The Mongols' attack on Japan was caused by Japan's unwillingness to surrender to the Mongol Empire.
Kublai Khan sent envoys to Japan many times to ask Japan to surrender and pay tribute. The King of Goryeo also sent
a letter to the Japanese asking them to surrender to the Mongols, but every time the Japanese were scornful Earth refused
Kublai Khan's request. Faced with such an offense, the Mongol Khan who ruled the world certainly could not tolerate it, so an armed attack on Japan was inevitable. It should be noted that when
first attacked Japan, the Southern Song Dynasty had not yet been destroyed, and Kublai Khan only controlled northern China.
The Yuan Empire was gathering heavy troops to prepare for the southern expedition. There were not many troops to attack Japan, and the Han people were not the main force in the invasion.
Kublai Khan was determined to control Japan. In addition to showing the authority of the Great Khan, he also had many more practical considerations. Although the Mongol Khan was rich all over the world, due to the strong demand for luxury goods by the Mongolian nobles and the Mongolians' poor financial management, the finances of the Mongol Empire were often stretched. The two great khans before Kublai Khan, Guiyou and Mengge, were both known for their extravagant spending. They mainly paid for their luxury goods with precious metals and paid for some of their defaulted debts. Even using future loot as collateral.
Kublai Khan and Alibaba fought fiercely for the throne for four years. This civil war among the Mongols was unprofitable and naturally further worsened the financial situation of the Mongol Empire. Deterioration
. Japan has been the world's largest silver producer and exporter for the past hundreds of years. This wealthy island country is undoubtedly the world's largest silver producer and exporter in the eyes of the Mongolian nobles who are in urgent need of hard currency.
A piece of fat.
In 1274 AD, the expeditionary force to attack Japan sailed from Korea to Kyushu Island.
The expeditionary force consisted of 25,000 people, including Mongolians and Koreans. About half of each
there are also some Jurchens and a small number of Han people. The commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force was Hu Dun, a Mongolian, and the two deputy commanders were Hong Chaqiu, a Korean, and Liu Fuheng, a Han. The Yuan Army sailed to Hakata Bay, first captured and ravaged Tsushima Island and Iki Island, and then landed in Kyushu in three parts and invaded the interior. Of the three invasion armies, one was the main force and the other two were supporting forces. The landing location of the main force was approximately near Nagasaki.
Faced with the first "Mongol invasion", Japan's Kamakura shogunate mobilized some regular
troops to fight, and the feudal lords along the coast of Kyushu also urgently organized samurai and militia to join the battle. The brutal battle lasted for more than twenty days. The Japanese's tactics were relatively backward and they suffered heavy casualties in the initial battle
but they still successfully stopped the Yuan army's advance. . After
the stalemate for several days, the Japanese gradually adapted to the Mongolian tactics and began
to counterattack. The Japanese heavy cavalry, which was mainly composed of samurai, was particularly brave. With the support of archers, they braved the rain of arrows to attack the enemy, and engaged the enemy in close combat, making
The advantage of the Mongols' bows and arrows was lost. Liu Fuheng was killed in the fierce battle, and the Yuan army suffered heavy losses and retreated to the beach to rely on returning artillery for defense. At this point, the Yuan army suffered heavy casualties and had no hope of progress. Their defeat was inevitable. Since arrows and supplies were about to be exhausted, the Yuan army was unable to continue to defend their position, so they had to go up. The ship retreats. On the way back to North Korea, the Yuan army's fleet was hit by a storm and suffered some losses, but most of the ships returned home safely.
This battle is known as the "Battle of Bunei" in Japanese history. For the first time in East Asia, the Mongols encountered an opponent whose equipment, training and courage were not inferior to theirs. The Koreans were mainly responsible for close combat in the battle. They suffered heavy losses due to the frontal impact of the Japanese. Therefore, the Korean people were deeply impressed by the combat effectiveness of Japanese soldiers, especially the Japanese swords.
It is said that the swords of ordinary soldiers of the Yuan army broke at the touch of a Japanese sword. Relatively speaking, the Mongolians who used bows and arrows suffered less losses. In their view, although the Japanese bows and arrows were powerful, their range was very short and could not compete with the Mongolian horn bows. compared to.
After the first war of aggression against Japan, Kublai Khan believed that the Japanese had learned the power of the Mongols.
So he sent envoys to Japan again to demand surrender, but the Japanese were very disappointed. Simply
beheaded the Mongolian envoy. Kublai Khan naturally would not swallow his anger. After unifying China, he began to prepare for a second maritime invasion. Troops were recruited from all over China,
Mongolia and Goryeo to the coastal areas to receive landing combat training. Food supplies for the expeditionary force
were also continuously collected from all over the country. At the same time, Goryeo and Southeast China
The shipyards along the coast are also working day and night to build large and small warships and troop carriers.
Such a large-scale expedition preparation naturally cannot be kept secret, and the Japanese monitor it closely
The movements of the Yuan Empire have made sufficient preparations for the upcoming second "Mongol attack"< /p>
Preparations for war. At this time, Japan's political situation was stable, and Hojo Tokimune's control over the Kamakura shogunate and Japanese vassals was far greater than before, so the Japanese were able to use more manpower and material resources to fight against it. Invasion. The shogunate recruited civilians from Kyushu to build a stone wall along the beach in the Hakata Bay area where the enemy was most likely to land, to hinder the Mongolian cavalry.
When the enemy's attack date approached, Hojo Munemori and Hojo Munemasa respectively led elite military forces
The soldiers marched to the coastal areas of Honshu and Kyushu to set up defenses. Hojo Munemasa's Zhenxi Army Later
became the main force in the battle. At the same time, various vassals in Kyushu began to mobilize militiamen, and samurai from other parts of Japan also came to join the war.
In 1281 AD, the Yuan Empire's huge expeditionary force set off from Jiangsu, Zhejiang and North Korea at the same time
The military appearance of this expedition was very spectacular, with nearly 5,000 large and small ships
and about 200,000 troops, including 45,000 Mongolians, more than 50,000 Koreans, and more than 50,000 Han Chinese
>There are about 100,000 people, and most of them are Han people in the new affiliated army (the incorporated Southern Song Army). The Mongols in the expeditionary army are naturally the backbone of the battle. The northern fleet arrived at Hakata Bay at the end of May as
the Japanese expected. While waiting for the southern fleet, the Mongols easily
captured several islands in Hakata Bay. All the residents were massacred, and all the buildings on the island were destroyed and burned. In early June, the Southern Fleet arrived, and the two huge fleets met off the coast of Kyushu. Afterwards, the Yuan army began landing operations. The landing site was at Jiulong Mountain, which is a distance from where the main force of the previous war landed. The location is not far away. This time the expeditionary force encountered stronger and more effective resistance. The Japanese army used stone walls as cover to continuously
repell the Yuan army's attacks and also waited for opportunities to organize counterattacks. The most successful Japanese counterattack
defeated the main force of the Goryeo army. Hong Chaqiu, the commander of the Goryeo army, was captured and killed, and several senior Mongolian commanders were also killed. The fierce battle lasted for more than a month, and Yuan Zheng's losses exceeded one-third, but they still could not break through the stone wall. By late July
the Yuan army had basically run out of food, grass and arrows. At this time, both the Mongols and the Japanese probably thought that the outcome of this war would be the same as the last time. , will end with the retreat of the Yuan army.
On August 1, a violent hurricane suddenly blew up in the Pacific. The storm lasted for four days. For four days, the ships of the Yuan Army’s Southern Fleet were basically destroyed, and the ships of the Northern Fleet were basically destroyed. Also lost
most of it. The remaining ships of the Northern Fleet carried the commander and some Mongolian and Korean troops to escape the battlefield and sail back to Korea. The commanders of the Confederate Army and some senior officials saw no way to recover, so they had no choice but to abandon the main force and escape on the remaining
ships of the Confederate Fleet. At this time, there are still nearly 100,000 yuan troops left on the beach of Jiulong Mountain. These people have lost their supplies and retreat, and are unable to break through the Japanese defense line. Now they have to wait for death.
Three days later, the Japanese began to counterattack, driving the remaining Yuan troops to a narrow area called Hachiko Island, and then attacked with troops. Most of the Yuan army was killed, and the remaining 20,000 people were taken prisoner. The Japanese divided the prisoners into four classes according to Mongolian standards.
The first three classes, namely Mongols, Semu people, Jurchens, Koryos and northern Han people, were all executed. , the fourth-class Tang people (southern Han people) were exempted from becoming untouchables (untouchables) after death. There is also a hill called "Yuan Guanzhong" in Hakata Bay today, which is said to be the collective cemetery of soldiers of the Yuan army.
In this disastrous defeat, only three soldiers of the Confederate Army escaped. They pieced together a small boat and luckily floated back to China. Kublai Khan finally learned the truth about his defeat through these three survivors. Fan Wenhu, the deputy commander of the war, was beheaded, and other officials were also punished to varying degrees. .
Japanese history calls the second Mongolian invasion the "Battle of Koan". The troops I invested in this war were far superior in quality and quantity to the "Battle of Bunei". ", the Mongols
have no tactical advantage at all. According to the Japanese, the Mongols' combat effectiveness is not as powerful as imagined. Japanese samurai are superior to them in all aspects, especially in terms of equipment and combat skills. . The advantage of the Japanese equipment lies not only in the swords
but also in the armor of the samurai. It is said that as long as the distance is slightly farther, Mongolian bows and arrows are unable to penetrate the armor of the samurai. The Japanese samurai were completely out of work and received strict military training from an early age. It is not surprising that their combat skills are better than those of the Mongols.
Mongolian records
record that the Japanese are good at fighting alone, which can be corroborated with the Japanese statement.
The Japanese have the lowest evaluation of the Han people in the Yuan army. In their view, the Han army is greedy for life and afraid of death.
It has low morale and is a standard weak force. However, the Han people were not good at fighting, so they were more suitable to be slaves, so the Japanese finally pardoned some Han people.