sleep late. Mid-morning, he sent one of his men to ask the defenders if they
wanted to surrender. As expected, their commander refused. The Yuan catapults then started hurling
bombs down on the city. From behind the inner ramparts, Yuan archers carefully fired at whatever
targets they could see. There were only seven samurai, four of whom were in ill health, inside Kyoto.
Several popular stories, all of them exaggerated, would be written about their exploits. A majority of
the defenders were sohei from different sects that in the past had frequently fought each other over
theological squabbles and imagined insults. This day they fought side by side with a common purpose.
There were also members of the Imperial Court Fushimi had left behind. Some knew how to handle a
weapon when the siege began but most did not. During the siege they received some training. When
the Mongols failed to make a quick assault, the commander thought the enemy might be trying to starve
them out and put everyone on reduced rations while resisting the urge to sortie.
At noon, the Yuan assault began after three dense volleys of arrows. With very few exceptions,
the defenders fought bravely. By nightfall, the attackers had breached the outer defenses but there
were still pockets of resistance that managed to hold out well into the following day. Kublai Khan had
made it very clear to Arakhan that any unarmed courtiers that were captured inside Kyoto were not to
be harmed. Furthermore, they were to refrain from looting except for taking useful items like food,
horses and weapons. With only a few exceptions, these policies were obeyed.
By this time, Arakhan had received word from Fan Wenhu that there was heavy fighting
underway in the Iwami and Aki Provinces with the Japanese army that had been in Nagato Province
trying to reach Kyoto. Fan Wenhu was making excellent use of the advantage of being on the defensive
in very rough terrain. Furthermore the warships that Fan Wenhu commanded were making good
progress in eliminating the Japanese warships in the Inland Sea. This would make it easy for Arakhan to
receive supplies form the large dumps in northern Kyushu.
Once Kyoto was taken, Arakhan left behind a strong garrison force at Awaji Island, Osaka, and
Kyoto, then headed west with the bulk of his army. His first objective was Ise Bay which the army
reached without significant opposition on September 29. Arakhan then let the most of his army rest
there for three days while sending a piece of it south to capture Ise Jingu the most important of all
Shinto shrines. As with Kyoto, Kublai Khan had commanded that unarmed clerics at that shrine were not
to be harmed. The Mongols left behind a modest garrison at the shrine.
Arakhan's ultimate objective was to reach the Kanto Plain. He proceeded along the coast where
there were hallway decent roads and only a few mountains. When he reached Mikama Bay, his fleet
dropped off some supplies brought from dumps in southern Kyushu while he rested for two days. From
then on, the fleet would protect him from a seaward attack. On October 15, the army's vanguard
reached the base of Mt. Fuji. The Polos saw it the next day and were deeply impressed by its beauty. By
this time, Arakhan had decided that he still didn't want to make an assault on the formidable fortress of
Kamakura when he reached the Kanto Plain. He didn't know that it was very weakly defended at this
time. He decided that he would unleash his Mongols once they reached the open spaces of the Kanto
Plain letting them rape, pillage and plunder as they pleased. He had been relatively restrained at Osaka
and downright nice by Mongol standards at Kyoto and Ise Jingu, but that was about to end. If there was
indeed a strong Japanese force at Kamakura or anywhere else nearby, this would force them to fight in
the open where the Mongols could eradicate them. Furthermore, it would give whoever was currently
running the show at Kamakura an incentive to submit to Kublai Khan.
When Hojo Tokimune had departed Kamakura for his ill-fated appointment at Kyoto, he
instructed his rensho (assistant regent) Hojo Shigetoki to assume the duties of Shikken should he perish.
Unfortunately the rensho was more optimistic about the Shikken's chances than the Shikken was. It
wasn't until a month later that he learned about the Mongols claiming to have killed Hojo Tokimune. Up
until then, he made the minor humdrum operational decisions to which he was accustomed but put off
any major strategic moves not wanting to be viewed as being presumptuous. For a few days he was
unsure as to what to make of the Mongol claims and so continued to act hesitantly. Emperor Fushimi
could sense this weakness and saw this as an opportunity for him to reassert some Imperial authority.
The Polos were appalled by what they witnessed after they left Mt. Fuji. Marco would later
write of what he called the "Rape of Kawasaki." The fall of 1281 was a period of unmitigated horror
throughout most of the Honshu. Many people living in the Kanto Plain fled in terror into the mountains.
Commerce broke down throughout the island while brigandage waxed. In the prior years, a few hundred
anxious souls had departed Honshu for Hokkaido where they soon found themselves contesting with the
Ainu. In the fall of 1281, this migration blossomed. A handful of warships that technically belonged to the
Japanese navy helped facilitate this development. The migration numbered over 2,000 by the year's
end. They succeeded in carving out a partially fortified enclave in southern Hokkaido that managed to
repel the initial attacks by the Ainu. Some of the wealthier refugees were attracted to the Kuril Islands
as an alternative.
Reports of what was happening in the Kanto Plain reached Emperor Kishimi at Kamakura. The
suffering of his people caused him to weep. Many of the important figures of the very powerful Hojo
clan had perished at the Battle of Kyoto alongside the Shikken, which made it easier for him to reclaim
authority. On November 28, he decided that for the sake of his people he must agree to become a vassal
of Kublai Khan. He then browbeat the rensho into going along. The next day he sent an official message
to Arakhan of his decision.
Author's Note:
In reality Liu Fuxiang sided with Hong Dagu that fateful night and the Yuan soldiers retired to their ships.
The losses caused by the storm made them abandon the invasion and return to Korea.
