Sea of Blood, Sea of Ice--The Mongol Conquest of Japan
- Thread starter Arkenfolm
- Start date
Great update but what are the important events prior to the Battle of Aonogahara and what are thr important strategies was used given the successful counterattack tactics?-XXVII-
"Azure Fields of Destiny, Part II"
Aonogahara, Mino Province, April 12, 1303
The morning sun poking through the clouds signalled the beginning of the greatest moment of Khayishan life's, the moment when he would destroy the enemy's final army. Already I have taken their capital, and now I will take their last ounce of strength and secure my achievements in this country. He fastened his armour tightly and grabbed his sword, emerging from his tent with joy in his heart despite his elbow still feeling painful and twisted from his horse collapsing from an arrow wound to its hoof of all things. Khayishan felt a warm embrace as he looked back, noticing his concubine smiling at him as she held in her arms Khayishan's young son Kusala.
His strategist Bayan greeted him with a bow.
"Lord Nanghiyadai has ordered Lord Burilgitei to lead the attack. All we must do is position ourselves accordingly so we might exploit the weaknesses he exposes," Bayan pointed out.
"It will be simple enough," Khayishan replied. "We need only drive them into the river for good today."
He prepared to climb onto his horse, whip in one hand, but as he did so a man grabbed his shoulder.
"Lord Khayishan, please lead our soldiers from this camp today," the man said. Khayishan turned back and say Toqtoa of the Kangli, a talented captain in the keshig he was fond of, and the man whose warriors saved him yesterday. "I fear your injuries are worse than you believe."
"We injure our soul when we strike down our foes. What are such shallow injuries of the body compared to that?" Khayishan replied, shaking him off.
"A prince leading from the front is like the head of the body--everything underneath will collapse if an accident happens," Toqtoa protested [1]. He grabbed the bridle of the horse, startling the beast so Khayishan could hardly ride it. Just what the hell is this man doing, stopping me from achieving the ultimate glory in this war? With a flick of his wrist, he swatted his captain with his whip, but even that didn't deter him. He kept whipping him and whipping him as his warriors watched, uncertain on how to intervene.
"Stop this immediately!" shouted a voice. A man on horseback trotted toward them, recognisable by his accent and poise as Aleksandr Zakharievich. "Toqtoa, let go of his majesty's horse!" With reluctance, Toqtoa followed his superior's order.
"Hmph, you'll listen to a fellow general but not your prince?" Khayishan spat. Aleksandr dismounted his horse and knelt before Khayishan, followed by Toqtoa.
"Forgive him, my lord, for he is simply concerned of your injuries. It is a demonstration of his utmost loyalty toward you that he wishes to forever serve by your side," Aleksandr said, but Khayishan shook his head.
"If you are truly worthy to be the bodyguards of the Great Khan's nephew, then you must be capable of protecting your master no matter his condition. If I am in trouble, I am confident you will rescue me with your strength," Khayishan explained. He climbed onto his horse and trotted away, followed by Toqtoa, Aleksandr, and Bayan. In the distance the enemy's army was moving like a great herd of animals lining up for the slaughter. Khayishan grinned at the sight as he prepared to do battle. Today I am born again, not as a mere prince but as a future Great Khan.
"Let us rally the rest of our men," Khayishan said. "We shall take the enemy's left and drown yesterday's humiliation in the blood of our foes."
---
Aonogahara, Mino Province, April 12, 1303
Takeda Tokitsuna stood in the rear lines riding his sturdy steed, taking in every sight and sound of the battle. He envisioned a mental map of the battlefield in his head--their right was weak today thanks to the need to reinforce the left, but Nawa and all his men were there to cover them, along with that rumoured brilliant archer Shogun Takaharu sent. It would be forced back soon, but the mess of human and animal corpses, mud, caltrops, and stakes in the field before them as well as the hills behind them would give them resistance.
Meanwhile the enemy took his bait--their cavalry commander struck the left flank he devoted extra attention to ensuring was well-rested and prepared. He assumed everything was going well, since he heard no bad news yet. The Houjou men are filled with vigour this morning, out to avenge Lord Suwa's death.
Best of all, Nagasaki accepted his proposal for battle. They would fight in a similar fish-scale formation as the prior day, cycling their ranks as needed for another long and lengthy battle. Tokitsuna hoped Nagasaki realised he had little other option than to rely on him, but no doubt Nagasaki would demand he give him a concession elsewhere.
Komai Nobumura appeared before him on horseback, pale and weary today and distinctly unprepared. Nobuyasu was his only son, and Nobuyasu himself left behind only one son. I pray his branch of the Takeda clan prospers, for it would be a bitter irony of fate if he leaves nothing behind beside his wisdom in battle.
"The enemy pushes hard against our left flank. As they face both the vanguard and the enemy's right, I suggest we carry out the centerpiece of our strategy," Nobumura spoke.
"What has Lord Nagasaki ordered?" Tokitsuna asked. "I'm sure he has his own idea of what to do."
"He seems uncertain himself," Komai replied. "It is best we make our move before he makes one for us." Tokitsuna nodded, aware of the danger.
"In that case, you should remain here," Tokitsuna said, worried Komai might seek death in battle today. "I need someone I trust to restrain Lord Nagasaki."
"There could be nothing better than dying by your side, my lord," Komai replied, confirming Tokitsuna's fears.
"I think surviving to see victory would be all the better," Tokitsuna said. "Just like yesterday, survival is victory. I rely on someone with your name and fame to record our deeds in this battle should I not survive. I know you will never fail me, cousin."
Without a further word, Tokitsuna, trotted off toward the main army.
"Tsubarai! Ichijou!" he called out, his two favourite cavalry commanders turning their heads at once. "Let us rally the men, it is time for our decisive strike! Itagaki, Hiraga, Asonuma, remain in reserve with your light cavalry and follow Lord Komai's strategy! It is time the course of this battle changes for the better!"
---
Aonogahara, Mino Province, April 12, 1303
Burilgitei paced back and forth in front of his horse, frustrated at the progress of the battle and feeling almost nervous about it. How do they still have so many horsemen after we killed hundreds yesterday? From the gentle hillslope he stood upon at the rear lines, one observation of the banners each side carried showed his lines had divided. Khayishan charged too early, and now there are few gaps we might exploit.
"This will be a costly victory, Lord Burilgitei," Gao Xing commented. "They are even more tenacious today."
"Understandable," Burilgitei said with a sigh. "They too understand the importance of this region and know how effective our cavalry will be on the plains beyond this area." No doubt that Takeda Tokitsuna planned this strategy.
"Shall we advance the center? We are too far behind to do much good."
"What has Shi Bi's army reported?" Burilgitei asked, suddenly worried about the progress of his left.
"Nothing new," Gao said. "They are too far away from us and the entire too stubborn. "At last news, Lord Shi's subordinate Li Dayong was still blaming Kikuchi's idiocy yesterday for the lack of gunpowder and bombs that hinder his advance."
"He should blame his own as well," Burilgitei replied, realising that part of the reason he felt so strange was the lack of clouds of smoke from the gunpowder. The enemy can shoot better, and their peasant soldiers will fight better without those deafening sounds. "Were Li Ting here, he would know when and where to commit the gunners. Nonetheless, we cannot leave him alone. Send those two Japanese commanders Mouri Tokichika and Ijuuin Hisachika with 2,000 men and have them break open the enemy lines and move Yi Haeng-ni's small reserve behind them."
"Yes, my lord," Gao replied, ordering a messenger who stood near him. "But that still leaves the difficult situation on our right."
"The enemy will notice his right collapsing, and stop at nothing to render aid." Burilgitei explained. "His only option is to let our warriors break through."
"Are you not being too dismissive of Khayishan's challenge, my lord?" Gao asked. "He will not appreciate the loss of so many fine warriors of the kheshig as he struggles out there."
Burilgitei clenched his fist. That damned prince should take responsibility for his own failure. Or perhaps it's my fault for not being a convincing enough advisor.
"Very well. Order the men to prepare to charge at my command," he said. Burilgitei thought of that sword in his tent his enemy so cleverly named Haishagiri, "cutter of the deafeated." Do not think you've won yet, Takeda. We've only just begun our battle.
---
Kamakura, Sagami Province, April 12, 1303
Nagasaki Enki found himself soaring high above a battlefield in a valley surrounded by mountains. Ruined houses and a temple cluttered the otherwise open plain where a great amount of blood had been spilled. The souls of the dead were rising up all around him, making a terrible groaning noise. The greatest mass of them surrounded a shining figure on horseback he recognised at once as his uncle Takayasu. He struck hard against the strange, demonic horde in front of him even as he was overwhelmed. A testimony to your strength that you aid me even in my dreams.
The battle continued for some time, worrying Nagasaki as more and more dead began wandering about the battlefield, seemingly even noticing him. He could hardly move as they started to surround him as well. He heard familiar voices--Houjou Morotoki muttered something about betrayal, while Houjou Munekata himself appeared before him, his scowl and prideful stance as real as the last day Nagasaki saw him, not long before that fateful decision to assassinate him.
"Nagasaki Enki, you corrupt priest!" Munekata shouted. "The afterlife comes for us all, and when you finally get there, I have so many words to say!"
Enki stood motionless, trying to recall a sutra to chant at the vengeful ghost. Suddenly suddenly an arrow from Takayasu pierced the ghostly Munekata and he vanished, hopefully sent back to hell where he belonged. The other ghosts departed from Enki as well.
He tried to get closer to his uncle and praise him for his good work, but suddenly a single burning arrow struck Takayasu. His body immediately burst into flames and Enki felt a great heat and could go no closer. The soldiers of the living started collapsing from being near Takayasu's burning body, and even the ghosts of the dead stayed away from it. He heard demonic laughing and could look no more as no doubt an even worse fate awaited him.
Suddenly Enki awoke from being shaken by a senior guard he recognised as Houjou Tomosada. Houjou handed him the prayer beads he kept by the mat he slept on, to which Nagasaki started muttering a mantra.
"I am so sorry for waking you from your nap, Lord Nagasaki, but you were having a terrible dream and looked ill!"
As he finished his mantra, Nagasaki simply nodded.
"The ghosts of the past wished to torment me...and my clan. But they can only affect the living should we give into something as ephemeral as fear."
"I agree wholeheartedly, Lord Nagasaki. I-If you wish to discuss it with me, I-I can..."
One part of Enki wished to dismiss Tomosada, but then he realised it would benefit him. Son of Houjou Tokimoto of the Nagoe Houjou, cousin to that Houjou Munenaga who follows Takeda Tokitsuna. Tomosada offers yet another means through which I might balance both Takeda and Houjou.
"Very well. It was a terrible dream of fire, ghosts, and the burning of men...including my own uncle."
"How horrible!" Tomosada cried. "I pray your uncle lives long and serves our Shogun to his fullest. I dream of terrible fires as well, and I cannot bear hearing of such horrors from others."
Nagasaki could only hope that would be the case. He felt the worry that something had gone amiss on whichever battlefield his uncle now led the Shogunate's army. How wicked are the gods when they use my dreams as a stage to taunt me by repeating the claims of those men who sat my ancestor now burns in the darkest pit of hell.
---
Aonogahara, Mino Province, April 12, 1303
Shouni Sukenobu ran forward, slashing enemy after enemy with his blade. It felt as if he might cut everything down before him as he pierced the enemy line. He stumbled as his foot sank in wet mud, and as he recovered his stance and struck the man in front of him down, he saw the muddy stream before him. The corpse of that warrior fell into the river and floated away.
"We reached the river!" he shouted, waving to the warriors behind him. "The enemy force is in twain and it is all the work of the Shouni clan!"
"Do not forget us in the Mouri clan!" shouted a youth named Mouri Hiroaki. "Father is still in that confused melee and will gain no glory, but I carry his standard forward!"
"You are a good brother-in-law, Hiroaki," Sukenobu said as warriors rushed in around him. "We've all fought well, just as your father fights well leading us Japanese as we crush the Kamakura rebels for good." Even if the invader had taken most of their horses and what horses remained died getting them to this point, all that mattered was they reached the river.
"Shall we attack their left or their right, Lord Shouni?" Hiroaki asked. Sukenobu pondered the question, for he realised he probably held the fate of the battle and maybe even the war in his hands. Strike their left and I press into the troops they keep cycling back and might be able to kill their leaders, but strike their right and it will surely collapse under that prince's attack. Some say that prince might be the next Great Khan, so I will surely benefit if I aid him. Perhaps I would receive as much land and power as my older brother Kagetsune will, and maybe even gain his sword! Oh how great that Hagekiri might look in my hands!
"We hit their right!" Sukenobu declared. "Relay the order and we strike hard!" As he ran forward, he suddenly tripped over something. He picked himself up, men surrounding him with shields and to his horror noticed it was Hiroaki, stricken with crossbow darts in his throat, thigh, and shin.
"Wh-what!" he shouted. Hiroaki grabbed his shin using the last of his strength.
"R-run, L-Lord Shouni. Th-they've got us!" Hiroaki groaned in his final words. To Sukenobu's horror, one look at the enemy bank showed what looked like a half-flooded embankment was actually a row of shields under which men holding crossbows crouched. A single one of them sat on a horse, loosing arrow after arrow into his formation, the banner fluttering on his back the four diamonds of Takeda. Damn them!
Sukenobu couldn't figure out what to do as he looked about his men who had fallen in confusion. The enemy battle lines they had split apart were gradually reforming, pressing against his warriors--he was surrounded.
"Don't let the rebels take his head," Sukenobu ordered his guard. With hesitation, he cleaved his brother-in-law's head from his neck and handed the dripping head to a guard. "Let us all hurry back to the main battle lines." The man held it tight as he ran back through the crowd. He was hit with a spear and collapsed and the head rolled to the side, retrieved by a warrior Sukenobu couldn't tell was a friend or enemy.
"Retreat! Retreat! Retreat to the main lines!" Sukenobu shouted, motioning to the men shielding him to keep doing so as they fled back. But it was too late--his men fell into panic along with the countless others who rushed to exploit the breach and the Kamakura rebels were upon them. An arrow wedged in Sukenobu's back as he hacked apart an eager enemy in front of him. He coughed up blood as he tried to keep fighting and keep hope alive, but a second arrow in the back of knee knocked him to the ground.
"T-take my head back to my brother and great-uncle..." he spoke to a guard protecting him from the charge of enemy spearmen. Every word hurt to speak. "T-tell them how I fought..." He coughed up more blood, thinking of his brother Kagetsune's pride, his great-uncle's wisdom, and above all the beautiful concubine he lay with every night who was now with child. Damn them all for taking it away from me. But without further hesitation, Sukenobu drew his dagger and plunged it through his stomach, making as wide as cut as he could before his strength gave out and the world went black.
---
Aonogahara, Mino Province, April 12, 1303
"My prince, I am wounded and the Russian Guard defeated, but I am still ready to serve!" Aleksandr Zakharievich shouted to Khayishan as he clutched his twisted arm. Pieces of his armor lay tattered and his face had a great gash. He carried a dirty, chipped Japanese blade, his own blade having been lost somewhere on the battlefield. Those wounded warriors of the Russian Guard standing behind him carried other Japanese or Chinese blades.
Khayishan wanted to encourage him, but Bayan on the horse beside him shook his head and cut him off.
"My prince, it is not wise to lose a man with such talent in this moment. Dismiss him for today so he might serve you for fifty years to come."
Khayishan could not help but think that was aimed at his own argument from earlier with Toqtoa, but understood Bayan's point.
"Sit in the tent and accept the shame of failure," Khayishan ordered. "Do not fail me in your next battle. As for the rest of you, carry on fighting your hardest."
"I-I accept your order, your majesty," Aleksandr said in dejection. "I shall pray to God he sends a host of angels to protect you and guide you to victory!" He ordered something in his native language to a senior man of the Russian Guard beside him and straggled off with a limp.
Khayishan ignored him and the Russian Guard taking positions in front of him, still studying the battle before him. The horsemen around him could no longer fight and were dying or stepping back, and with every shout his sword hand twitched from both exhaustion and above all, the pain of his injury the other day. Things aren't looking good, but with these men I am confident we can reverse this.
"Toqtoa is clearing a path in the rear, your majesty," Bayan said. "We still have time to escape."
"Damn that man!" Khayishan growled, taking out his anger by firing a wild shot on his bow into the crowd. "Were Toqtoa doing his duty and leading his men into the enemy, they would be fleeing in terror now! Do you not see, Bayan, how close we are to victory? Should we cause these men to panic, they are finished! We will overwhelm them with our numbers and they will not have a single army left!"
"Lord Khayishan, the enemy has pierced our lines in two and has deployed their reserves. Nobody can aid us now," Bayan noticed. "We must retreat and reorganise our lines so we can fight again."
"Just a little more!" Khayishan growled. "A little more and it will be them who retreat!" His mind had gone into a panic as Bayan's words registered. Why is Bayan demanding a retreat? Doesn't he see how close we are?
The enemy broke through the cavalrymen in front of him with their spearmen, and Khayishan fell from his horse as one soldier threw his spear right into it. Khayishan drew his blade, ignoring Bayan's shouts as he decapitated the man before clashing with another enemy by his side. Bayan rushed against the enemy on his horse, drawing their attention and letting Khayishan strike down many of them.
"Good work, Bayan!" Khayishan shouted. Bayan leaped off his dying horse and stabbed a man through the neck with his spear, closing ranks with Khayishan and a few surviving guards. As Khayishan tried to hack down an enemy spearman, the pain in his elbow made his swing a moment too late. The enemy soldier deftly dodged it and speared Bayan through his stomach.
"Flee now, my lord! It's too l--" Bayan's words faded instantly along with Khayishan's vision. In his last thoughts, Khayishan had no idea what happened. We will still win this battle. When I wake up, I will wake up to a certain victory. In his mind's eye he saw it all--a great feast, the kheshig hailing his martial prowess, the heads of the enemy leaders before him, a golden tablet and chest of coins confirming his deeds, his concubine's affection as she handed him the newborn Kusala, and above all, that decree with the Great Khan's seal confirming him as crown prince. You'll still name me crown prince, right, Uncle Temur? I will still rule all under heaven one day, right?
---
Aonogahara, Mino Province, April 12, 1303
Toki Yorisada hacked down an enemy, the eighth man he killed today. He grinned at those coming closer as he kicked the man's head toward their feet. The Mouri clan is leading this charge--I will take their heads! Warrior monks beside him struck down even more men of what seemed like a never-ending wave of foes swarming their position.
"Lord Toki, I demand we retreat!" that obnoxious Houjou vassal Seki Moriyasu said. "The enemy is attacking us with such strength!"
"Shut up!" Yorisada shouted, waving his bloodstained blade toward Seki. "Houjou Munenaga would not retreat, and he is now leading our men at the side of that Takeda Tokitsuna, whoever the hell he is. Do not interfere with his battleplan, or else I'll hack every limb from your body, Houjou dog!"
"Y-yes, L-Lord Toki," Seki muttered, standing back from the fighting along with the younger Houjou vassals flanking him. But as for Yorisada, he need only plunge into the fray again. The waves of enemies began subsiding as he precisely dismembered enemy after enemy alongside some of his kinsmen. Perhaps fifty paces in front of him, he saw a man beneath the banner of the Mouri clan who looked important, issuing panicked orders to his men and another important-looking subordinate as he defended the collapsed rubble of the Mino Kokubun-ji.
"The enemy general! Let us take his head!" Yorisada shouted, ushering on his soldiers. More and more Toki clan soldiers surrounded him, and even a few men with banners of the Seki clan came forward. Arrows flew from behind as the path was clearing itself. Up ahead, Mouri was panicking, blocking arrows with his shield as his subordinate stepped in front of him. The subordinate fell to the ground, pierced by an arrow in the throat as enemy resistance melted away.
Mouri himself seemed shocked and tried retreating, but Yorisada and his men were too quick.
"Lord Mouri, prepare to die!" Yorisada yelled. "Us men of the Toki clan led by myself, Toki Yorisada, shall have your head!" Mouri drew his spear and nearly speared Yorisada had a warrior beside him not thrown himself in front of it. Yorisada dived around the man and rolled on the ground, hacking at Mouri as he struggled to remove his spear from the man's sternum. He hurriedly picked himself off the ground and took a stance to prepare to duel him.
Their duel was not to be, however. Mouri slew another Toki clan warrior beside Yorisada who tried piercing him, but then was immediately shot with several arrows. He fell to the ground, taking a blade and piercing his throat with it. A few retainers behind him stepped forward as they blocked Yorisada from taking Mouri's head using their own bodies. A tall retainer behind Mouri dragged his body away
Enemy soldiers began running away, taking Mouri's corpse with them but a few cast down their weapons and helmets and fell to their knees, begging forgiveness. Toki was tempted to kill them, but then simply smiled. Welcome back to serving the Shogun, former traitors.
"He's dead!" a soldier to his side shouted. "The great traitor Mouri Tokichika has perished! Us archers of the Seki clan have slain him!"
"Seki!?" Toki yelled. "That bastard, stealing credit for my deeds!" He felt like ordering his men to take Seki Moriyasu's head as a consolation prize, and for a brief moment realised that committing such a deed may very well reverse the tide of the battle back to favouring the Mongols and thus award him all the high honours he knew Mouri Tokichika held. But just quick he cast those thoughts out of his mind, preparing to kill as many more enemies as he could. The battle was not yet over, and there were other generals on this field he might kill. He would just have to focus on them for now, and focus on dealing with the Houjou later.
---
Sekigahara, Mino Province, April 12, 1303
Everything was lost--the battle, their prince, and the confidence of the Mongol armies. There could be no singing, dancing, and drinking on this night after such a demoralising defeat. Burilgitei could think of little but his own personal failures, frustrated he could not force a victory and wondering just why he lost. Such painful thoughts accompanied him on the three hours of marching through muddy fields between Aonogahara and their main camp at the village of Sekigahara they captured those triumphant days ago.
Was it his own men? He could hardly believe it. Even Kikuchi Takamori could be said to have fought well before his foolishness with the cannon and gunpowder stores, let alone the other Japanese commanders. Khayishan fought valiantly before his death, as did so many other of his officers. Perhaps it was a failure of those under them to fight well, for it seemed as if the Japanese soldiers lacked motivation in this battle.
But Burilgitei disliked thinking that, for it would not excuse him before Lord Nanghiyadai. What did I myself do wrong? Even with so many unmotivated soldiers, we held the advantage with our numbers. Takeda Tokitsuna used the terrain and numbers to their maximum advantage, and I could not find a way to stop him from doing so.
With Guo Zhen and Shi Bi at his side, Burilgitei entered Nanghiyadai's tent and immediately bowed before him.
"M-my greatest apology, my lord," he said, his heart heavy and fearful. "For all our strength, I could not overcome the finest general of the Kamakura rebels."
"Why has Prince Khayishan not returned?" Nanghiyadai asked, a pointed question that signalled the danger Burilgitei was in. He thought back to Zhang Gui's own punishment, hoping to avoid that painful fate.
"He perished in battle, having led our vanguard to its fullest on both days of the battle," Guo Zhen answered, stopping Burilgitei from having to answer the question himself. "He and his brave warriors cared not for the safety of their lives, but only for bringing victory to the Great Khan."
"And what a shame it is that you squandered his sacrifice," Nanghiyadai said.
"Lord Nanghiyadai, our flaw lay in the unmotivated cowardice of our Japanese soldiers," Shi Bi said as he tried explaining himself. "Had that fool Kikuchi Takamori not caused the cannon to misfire, we surely would have won!"
"Kikuchi's decisions were a terrible mistake," Burilgitei said, knowing he had to answer for being the one to appoint Kikuchi to command a mingghan. "But Kikuchi was an eager student of Lord Li Ting, who personally requested his appointment as a commander of Japanese soldiers. I could not refuse a recommendation from such an eminent leader."
Fortunately, Nanghiyadai seemed to understand this point, but his gaze remained pointed. He is searching for someone to blame. Burilgitei wondered just who he might blame if he wished to escape severe punishment.
"The truth of the matter is that we lack in quality soldiers," Burilgitei continued. "We order our Japanese allies to send us warriors, and they send us the rabble of the fields led by young lords who desire only wealth and social position in their own society. The neglect of the court toward our expedition has never been more apparent."
"The enemy must be doing the same," Nanghiyadai replied. "That is why he has so easily been destroyed in the past. How is it that under the Kamakura rebels, these peasants fight as equals to Mongol soldiers but under the leadership of a Mongol general, they fight according to their status?"
It was not a question Burilgitei wished to answer, but he knew he must do so regardless.
"They despise our rule," Burilgitei said. "And because of their hatred of us, they cannot summon the inner courage to fight. Those peasants from areas we have not yet subdued, on the other hand, fear us as monsters. We have backed them into a corner and they strike hard, and indeed we have backed the entire rebel regime into that same corner."
"Hmph, so you say," Nanghiyadai said. "You have truly failed, Burilgitei, but I still do not know why."
"I deferred to our sorrowfully departed prince on too many matters," Burilgitei replied. "Were it my decision, I would not have attacked the second day and been content to have inflicted the damage I had caused the first day. Our prince pushed for an aggressive strategy that we lacked the warriors to carry out, and I lacked the courage to dissuade him from that course."
"That is a shame, then, Burilgitei. Your role is to serve the Great Khan and his family, and that means advising them from making errors."
"I foolishly believed that Lord Guo Zhen's army, with the might of our prince's vanguard, might outflank the enemy and send him into panic. But Lord Guo's force suffered from the same as my own." Guo noticably shuddered as Burilgitei mentioned his name. He has been reliable in the past, but he is the only one I can plausibly blame for his majesty's death.
"Lord Guo, is this true? Why did your army fail to defend his majesty?"
"I-It was those Japanese warriors. They fill our ranks and fight poorly, and I could not protect his majesty's life in these conditions!"
"Then you did not do your task," Nanghiyadai replied. "Burilgitei trusted you to do so, and you failed his trust. Therefore you shall return to the capital and answer to the Great Khan for your failures."
"Y-Yes, Lord Nanghiyadai. I-I shall accept my punishment with dignity and grace," Guo stammered, sinking even lower on the floor. He will likely be flogged, lose a third of his property, and spend years at a distant posting for this. I will have to find somebody better to succeed him. At the very least he received better treatment than Zhang Gui.
"As for you, Shi Bi," Nanghiyadai said. "Do not neglect your own failure in failing to restrain Kikuchi. When this war is over, the Great Khan shall investigate you for your failure here."
"Y-yes, my lord. I praise you for your lenience."
"And you, Burilgitei," Nanghiyadai growled, "Do not fail me again. You must produce results, and produce them soon, lest you suffer the same penalty as the others."
"I will, Lord Nanghiyadai," Burilgitei replied, the anxiety lifted from his chest. "I will conquer Japan as I have been instructed, not just for my own sake, but for the Great Khan."
"Dismissed, all of you," Nanghiyadai said, brushing them away as he turned to a bowl of kumis.
Burilgitei left the tent, still feeling sorrowful and ashamed of his own failure. A monumental task now lay before him--defeating the enemy which seemed to never suffer defeat for long. Perhaps it would have been better if Takeda won a decisive victory, then that blade in my tent could fulfill its purpose.
---On April 11 at Aonoagahara, thousands lay dead on the muddy battlefield covered in the bodies of horses, men, caltrops, and stakes. But the commanders on either side proved eager to continue shedding blood on the battlefield, for everything from personal pride to future wealth to national survival lay at stake on the result of the battle. For the Kamakura Shogunate, they sought simply to survive, while the Mongols and their Japanese allies sought to remove a potent obstacle in their campaign for dominating Japan. April 12 thus would become another day of colossal violence as another ocean of blood drowned the blue-green field of Aonogahara.
The plan for the second day was far more muddied. Nanghiyadai remained hours away from the battlefield, and not every trap the Shogunate laid had been removed. Those restless peasants who survived--women, children, and old men--were not adverse to killing Mongols who came to water their horses or obtain supplies. For the senior commanders actually present--Burilgitei and Prince Khayishan--there would be no strategic discussions with Nanghiyadai. When Khayishan proposed to stay and fight a second day, Nanghiyadai approved without considering Burilgitei's counter-proposal to withdraw in feigned retreat and hope the enemy either took the bait or retreated himself.
Khayishan thus dominated the planning for the battle that night. He got little sleep and proposed he lead his vanguard to strike the Shogunate left first and overwhelm them that way. At his insistence, his vanguard was reinforced to its full strength of 10,000 warriors which would combine with the Mongol right under Guo Zhen and its 10,000 warriors--thus the force striking the Shogunate left was thus nearly as large as the Shogunate's entire remaining army of 22,000 men.
Burilgitei disapproved, preferring a more cautious plan of preserving his army's strength and ending the day with a cavalry assault to break them. For him, the Mongol numbers of 37,000 warriors would be sufficient. Thanks to Khayishan, he himself led only 10,000 warriors in the center, leaving only a small left wing of 6,000 men (plus 500 skirmishers on their left under Sugimoto Tokiaki) and a reserve of 1,000 men. But he was wary of annoying Khayishan lest he lose the favour of a man he believed likely would become Great Khan, and at any rate believed that Khayishan's plan would succeed albeit at greater cost. Burilgitei thus selected a crane-wing formation (鶴翼の陣), keeping back his own forces in the center and letting his wings rout the enemy before advancing.
Despite calls to make a night raid of his own or to sortie out at dawn, Takeda Tokitsuna instead ordered defenses to be fortified and traps prepared. Soldiers ventured into the morass of mud, blood, and bodies of horses and men to scattered caltrops and plant stakes. A few clashed with Mongol scouts, thus alerting the Shogunate to the great dawn attack by Prince Khayishan and Bayan the Merkit. As planned, the Mongols under Shi Bi once again attacked those Japanese ensconced in the Mino Kokubun-ji while the center under Burilgitei stayed back.
Troop movements at the second day of Aonogahara
Khayishan struck the left flank of the Japanese army, avoiding the morass in the center of the plains. But he did not inflict as great of damage as he expected, for Takeda believed it a distinct possibility the Mongols might attempt that. As a result, Khayishan tried baiting the Shogunate's men into pursuing him as he retreated, but the Shogunate commander Onozawa Sanetsuna (replacing Suwa Jikishou, killed the previous afternoon, in assisting nominal commander Houjou Masafusa) maintained tight discipline, only slowly following him while giving Nagasaki and Takeda ample time to rearrange Shogunate battle lines into a fish-scale formation (魚鱗).
As Khayishan wheeled his cavalry about and struck the Shogunate left, his strategic reserve consisting of the Mongol right of Guo Zhen followed him into battle. Takeda had been waiting for this chance--he ordered an all-out cavalry charge to split the enemy army in two. Hundreds of Shogunate heavy cavalry and thousands of light cavalry manuevered around the many traps and charged at the exposed flanks of the Mongol right.
Burilgitei viewed Khayishan's actions as foolish and excessive, but still felt obligated to aid him. He reinforced Shi Bi's warriors and ensured they drove the Shogunate right under Houjou Munenaga and Toki Yorisada from Mino Kokubun-ji. These leaders ensured their men put up a fierce resistance every step of the way, and the archers of Nasu Suketada harried them from the hillside and spread confusion in the ranks of Shi's men. Lack of gunpowder aided Shogunate morale and ensured their makeshift fortifications proved difficult to take. As they drew further from Burilgitei, the less he was able to communicate and aid them. Burilgitei thus wrote off Shi's advance as having perpetually stalled.
Among the advantages of the fish-scale formation was maximising the potential of the smaller army through reducing attrition. Takeda used this to the utmost by keeping a number of warriors in reserve by the river. Among these was a cavalry formation of light cavalry wearing minimal armor but training to charge as heavy cavalry. Despite this suicidal mission, Takeda used them to his advantage in the past. Takeda kinsman Itagaki Nagayori (板垣長頼) readily accepted his mission--end the threat to the Shogunate right.
Itagaki's men charged Shi Bi's flank and rose panic. Although many perished--Itagaki included--they halted the forward momentum of the Mongol left and drove it back to Mino Kokubun-ji. By this point, the Japanese and Mongol center remained locked in fierce combat as the Burilgitei struggled to relieve Khayishan. Even Shi could not be relieved, for though Burilgitei sent warriors to circle around Shogunate lines, they became bogged down in the field of mud and traps and made little impact on the battle.
Even so, the Mongol numerical advantage was becoming obvious as Burilgitei himself entered the battle with a great charge that forced the enemy to retreat. But it was a graceful retreat, and one coordinated so the Mongols had to fight for every inch in order to link up with Khayishan and Guo Zhen's battered force. Burilgitei rearranged the Mongol formation to try and split the Shogunate center and successfully managed to begin dividing their ranks. Moreover, his skirmishers under Sugimoto Tokiaki drove Nawa and Nasu's archers from the hillside and struck the flank of the Shogunate right.
During this phase of the fighting, Nagasaki Takayasu fell in battle, victim of a fire arrow fired from afar. It is said the fire arrow completely burned up his body, as supposedly witnessed by his nephew Enki in a dream that warned of his clan's wickedness. But Houjou Munenaga rallied the troops, raising the banner of both the Houjou and Takeda clan high and reminding all present they fought for the Shogunate. He reinforced Nawa, who drove back Sugimoto Tokiaki and cautiously moved toward the enemy's rear.
Takeda continued his gradual retreat, deliberately dividing his army in two as he had a small group of warriors under Henmi Nobutsune cross the river in makeshift rafts prepared the previous night. Soon the Mongols reached the river and received a withering barrage of arrows and crossbow bolts. They were unable to escape as the Japanese closed ranks around them, slaying thousands.
By this point, the Mongol right was in great danger from hours of constant fighting. Aleksandr Zakharievich shattered his arm as his horse was suddenly killed and Khayishan dismissed him from the battlefield. Khayishan refused to retreat lest the entire battle come apart--as a result, he too was killed, struck by numerous arrows from horsemen under the command of Tsubarai Nobutsugu. His strategist Bayan held the line, permitting kheshig warriors under Toqtoa managed to retrieve the prince's body, but at the cost of losing hundreds of elite warriors including Bayan himself. The entire Mongol right began a retreat that started orderly but turned into panic.
The exhausted Shogunate left could do little to affect the battle, but it was clear to them the battle had turned in their favour. They forced the overextended Mongol forces to retreat and reorganise their lines as a great momentum built. Burilgitei's chief subordinate Gao Xing led a great force into the fray alongside his reserves under Yi Haeng-ni, holding back the Shogunate advance and permitting the Mongols to orderly withdraw. But it was to little avail--Gao fell wounded and was captured, while the Kingdom of Japan's Mouri Tokichika perished defending him. Thousands of the rear-guard were massacred as only quick action from Burilgitei prevented a total rout. The Mongols withdrew from the battlefield and retreated eight kilometers westward to Sekigahara.
As the day ended, nearly 12,000 warriors of the Yuan and Kingdom of Japan had been captured or killed, foremost among them Prince Khayishan. Although many on their side died, losses were far worse for the Kingdom of Japan. Mouri Tokichika died in battle, joining Kikuchi Takamori among the senior commanders of the Kingdom of Japan slain at Aonogahara--his third son Hiroaki (毛利広顕) also died. Three other Kingdom of Japan warriors holding the rank of military governor and mingghan commander perished--Kobayakawa Kagemune (slain by his cousin Tomohira) of Aki, Shouni Sukenobu of Buzen (committed suicide after seizing the riverbank), and Miura Kazuiiji (三浦員氏) of Bingo.
These losses from the Kingdom of Japan greatly crippled the faction of Shouni Kagesuke, for he lost some of his most powerful allies. In contrast, only one Miura-associated general--Miura Kazuuji--died at Aonogahara, slain by Suwa clan retainers as he charged alongside Khayishan. Ijuuin Hisachika, a rising star in the Kingdom of Japan's forces, excelled at Aonogahara and slew ten Shogunate warriors as he fought around the Mino Kokubun-ji, including Houjou Munenaga's cousin Munemoto (北条宗基). This held grave repercussions for the future, while in the aftermath of battle demoralised the warriors of the Kingdom of Japan.
It is clear the Kingdom of Japan's weaknesses led to the great defeat. Their warriors were demoralised and did not fight well, while others could barely carry out the commands demanded from them. Kikuchi Takamori's foolishness with the cannon he commanded exemplifies this--Kikuchi desired results first and foremost and did not know how to use the powerful weapon at his disposal. His failure caused the powder explosion that helped minimise Shogunate losses on the first day. Yet Kikuchi was by no means the only one--unmotivated and poorly paid warriors as a whole caused Mongol tactics to be insufficient in countering the fanatic will displayed by many of the Shogunate's defenders.
At least 19,000 warriors serving the Yuan died at Aonogahara, likely an underestimate. Adding to losses before Aonogahara and defections--including several thousand Japanese taken prisoner or who surrendered, Burilgitei lost over half his army. It thus ranked among the greatest defeats the Mongols had suffered in over a century and the single greatest loss they suffered yet in Japan, and one which would impede the main thrust of the Mongol campaign in Japan in the coming months.
In contrast, the Shogunate lost perhaps 9,000 warriors--5,000 on the first day, 4,000 on the second day. A disproportionate number were warriors of the Toki clan (including three of Yorisada's brothers) and their conscripted peasants, which ensured the Toki would continue to press on the Houjou for recompense that went far beyond what Toki Yorisada demanded. Three of Takeda Tokitsuna's Twenty-Four Generals--Itagaki Nagayori, Kaneko Moritada (金子盛忠), and Komai Nobuyasu--died in the battle as well. No doubt many other warriors were casualties of their own vigour--both Mongol and Japanese sources alike note the consistently high morale of the Shogunate's warriors due to perhaps faith in Takeda, the desire to the defend their land among the many from Mino and Owari Provinces, and the drive to avenge their many dead among the Houjou retainers.
Few battles in Japanese history became as famed as Aonogahara. European writers reviewing Japanese history compared its importance to Japan as Tours was to Europe, and as with that battle, Aonoagahara has been frequently viewed with outsized importance in relation to the Mongol Invasions of Japan, for it represented a tremendous climax to the Banpou Invasion.
Despite the great victory at Aonogahara, it came at the cost of Shogunate defeats--some severe--on other fronts. The Shogunate still stood at the edge of defeat as the Mongols advanced further and the core of Burilgitei's strategy--force the enemy to defend everywhere at once--remained intact. New opportunities for striking Shogunate lands opened up and even the main force Burilgitei headed prepared for another invasion of Mino Province. It seemed the only obstacle the Mongols faced was the existence of the battle itself, for their defeat held repercussions on their future success.
---
Author's notes
This I suppose was the "climax" of this story, as evidenced by its long length and many vignettes. I don't intend to do this again in the future--it was very time-consuming to write.
Originally this contained a description of the battle's aftermath and what happened with the other campaigns, but I've moved those to the next entry.
Just a few more posts remain for the Banpou Invasion, and then perhaps 5-6 more to close out this arc. Next will cover the immediate aftermath of Aonogahara. Thanks for reading!
[1] - Much of this short bit is borrowed from the History of Yuan where it was an argument between Toqtoa and Khayishan before the Battle of Tekelik in 1301. However, this line of dialogue was said by a general praising Toqtoa's concern for his superior. Khayishan was wounded in the battle, although the battle was a decisive Yuan victory.
Probably.
Unfortunately for them, the Shogunate still has much to learn.
How far before Aonogahara do you need? Because after the fall of Kyoto (autumn 1301), the Mongols concentrate along the most direct route east to Kamakura which is through Omi Province (modern Shiga Prefecture) which takes an additional year to subdue because of the terrain, the need to destroy the warrior monk strongholds on Mount Hiei, and the preparations of the Sasaki clan who more or less control the province. Meanwhile the Houjou clan did many internal purges and the head of their personal (as opposed to Shogunal) vassals, Nagasaki Enki, effectively controls the entire Shogunate as he did OTL due to the head of the Houjou clan Sadanori (a grand-nephew of Houjou Tokimune) being a young boy. Nagasaki recalls the talented commander Takeda Tokitsuna from exile due to the Shogunate's great need and they assemble an army east of Omi in Mino Province along the strategic valley where OTL the 1600 Battle of Sekigahara was fought (Aonogahara is slightly east). I can recap more if you need.
Aonogahara itself is a successful employment of defense in depth both prior to the battle (the battles of Tama Castle, Fuwa-no-Seki/Sekigahara, and Tarui) and the battle itself (the Japanese soldiers cycling in and out since they have less ground to defend), skillful use of battlefield conditions (flooded rivers to prevent being outflanked, muddy ground with caltrops scattered to deter cavalry, and barricades in the ruins of a temple to further hold the line), better use of reserves (the heavy cavalry and nigh-suicidal light cavalry), better knowledge of soldier morale, and above all, luck. A lot of battles, even in modern times, come down to luck (or bad luck for the enemy), and having a powder stash ignite and kill or injure hundreds of enemy soldiers is a very good thing.
A very enjoyable update, simple yet decisive.
Even if Khasiyan's arrogant persistence was to blame, the gunpowder incident made it impossible for mongols to continue their strategy and the refill wasn’t much better. So I thought that Mongols lost 90% of the battle when their cannon blew up.
I wonder what would become of KoJ now that one of the primordial noble lineage has lost two of its heirs. I don't think Miura Yorimura would suddenly become too powerful.
Also I can see this battle reaching heights of Ain Jalut and Ravi river battles in terms of significance when it comes to victories against Mongols. Though Mamluke sultanates of Egypt and India didn’t have their capitals razed before their blockbuster victories.
Even if Khasiyan's arrogant persistence was to blame, the gunpowder incident made it impossible for mongols to continue their strategy and the refill wasn’t much better. So I thought that Mongols lost 90% of the battle when their cannon blew up.
I wonder what would become of KoJ now that one of the primordial noble lineage has lost two of its heirs. I don't think Miura Yorimura would suddenly become too powerful.
Also I can see this battle reaching heights of Ain Jalut and Ravi river battles in terms of significance when it comes to victories against Mongols. Though Mamluke sultanates of Egypt and India didn’t have their capitals razed before their blockbuster victories.
Wish the Mongols had pulled it off to see what a full victory Japan would have looked like, but it makes sense that losing thd gunpowder would cost them in the end.
And Takeda Tokitsuna will get to go down as one of Japan's greatest heroes -- in a couple hundred years I'm sure he'll be the target of larping and mythos instead of the Heike Monogatari.
And Takeda Tokitsuna will get to go down as one of Japan's greatest heroes -- in a couple hundred years I'm sure he'll be the target of larping and mythos instead of the Heike Monogatari.
Best riding skills ever.
Pictured: Takeda Tokitsuna singlehandedly storming the walls of Khanbaliq.
What is this from?
Pictured: Takeda Tokitsuna singlehandedly storming the walls of Khanbaliq.
Correct. Getting a hole blasted in your lines is very, very devastating, especially when you are counting on that flank to take pressure off the rest of your force.
Miura Kazuuji is a distant relative of Yorimori (Miura relatives be they the ones who still use the surname or branch families like the Ashina, Sugimoto, etc. obviously get a lot of good positions)--his heir Tokiaki is alive and well and invading Shikoku alongside (or perhaps "against" is a better word) Shouni Sukenobu's older brother Kagetsune (Shouni's actual heir). Both Tokiaki and Kagetsune will show up three entries from now when I conclude the fighting in Shikoku.
The Chaghatai came close to taking Delhi in 1303. I'd say it's closer to the Battle of Kili, which could have gone either way and was one where the Delhi Sultanate was in a far worse position given internal instability that year.
Maybe I'll do an alt-scenario as a TLIAD one of these days to show what a Mongol victory Japan would look like. As for Takeda and the mythos, yes he certainly would...assuming the story doesn't have the issues in composition and editing the Taiheiki did OTL. I see him as a figure akin to how Kusunoki Masashige or Nitta Yoshisada are portrayed as.
Would appear that I misinterpreted the narration, cause from my perspective, the battle while indeed key, it still was an defensive battle/victory that while important (as alluded by the reference to the Tours one). And, one that perhaps, later on, for the posterity, it will be considered as the single most important of the campaign. But, it still appears, at this stage as a Pyrrhic like defensive victory, that even without other fronts to worry about, wouldn't have allowed the launch of an immediate exploitation offensive by the Shogunate armies...
Agree, it came as quite surprising and indeed it would have been neat to see a Mongol Japan explored., Though, perhaps, an divided!/split Japan, could be equally interesting to explore as an Mongol ruled Japan. Cause, from my perspective, barring an immediate/short term collapse and/or a generalized internecine fighting in the KoJ along with the Mongols 'quitting'/withdrawing their armies, would appear that the Shogunate and the Japan still would have to endure decades, (if not more) of fighting. And, if so, it may lead to an stalemate like situation where the Japanese islands might remains split in the states/warring factions with a sinicized Ainu-Japanese Mongol ruled Ezo based successor(?) State along with the Shogunate and (supposing that it may survive long enough) the KoJ.
Also, I'm still looking forward to see if and how the events developing in Japan and especially as so many casualties among the Mongol and Yuan subjected Chineses, political-military elite may influence both the Mongol Empire as a whole and particularly the OTL Chinese Nationalist reaction/rebelion...
Let me note that, from the KoJ (again if it manages to survive and/or to stabilize) and from the one of any possible surviving Ezo based State, perspectives,surviving cultural traditions, he would probably be remembered quite differently...
Last edited:
Very much true, as you will see next chapter.
Quite possible, but I wouldn't call the Ezo particularly Sinic despite around 10% of its population being ethnic Han.
I wouldn't say they disproportionately suffered and there's still many Mongol loyalists among ethnic Han (especially in northern China where there's a lot of Han nobles who for several generations now have served the Mongols).
That is true, especially given no one seems likely to centralise Japan meaning the diversity of local traditions would still continue.
Indeed, but by sinicized, I wanted to mean, that the Yuan cultural influence would only grow with the time and TTL would probably substitute/replaced, the OTL process of gradual Nipponization.
Given that the political and military links with the Asia mainland and China proper from both the Mongol ruled Ezo and from the Han minority (both ethnic and assimilated/acculturated ones). One which, I would assume would have, (in relation to their size) a relatively disproportionate cultural influence aside of their economic and political influence
Well, while, I'm not so knowledgeable on the Mongol Ruled Eastern Asia. I assumed that as in any other region that the death or that such radical changes on their OTL fates. Due to moving to Japan to as 'administators/overlords' or with the armies to fight, and either fell of favour/being exiled or the opposite being rewarded/held in favour by the Khan of the career path of a few members of the Mongol Elites and/or from anybody closer to leadership positions.
Would, at least, be possible to cause some butterflies. Either for their own little or bigger influence in the OTL events or even from the no existence of any of their possible descendants, would have IOTL...
Last edited:
Chapter 28-The Sacrifices Made For Victory
-XXVIII-
"The Sacrifices Made For Victory"
Kawashiri [1], Higo Province, May 3, 1303
"The Sacrifices Made For Victory"
Kawashiri [1], Higo Province, May 3, 1303
Kumabe Takatomo stared at the crooked-looking merchants and village chiefs prostrating in front of him, knowing just what they wanted. They want someone to lead them given these riots are getting too out of hand.
"Lord Kumabe, we need a trained warrior, a man with talent in battle and authority as a leader! Only then can we carry out our mission of rescuing Japan from the evil foreigners!"
"I am afraid you must find someone else," Kumabe replied. "It is one thing to slaughter unarmed foreign merchants and artisans or those fat invader bureaucrats who've never lifted more than a pencil, but to do anything more requires a force stronger than you've assembled." He sighed--this man claims he can give me a force of thousands of men, but I am unable to help him!
"D-Do you even hold hatred for the invader in your heart?" the lead merchant asked.
"I try my hardest to hold no hatred in my heart, for that is what the Buddha taught us," Kumabe replied. "Nonetheless I believe we must at some point settle our differences with the invader, but that time is not now."
One of the petitioners, an elderly peasant leader with half his teeth missing rose up and slammed his knobby cane on the floor of the house.
"Oh, it must only be because your grandfather served in his army! He gave himself away for nothing! Why, he is as foolish as my own son and grandson!"
Kumabe was tempted to strike the man for his insult, but stayed his fist with a sigh as he understood the man's point. Just thinking about his grandfather, the man who raised him since his father perished in the second war against the Mongols not long after his birth, brought anger and sorrow to his heart.
Yet he also recalled the man who killed him, Takezaki Suenaga. It was a thing of irony that Takezaki once fought on the same side as that man and his father, and he himself remembered Takezaki saying to him as a very young boy to grow up strong and powerful. I was so young, but Lord Takezaki said it with such conviction in his heart. He was a warrior beyond brave, beyond bold, and it is an honour that my grandfather died fighting such a man.
"Do you know of the name Takezaki Suenaga?" Kumabe asked the assembled group. They looked at each other, most shrugging, before one peasant with heavy scars and a missing hand nodded.
"One of the bravest warriors, always ready to meet the enemy on the battlefield. I was blessed to have been permitted to carry his baggage thirty years ago."
"Good. Spread word of that man, for your bravery has recalled to mind his own. I will not demand the invader leave this land, because even for Lord Takezaki that would be impossible, but I will certainly demand the invader rule our land with justice and prevent those foreigners from carrying out their wickedness so long as they have a single foot within this divinely-protected country."
The merchants and peasant leaders looked to each other with smiles and joys, and Kumabe rose to his feet and drew his sword.
"Let us leave here at once! There are many corrupt bureaucrats to hang and much stolen wealth to reclaim! When we have drank our fill of justice, we shall march on Hakata at the head of countless warriors who follow our justice!"
---
Kaga Province, June 1, 1303
Kaga Province, June 1, 1303
Oda Nobukazu knelt before none other than the esteemed Houjou Kunitoki, head of the Rokuhara Tandai. Seated beside Kunitoki were several prominent warriors whose names he barely knew, but he knew well the banners of their clans--Suwa, Togashi, Shimazu. Just months ago, Nobukazu could hardly imagine a provincial lord like himself kneeling before such prominent lords, let alone a man the Shogunate saw fit to lead the armies of resistance against the invader, but thanks to the events of recent weeks it had become reality. He presented a bloodstained robe at the feet of Lord Houjou.
"This robe belonged to my father, Oda Chikamoto, steward of Ota Manor," Nobukazu said. "It is pierced in six places--that is how many spears it took to strike him down."
The lords glanced at each other as Houjou motioned an attendant to remove the bloodstained garment.
"And what of yourself?" Houjou asked. "Why did you survive? Is it not right for a son to die defending his father?
Nobukazu thought of it for a moment, recalling the scenes he witnessed as the enemy invaded his manor. Thousands of screaming warriors came at him and his clan, but his father and older brothers were fearless, and those few hundred peasants they mustered as defense knew it. They fought as lions and threw back the enemy over and over. But in the end, each of them died, struck down by arrows from afar or in his father's case, those spears.
"It would be far worse if the son could not speak of his father's great deeds to his master. The Shogun must hear of what the warriors of Ota Manor achieved against the invader."
"Understandable," Kunitoki replied. "Speak of it, then Oda Nobukazu."
Oda took a deep breath, recalling the course of the fighting in his head.
"It was a pleasant late spring day on the manor, and myself and my brothers were practicing sumo, for we were greatly impressed by the wrestlers at the Suwa Shrine the previous year. [2] We saw awful black smoke rising and felt the worst, so we took up arms and raced to defend our peasants. Myself and my two brothers drove off fifty invaders with our force of arrows, for the enemy feared there were more than us."
"Just who witnessed this deed, Lord Oda?" asked Kunitoki's deputy, presumably Lord Togashi by the banner he sat in front of.
"The headman of the village I saved saw everything. He alone survived, along with eight other peasants from Ota Manor who accompanied me here."
"Carry on, then. What happened next?"
"The enemy returned soon after as I reported it to my father. We rode to all the villages on the Ota Manor and gathered 500 warriors, placing them along all the key routes. My brothers led these men, and our vassals the Tsuda clan assisted. We struck the enemy down one after the other and drove him back."
The elite of the Shogunate force looked at each other in amazement.
"Lord Houjou, if Lord Oda is telling the truth, then this may explain our enemy's sluggishness this past month," Togashi said.
"Fascinating. It seems Lord Oda's efforts may have saved many people. Go on, Lord Oda, what happened next."
"For five days we held back the enemy, but on the fifth day of fighting they broke through our ranks. We were surrounded on all sides and nearly all of us gave our lives fighting our terrible foe. Even the women of Ota Manor joined the fighting, and my mother and the wives of my brothers died. I could barely save my own wife, for I suffered many wounds and survived only due to my fortune to meet Lord Shimazu Tadamune." [3]
"That man helped you?" the warrior sitting in front of the Shimazu clan banner said, clearly annoyed at his mention of his kinsmen. Nobukazu could only wonder why Shimazu held such dislike of his relative, but then decided it was best not to ponder too much. That sort of thing would likely get him killed or banished, but he knew he had to answer the question.
"Yes, my lord. The fighting strength and resolve of Lord Tadamune proved essential to my survival," Nobukazu said. "I would have brought that man here had he not demanded to continue resisting the invader." His kinsman scowled at that before Houjou raised his hand.
"You did well, Lord Oda. I order you to rest and join our force. You will be rewarded for your deeds when this conflict ends."
Elation filled Nobukazu as his long struggle came to an end. Even if he should die in the next battle, that he won the recognition of these men. Now the name of the Oda shall live on forever, even if I perish in this terrible war. He thought of the brave warrior of the Shimazu who saved him, thanking that man once more from the depths of his heart.
---
Kurikara Pass, Etchuu Province, September 10, 1303
Kurikara Pass, Etchuu Province, September 10, 1303
Mouri Tokimoto looked about the torchlit path through the hills, seeing nothing but dead cattle. Some of the poor beasts suffered grievous burns on their flesh from the now-extinguished torches strapped to their horns, others perished from the arrows and spears of Tokimoto's men.
"Let us move forward. The enemy must be confused their tactic had no effect," Tokimoto ordered his men. A lieutenant, the reliable Nishime Kinhiro, stepped forward to invite his own opinion.
"We should alert the invader's porters," Nishime said. "There must be a thousand cattle laying dead in the Kurikara Pass now, and their soldiers will eat anything that moves."
Tokimoto looked at a dead ox, repulsed by Nishime's idea.
"We don't have a single messenger to spare. Beside, if we tell them about these cattle, they'll force us to eat them." Tokimoto shuddered--it did not feel right to eat an animal as useful and intelligent as an ox, and indeed felt all too luxurious given how many people relied on them. He had only done so once, and no matter how much his uncle Tokichika advised him of the need to attend the invader's feasts, neither he nor his father bothered.
"Very well then," Nishime said, mounting his horse.
"Inform the men in the rear to advance the torches," Tokimoto said as he untied a torch from the trees and took it in hand. "We shall advance in groups, and if possible, seize the pass behind the enemy."
A change in the beating of drums signalled all hundred men Tokimoto commanded were moving out, and Tokimoto moved at their head at a leisurely pace.
"Your idea was right on the mark, Lord Mouri," Nishime said. "It figures the Kamakura rebels placed too much significance in this pass."
"They are looking for a turning point in this war, and I don't blame them," Tokimoto replied. "Some say Aonogahara was that turning point, and it must make the other Shogunate lords jealous they do not share in Lord Takeda's success. And what better place to find that success than the Kurikara Pass, where Minamoto no Yoshinaka so impressively destroyed a Taira army eight times his size?"
"Had Lord Chonghur ignored our proposal to scout this pass, he would be suffering a similar fate," Nishime noted. Tokimoto nodded.
Up ahead Tokimoto saw unfamiliar torch lights and knew at once they belonged to the enemy. He motioned to Nishime and the ten other riders by him to fasten the torches to the tree branches as he cast his own torch to the ground and drew his arrow. He counted to five in his head and shot an arrow straight at the enemy. His own warriors followed his example, extinguishing several enemy torches as their trumpets blew in warning of an ambush.
"Forward, into the main encampment before they are prepared!" Tokimoto shouted, loosing another arrow at an incoming horseman. They charged forward, trampling the wounded and dying and clashing with their advance guards. In a clearing in the pass, Tokimoto spied the main camp and a familiar banner. Shimazu--clearly a leader of that clan is defending here. He cursed the name, recalling how much trouble that one Shimazu Tadamune still gave their forces as he and his small force fought a pointless war of self-destruction in the mountains of Echizen. He fired into the center of the main camp, striking an enemy at great distance. By now, an entire party of enemy cavalry were coming at them, returning fire. An arrow struck the warrior opposite Nishime, and he could do nothing but charge forward in a suicidal effort to buy time.
"Retreat for now!" Tokimoto shouted as he spurred his horse backward. He fired a parting shot at the enemy, striking one as arrows whizzed past him. Then he noticed one enemy warrior rushing ahead, the torchlight glinting off his fancy armour and the banner on his back being clearly Shimazu. There he is again. Tokimoto lined up a shot and fired at the man, but he missed from his horse slowing down on the rugged ground of the past. But fortunately, beside him Nishime's arrow pierced the man's face and he fell off his horse. The enemy cavalry slowed at once, their firing coming to a halt as Tokimoto's men escaped.
"Great work, Nishime!" Tokimoto cheered, his heart still pounding from adrenaline.
"It was nothing," Nishime said. "They are confused and in disarray, a rearguard expecting to face a vast army. Based on what we saw here, I am certain that Lord Chonghur's force is doing very, very well tonight."
---
Uchiyama Pass, Kaga Province, September 10, 1303
Uchiyama Pass, Kaga Province, September 10, 1303
The hills burned with enemy torches, a number far too vast for Suwa Yorinao to grasp, and those torches were methodically surrounding his warriors and slaying them. Darkness was swallowing his army ever more quickly. Yorinao breathed deeply, trying to figure out a solution to aid his commander Kunitoki who now seemed paralysed by fear. My half-brother Yorishige or nephew Jikishou could have figured this out for I am not fighting an enemy as talented as that heir to the world-conquering general like they did! [4]
"My lord, we must retreat!" Yorinao shouted, blurting out the first thing on his mind. "Leave Lord Togashi to his fate and let us fight another day!"
"But if we don't defend this pass, then...oh god, the enemy will conquer all the way to Echigo!"
Someone grabbed Yorinao's shoulder from behind, and there he saw his relative Osaka Moritada with arrows in his body, propped up by one of his soldiers.
"Lord Osaka, what has happened?"
"Kurikara Pass has fallen. The fire cattle burned themselves to ashes and killed none of the enemy," Osaka muttered. He grabbed his sword and stumbled off toward the enemy, seeking suicide in battle, but he collapsed on the ground instead.
Houjou and Yorinao glanced at each other, knowing exactly what it meant. The force in Kurikara was a decoy, and we are facing their true army.
"How could we make an error like that! How could they fool us so readily!" Houjou shouted in despair. "G-get Lord Izaku here at once!"
"Lord Izaku has perished, my lord," Osaka's guard said. "At least a hundred men are killed in the pass and the others fear they'll soon be--"
An arrow struck the man in the head as a horde of enemy cavalry drew closer. Their armour was that grim, curved Mongol style. Yorinao aimed his bow at the leader and drew back and shot straight at his head, but the man seemed to see it and leaned his head to the side so it harmless struck a tree. Yorinao swore he saw the man smirk. The Mongol arrow assault turned into a lance charge as the Mongol cavalry crashed into Shogunate lines. Seconds later, a man held high the bloody head of Osaka Moritada, his helmet glistening in the torchlight.
"D-damn them!" Houjou shouted. "Retreat! Retreat! We'll hold them at the base of the pass!" He tried climbing on his horse, but a Mongol arrow shot it out from behind him. Yorinao instinctly stepped in front of him, ready to die for the clan he served. Prepare a place for me in the afterlife, brother Yorishige, he thought as he cut down an over-eager Mongol cavalryman.
But it was too late to save his master. A screaming Mongol warrior on horseback charged at him with a spear, but Yorinao's quick reflexes let him fall to the ground and hack at an exposed joint in his enemy's armour. As he rolled to his feet, his aging body cursing him for trying to fight as a young man again, he noticed to his horror his master coughing blood, the spear stuck through his lung.
"Fl-flee. This army is y-your's now. Save all you can..." Kunitoki muttered, hacking up a great chunk of blood. "S-Sadaaki...I-I sh-should have l-listened..."
"Grab his body, let us run, fast!" Yorinao shouted to other warriors. They lifted his corpse as Yorinao and several others held back the Mongol advance, cutting at horse and man alike as his heart pounded. An arrow struck him in the shoulder, but he could hardly feel it. Once a seeming eternity passed, Yorinao fled as fast as his aging legs could, praying he would not be hit with any more arrows. What a disaster! Is Kamakura itself now doomed from this failure?
---
Mino Province, September 25, 1303
Mino Province, September 25, 1303
Zhang Ding bowed before Burilgitei, ready to offer his report.
"Once again, the enemy has attacked Lord Naimantai's detatchment, but he successfully withdrew before the worst might happen," Zhang said. "He shot the enemy general from his horse and his comrades grew fearful and fled."
"Holding off an enemy many times his size with only a thousand men...truly he is a worthy descendant the great Muqali. Ensure Naimantai knows he is now in command of those men who served our departed prince."
"He is only 28, and there are many men of far greater experience in our force, not the least his older brother Dorotai," Zhang advised with caution.
"Then fire that useless commander Nanghiyadai replaced Guo Zhen with and give Dorotai command instead," Burilgitei said. "He seems to be too slow in retreating from these Japanese attacks." Burilgitei sighed, annoyed he had to play politics once more. How did father do it, serving as Grand Chancellor when the army itself is already too full of politics? No doubt he would hear frustration over appointing two brothers heads of two sizable forces, but from his understanding, Dorotai seemed competent enough and Naimantai seemed eminently capable. He has fought with distinction since I witnessed his talent over a decade ago--he deserves the post.
"I believe it isn't so much the commander's fault, but the enemy's talent," Zhang said. "He responds quickly to our every move so he might defeat us in detail. It seems as if he no longer cares we raid his land, yet there is so little now to raid our strategy seems to be pointless. We have been unable to force a battle on our own terms."
"It is his best strategy," Burilgitei replied, glancing to the chest on his right that contained the sword the enemy commander sent him, wondering if and when it would finally be used. "We need to win a battle, and soon, because the Japanese are getting restless. There are too many defectors and our Japanese allies are too slow, let alone those riots and disturbances earlier this year."
"So we fight him at his chosen location? His army has grown from these defectors, and our army has only decreased further in quality with all these Japanese we have levied."
Burilgitei pondered his advice. Gao Xing would have offered more suitable advice, but I do not know if Lord Gao is even still alive. No doubt if he is, the enemy has gravely mistreated him.
"There is a potential Lord Kim Heun of Goryeo or perhaps Hong Jung-gyeon will come to our aid," Burilgitei noted. "He has been encouraging these attacks for months, although I am not sure how much he even can aid us after that great windstorm two weeks prior." Burilgitei shuddered, remembering the awful winds blowing all their tents away and lashing all the soldiers with rain and mud. A few men even died, struck by flying debris. There are rumours among our men that a great Japanese temple to the south was defiled, and their gods sent the storm as punishment. We must take heed of these signs and only attack as needed.
"That is a risky proposition with how flooded the rivers are," Zhang replied. "We may be on our own."
"Indeed, but so is our foe." Burilgitei rose to his feet, suddenly feeling inspired. "Call our commanders to my tent, for I have an idea that will bring us victory. I believe we should let ourselves fall into the enemy's trap and then rush to our men's aid using precisely positioned units. As he flees, he will be out of formation and easily destroyed as more and more of our forces arrive."
"Do our men even have the discipline for that at this point?" Zhang questioned. "Only the loyal core remains, and we are fortunate that Khur-Toda has not demanded we send the remaining kheshig warriors to him."
"Be grateful to Qutluq-Temur for reinforcing us. As there are no princes as prominent as him in Lord Chonghur's army, that gives us the right to " Burilgitei noted. "That last son of the great Setsen Khan has done well for himself since coming to this country [5]. And I suppose it is only natural that he and the kheshig draw the first blood in this encounter. We will send his 3,000 warriors alongside Naimantai's 8,000 warriors. Ensure our men know that Qutluq-Temur is in full command of this operation, and ensure he follows all directions from the scouts as to which path to take. They are to survive and hold out until my force arrives. Dorotai and Shi Bi are to flank the enemy and stop their retreat. No matter how many rivers the enemy hides behind--or in front of--we shall destroy him. Now then, bring the commanders before me so we might refine this plan. In particular, I would like to see Li Dayong regarding gunpowder usage in this operation."
A gentle rain began to fall. Burilgitei knew that by the end of the day, it would be a torrent of blood.
---
Sunomata, Mino Province, September 25, 1303
Sunomata, Mino Province, September 25, 1303
Takeda Tokitsuna shook his head, the pouring rain dinging off his armour and the mud clinging to his boots. The battle was not going well at well. But had anything gone well since that invader archer knocked Tsubarai from his horse? I cannot lose a battle simply because I lost a fine subordinate--should we lose, we will lose because the enemy has corrected their flaws.
"I warned Lord Munenaga not to lead his men so far ahead even if the enemy offered himself before us," Komai Nobumura complained. "Now we are all out of position and facing his endless reinforcements." Tokitsuna shook his head at Komai's denigration of Houjou Munenaga's strategy.
"He made the correct move," Tokitsuna replied. "Our enemy took a risky and hasty strategy, but it paid off. Had his soldiers been less motivated, or had the mud been deeper and the rivers swifter, he could not have aided him and we would have destroyed a great enemy force and permanently crippled him."
"True enough, I suppose," Komai replied. "But we now need to figure out how to extricate ourselves from the mess. We have only 300 of the great Mongol steeds left for our riders and the mud is deep."
"The mud is never too deep to make the enemy believe we are charging, and make them believe we charge in numbers greater than at Aonogahara," Tokitsuna said. "And they have positioned mostly archers and heavy infantry in the center, so even our light cavalry shall be useful here. We will ensure Houjou Munenaga and his survivors might retreat and cross the river."
"Lord Nawa is currently using the boats to skirmish with the enemy," Komai said. "We won't have enough to send everyone over before the enemy reaches us." Takeda sighed, knowing he made a serious error. Perhaps it wasn't just Houjou who pounced too eagerly on the enemy--I did as well, and I distracted myself from the real goal of surviving.
Loud pops sounded in the distance once more, the tell-tale sound of a strategically timed volley of guns and then a single louder noise, the explosion of a thunder-crash bomb. A brief smokescreen fluttered in that direction, drowned out by the rain. Tokitsuna's brow furrled, wondering just how they kept that much powder dry. No matter how they did it, he knew why--it let the enemy cover his charges and retreats and broke the resolve of those peasant spearmen he relied on. Moments later, Tokitsuna noticed a group of his own soldiers scrambling toward of him.
"Get back in the fray!" the monk-commander Nagasaki Shigen shouted at the leader of the men, an elderly man whose meager armour was coated in blood. A chunk of armour on shoulder was missing, a piece of metal embedded in his skin from the bomb. "Your spear drips in blood and you have slain many foes, slay more and gain victory for us all!"
"My lord, there is no way we can continue to fight out there," the man complained. "They have learned well to avoid our spears and we are showered by arrows and those infernal devices that sound like thunder." He turned to Tokitsuna. "They say you work miracles in battle. We cannot fight lest you give us one!"
"Miracles in battle are rare things indeed," Tokitsuna replied. "Were they not, our orders would come from the shrines and not the warrior's capital Kamakura." He turned to Komai. "Recall Nawa--we are abandoning this field."
"Lord Takeda, why are you being cowardly at a time like this!" Shigen protested.
"If we stay here any longer, we will surely perish," Tokitsuna said as he climbed onto his horse and an attendant handed him a long spear. "In any case, we have already won, for we are still alive, are we not, Lord Nagasaki?"
Shigen calmed down as cavalry began lining up around Tokitsuna. But even as their strength assembled, Tokitsuna felt a great uneasiness. His center is too weak, and he knows well our cavalry are both strong and have seen little fighting. We're too well-screened by our remaining spearmen to worry much of his own cavalry, since we can disperse his center and slowly retreat to complete the full withdrawal of our force. But what if...? Tokitsuna shook the doubt from his mind. All he could do was continue to fight until that final victory was assured.
"Let's cross that field so we can cross that river!" Tokitsuna shouted. "Forward!"
---
The Shogunate victory in April 1303 at Aonogahara proved dramatic in its impact, yet at the time the significance was not yet apparent to those who had not fought there. The forces the Shogunate assembled for the battle of Aonogahara came from areas that had equal need of those soldiers. Burilgitei's plan to advance in multiple locations bore fruit as the year 1303 saw victories in several theaters. It is all the more fascinating these victories came despite some of the largest anti-Mongol riots yet that drew their inspiration from the Shogunate's victory at Aonogahara.
The Hanbou Disturbance
After the defeat at Aonogahara, wild rumours spread throughout the Kingdom of Japan ranging from claims of the Shogunate army's divine aid to belief in an overwhelming numbers of men assembling to reconquer what had been lost. More credible rumours claimed betrayal by their Japanese allies led to Mongol defeat. In many provinces, small revolts broke out aimed at either restoring Shogunate rule or pressuring the Mongols into ceding more power to local lords or wealthy peasants. Most were surpressed quickly and the rebels executed or deported alongside their families.
Particularly damaging were the violent riots in Kyushu. These riots began in May 1303 in the small port of Kawashiri (川尻) in Higo Province, where Kikuchi's ethnic Persian gunners were accused of assassinating him and many senior Kikuchi retainers when they sabotaged the cannon and gunpowder supply. The darughachi in Kawashiri, a man of Central Asian ethnicity, dismissed these concerns and rudely sent away petitioners who desired the truth of Kikuchi's death. A violent riot broke out and burnt the city to the ground, where armed townsfolk and a few local warriors massacred hundreds of foreigners in the port and drove off many more. The darughachi himself along with his entire family perished.
The sight of Mongol soldiers riding away from the city raised panic in the countryside, for it was believed they burnt the city down and killed its inhabitants. Xenophobic rioting spread to the rest of Higo aimed at murdering non-Japanese--thousands died in the process. Several districts elsewhere in Kyushu saw similar violent riots, especially the city of Hakata where thousands of Muslims and Central Asians were killed. The entire Jewish community of Hakata, perhaps several dozen people, perished as rioters burnt their synagogue--it would be a generation before it was rebuilt.
The rebel leader emerged as Kumabe Takatomo (隈部隆朝), pressed into it by virtue of his wife's young nephew having organised the protest. Heir of a powerful Kikuchi vassal clan and grandson of the deceased Kumabe Mochinao, Kumabe had been pressed into it by virtue of having business associates involved in the riots in Kawashiri. Kumabe raised an army of around 10,000 men, demanding redress for the excessive taxation and tribute demands forced on the peasants, an end to corrupt darughachi, and an end to favouritism of foreign merchants. He called for all Japanese in the Kingdom of Japan to join him and gained control of several castles in Higo Province.
Shouni Kagesuke, shogunal regent of the Kingdom of Japan, viewed Kumabe as nothing but a young radical and ordered his forces to disperse while demanding Kumabe commit suicide to spare his honour. But many among the Kikuchi clan backed their ally Kumabe, not least Kikuchi Kagetaka who owed his life to Kumabe's grandfather. On the other hand, Shouni's rival Miura Yorimori viewed Kumabe as a threat to his power due to the potential it might provoke a Mongol overreaction. He assembled an army of 6,000 and gave nominal command to his 13 year old grandson Miura Tokitane (三浦時胤) with actual command held by a pro-Miura general named Anan Hidehisa (阿南秀久). They fought several battles against the rebels, their more disciplined warriors overcoming the rabble who followed Kumabe but Kumabe's force having considerable staying power.
The Mongol response was as merciless as Miura feared. Qutluq-Temur, youngest son of Kublai Khan, led 3,000 warriors to Higo, burnt dozens of villages, and massacred the entire population of Kawashiri. Any temple or shrine containing a fugitive from Kawashiri was similarly leveled and its priests slaughtered. Kumabe realised he needed to gain a great victory and ordered his men to assemble as one force and march on Hakata. Miura and Qutluq-Temur joined their armies in response and counterattacked Kumabe at Nobara Manor on the border of Higo and Chikugo on May 27, 1303. The fanatic but indisciplined warriors fell before the disciplined samurai of Miura, the trained Mongol elites of Qutluq-Temur, and the local land stewards the Shoudai clan (小代氏). The survivors dispersed, where nearly all were massacred upon capture. Kumabe survived, but committed suicide several days later.
The Jou, Kumabe, and Akahashi clans, chief Kikuchi retainers, were nearly destroyed on suspicion of leading the rebellion, as were several Shouni clan retainers active in Higo. Kikuchi Takemoto (菊池武本), Takamori's half-brother, assassinated his crippled nephew Kagetaka and gave his head to the Mongols to try and win favour--the Mongols praised him for his loyalty, but declared him posthumously guilty of failing to restrain the rioters and forced him to commit suicide [6]. Although the Mongols permitted Kagetaka's young brother Takekage (菊池武景) to succeed as heir, half of what remained after 1/3 was confiscated was transferred to Takemoto, thus greatly weakening the Kikuchi clan's position.
This revolt, called the Hanbou Disturbance (蕃坊の乱) after the ethnic communities called hanbou (蕃坊) the violence focused on, was the most serious anti-Mongol uprising yet [7]. It gravely weakened the Kikuchi clan's position and resulted in the death or deportation of about 10% of Higo Province's population--tens of thousands of people. The Kikuchi clan's allies, the Shouni clan in Chikuzen Province, likewise suffered the loss of many retainers and most crucially, one of their most important allies. On the contrary, the more pro-Mongol Miura clan ingratiated themselves further to the Mongols for their quick and decisive response to the rebels.
Mongol advance in the south
In the south in Shima Province, the Shogunate assembled 10,000 warriors, mostly the remnants of those in western Japan who had not gone to fight at Aonogahara and low-quality levies from eastern Japan. The commander was Houjou Hisatoki, a one-time senior Rokuhara Tandai leader who since his forced retirement in 1299 for offending Houjou Sadatoki had become a monk by the name Inken (因憲). Nagasaki Enki forced Inken back into the battlefield and assigned to him the Houjou vassal Hitomi Mitsuyuki as his deputy. Representing the Shogunal vassals was Oda Munetomo.
Although they outnumbered the Goryeo force of about 6,000 which advanced toward Shima, Burilgitei had sent 4,000 men under Kong Yingyang (孔鷹揚) to keep the Shogunate off-guard. This tactic worked, leading to many sleepless nights among the Japanese force and unneeded marching to and from. Further, Oda and Hitomi constantly clashed while Inken preferred to have no part in the affair, believing his words would not be heeded by either men and that Nagasaki was setting him up for failure.
Hearing of dissent in the Japanese camp from a defector, the Goryeo warriors under Kim Heun and Gi Ja-oh struck at the Choshi River during the night of June 22 after the Japanese had been marching all day. The Goryeo warriors crossed the river by night during a rainstorm, and this raid so overwhelmed the Japanese that Kim summoned his reinforcements under Gi Ja-oh to finish off the Japanese army. Inken committed suicide while Hitomi was severely wounded. Around 5,000 Japanese died in the battle, another decisive loss, and the invasion of Shima Province began in earnest. Attempts by the Japanese to hold the Goryeo army at Tsuzurato Pass (ツヅラト峠) in Shima likewise failed as the Goryeo men were reinforced by sea
Ironically, the 4,000 men Burilgitei sent proved more of a hindrance. They were sent through Iga Province, a minor, poor province in the mountains, where they encountered fierce local resistance from the akutou Hattori Yasuyuki (服部保行) constantly raided their force. The military governor Chiba Tanemune (千葉胤宗) recruited the famously independent-spirited peasants and akutou of Iga to the Shogunate's cause. In a daring night attack, only 400 men under Hattori and Chiba crushed Kong's force sometime in August 1303 and drove them from Iga.
The Iga campaign entered into legend due to both association with the ninja (Hattori is said to be the founder of a school of ninjutsu) and the sword of Fujiwara no Yasumasa, best known as Houshou (宝生), supposedly stolen by Chiba's wife from the Imperial Palace as she fled Kyoto before the siege. A popular legend held that the demon Shuten-douji (酒呑童子) reincarnated as a vicious Mongol general (perhaps because a later Mongol commander in Japan, Dorji the Jalair, had a similar-sounding name) and used sorcery to manipulate Kong Yingyang, an otherwise-saintly heir to Confucius (perhaps because of Kong sharing Confucius's surname). Hattori forced Chiba to part with his blade in exchange for allegiance to him, and through Hattori's trickery, Shuten-douji was slain once and sent to the deepest pit of hell while Kong became a Buddhist monk in hopes of forgiveness for his sins. While clearly a later invention, it remains among the most famous stories of the Banpou Invasion.
Kong's defeat matter little to the broader picture. Iga was an isolated province difficult to reach from the outside, and a Goryeo detatchment under Gi Ja-oh [check?] linked with the remains of Kong's army and periodically raided the province. Several legendary battles of Hattori Yasuyuki occurred in this time involving the crafty warriors of Iga killing thousands of Mongols with only hundreds or even dozens of men, but in actuality Hattori seems to only have protected a complete Mongol conquest of the province. Likely the Mongol weakness owed much to the rioting throughout occupied Japan in the wake of their defeat at Aonogahara.
The Battles in the Hokuriku
The Mongol campaign in Echizen Province likewise proved successful. The military governor of the province, Gotou Motoyori (後藤基頼), was betrayed by his retainer Uryuu Hakaru (瓜生衡), who managed to secure several castles to the Mongols in exchange for the post of military governor. The Shogunate force, now under Houjou Kunitoki, the Houjou vassal Suwa Yorinao (諏訪頼直), and the Shogunal vassal Togashi Yasuaki (富樫泰明), once again tried organising a joint attack with the powerful pirate Matsuura Sadamu and his band of Kyushu exiles, but they discovered Matsuura had received a great bribe from the Mongols and wrote him off as eminently unreliable.
Fortunately for the Shogunate, in 1302 they had received hundreds of defectors from the Mongol side under the elderly Shimazu Tadatsugu as a result of his grand-nephew Ijuuin Hisachika's seizing control of the clan. He was greeted by the clan head Shimazu Sadahisa as well as the head of the local Echizen Shimazu, Shimazu Tadamune.
However, these new Shimazu destabilised the precarious balance of power between the Satsuma Shimazu who had arrived after the fall of Kyushu in 1284 and the local Shimazu of Echizen and Shinano. Tadamune grew paranoid his relative Sadahisa was planning on using these men to gain more control over him, made all the worst as Sadahisa's uncle Izaku Hisanaga (伊作久長) settled all of the ashigaru who traveled alongside Tadatsugu on estates he managed.
Sadahisa's half-brother Izumi Tadauji (和泉忠氏) took advantage of this and spread rumours of Tadamune's disloyalty that reached even the Mongols. Izumi seems to have desired to eliminate Tadamune while goading the Mongols into making a predictable and foolish move. However, this only impaired the Shogunate's attempt at organising defense for Tadamune's cousin Yukikage (島津行景) actually believed his clan was in peril. Before the Battle of Katagami (片上) on March 31, 1303, Yukikage and fifty warriors murdered Sadahisa in his sleep and set many tents alight with fire arrows as they defected to the Mongol side. The Mongols immediately followed with a thunderous charge that dispersed the Shogunate and killed almost 3,000 men.
Yukikage won himself a manor in Harima Province for his deed, while the unlucky Tadamune protested his innocence. Several of Tadamune's uncles were forced to commit suicide, as was Shimazu Tadatsugu, but Tadamune himself survived. Tadamune would redeem his honour in the following months as he steadfastly defended his territories in Echizen. Tadamune would be the last Shogunate commander in Echizen to fall, committing suicide in March 1304 as Uryuu Hakaru's warriors hunted him down in the mountains after almost a year of guerilla resistance.
Regardless of Shimazu support, the Shogunate conducted a fighting retreat, battling the Mongols over several weeks as they retreated into nearby Kaga Province. Of these battles, the Japanese inflicted significant casualties on the invading Mongol forces. In one famous battle, the Oda clan of Nyuu District in Echizen held off nearly 5,000 Mongol soldiers with just 500 warriors during a siege of their fortified manor. Their leader, Oda Chikamoto (織田親基), was killed along with his sons Chikayuki (織田親行) and Motoyuki (織田基行)but his youngest Nobukazu (織田昌和) survived and was lauded a hero by the Shogunate forces [8].
Despite these hard-fought battles, the Shogunate forces fell back as the Mongols showed no mercy to the locals with the typical massacres and deportations common among them. Amassing a force of peasants and angered local warriors, on June 30 Suwa and Togashi tried holding back the Mongol advance at Kumasaka Manor (熊坂荘) at the border of Kaga and Echizen, but Chonghur managed to outflank the Shogunate position on the hilltop. The demoralised Shogunate forces were routed by Uryuu's forces charging up the hill.
The uselessness of the local warriors convinced the Japanese to follow the advice of one of their commanders, the disgraced Houjou Sadaaki, in conducting a scorched earth retreat, and that summer they burnt much of Kaga and confiscated all food while directing the peasants to shelter in nearby provinces. The elderly monk Houjou Dousai (道西), uncle of Takeda's general Houjou Munenobu, gathered a fleet and group of warrior monks to raid the rear lines and destroy Mongol resupply attempts [9].
Yuan admirals Yighmish and Chu Ding (楚鼎) sprang into action and wiped out Dousai's vastly outnumbered Bakufu-suigun fleet on August 27 and sacked the port of Miyanokoshi (宮腰) [10], eliminating an important center for the Shogunate's logistics and landing thousands of Mongol soldiers behind Shogunate lines. By the end of summer 1303, both Echizen and Kaga had been subdued, the latter with great losses due to the large number of petty lords who resisted the Mongol advance. Their position untenable, the Shogunate retreated from Kaga into Etchuu, fortifying the strategic Kurikara Pass (倶利伽羅峠).
A Japanese officer in Chonghur's force named Mouri Tokimoto (毛利時元), nephew of Mouri Tokichika, saw through this strategy. Although he commanded only 100 warriors due to the disgrace his father Motochika (毛利基親) suffered from publically quarreling with the darughachi assigned to his land [11], Mouri believed the Shogunate intended to either bait them into an ambush or delay their forces until winter set in and gave them months of preparation to fortify Etchuu. On September 10, Mouri's hundred warriors infiltrated the hills around Kurikara Pass and strung torches to the trees, enticing the enemy to attack.
Togashi believed the enemy had arrived and unleashed his main plan--hundreds of stampeding oxen with torches in their horns. This was the exact same strategy used to great effect 120 years prior in the Genpei War. But the small Mouri force was undeterred and the cattle passed harmlessly through their lines. Togashi was stunned and believed the Mongols used some sort of trickery, which was proven as shortly after he heard the Mongols had stormed the poorly defended Matsune Castle (松根城) in Uchiyama Pass (内山峠) to the south.
Togashi left 1,000 men under Shimazu clan scion Izaku Hisanaga (伊作久長) to prevent incursions through Kurikara while he led around 16,000 to defend Uchiyama Pass. Chonghur feigned a retreat from this force, even abandoning Matsune Castle. Some Mongol forces broke off from the main group to imitate a disastrous rout. All the while, Mouri's warriors severed the lines of communication regarding the situation in Kurikara Pass to cause further confusion. As Shogunate forces grew exhausted in the pursuit, Chonghur struck and enveloped their forces in a dramatic encirclement. Suwa was wounded in action, Houjou Kunitoki was killed alongside nearly 10,000 Shogunate warriors, and only quick thinking from Kunitoki's lieutenant Houjou Sadaaki prevented an even more terrible defeat.
As for the fighting in the Kurikara Pass, through strategic ambushes Mouri's warriors killed 400 Shimazu clan warriors, including Izaku himself, at the cost of only ten of their own. It is said that Chonghur held a great two-day feast in Mouri Tokimoto's honour, called the Fire Cattle Feast from the main dish. Tthe hundreds of cattle killed provided ample supplies for the Mongol army for weeks to come. Etchuu Province could not be defended--by the time the snow became too deep in December, the Mongols had seized much of the province as well as invaded nearby Noto with little challenge. Mouri Tokimoto received command of 1,000 troops and became defacto commander of all Japanese in Chonghur's army, and additionally became military governor of Kaga which would became his clan's stronghold.
Despite these great successes, the Mongols had clearly advanced too far and too fast. Chonghur sent Khur-Toda of the kheshig with a raiding party of 2,000 warriors into Echigo in November 1303 to disrupt the Shogunate, confiscate food, and prevent defensive preparations, but his force hit heavy snowfall. Mongol demands for food pressed hard on the peasants of the Hokuriku who responded with rebellion, fleeing to the mountains, or sometimes even destroying their own stocks and starving themselves. Warriors from mountainous Hida and Shinano Provinces, most notably struck at the fringes of the Mongol advance. The logistic network non-existent, the Shogunate's Suwa defeated Khur-Toda and slew half his force.
The Second Attack on Mino
These efforts made up for the lack of results from Burilgitei's force. During most of the year, they spent their time rebuilding their force with new recruits, accepting what few reinforcements from Goryeo and Yuan they could obtain, and preparing a new strategy. That autumn, Kim and the Yuan fleets of Hong Jung-gyeon managed to complete the capture of most of Shima and launch attacks on Ise Province to the north.
With Hong Jung-gyeon aiding him at sea, Kim advanced north through Ise and sent a messenger to Burilgitei advising that a second attack into Mino Province--with Goryeo's army on the flank--would certainly destroy the Japanese. Burilgitei agreed, but was unable to muster the same strength from the first attack. Nanghiyadai had fallen ill, while the officers in Khayishan's army remained mourning their departed prince and the Hanbou Disturbance had caused disarray in Mongol supply lines and mistrust between Mongols and their Japanese vassals. The Mongol effort in 1303 was thus little more than series of raids into Mino, bitterly opposed by local forces of the Toki clan as well as the main Shogunate army.
Hong's warriors seized the sacred Ise Grand Shrine on September 15, 1303. It is said that although Hong tried to restrain his men, they forced the high priestess, a daughter of Go-Fukakusa, to hand over the shrine's gold and silver. For this disrespect, it is claimed the gods sent a typhoon three days later that flooded the shrine, sinking the artifacts into the sea forever along with hundreds of Hong's pirates and ten of his finest ships. Elsewhere, this typhoon destroyed food stocks and flooded rivers that brought the Mongol advance through Shima and Ise to a halt.
Regardless of the typhoon, the Mongols were prepared to act anyway. Burilgitei rallied his army, now numbered 35,000 men after the events of the summer after being joined by Miura, and charged into Mino with the intent of forcing a decisive battle. He was under significant pressure to bring about a decisive battle and demonstrate to the Japanese the inevitability of their conquest. Unlike the situation earlier in the year however, Burilgitei was well-positioned to gain this victory. What few reinforcements the Shogunate received were nothing but rabble raised locally in Mino Province and the strong network of fortifications had been destroyed.
Fortunately, the army was now thoroughly under the control of Takeda Tokitsuna via his talented general Houjou Munenaga--Nagasaki Enki had deferred to the advice of his uncle (younger brother of the deceased Takayasu) Shigen (長崎思元) to permit Munenaga to command the force. As a result, Takeda conducted scorched-earth warfare against the protests of the Toki clan, promising to personally compensate Toki Yorisada for the damages he caused. He confiscated food from the peasants, using it for his own armies or shipping it elsewhere to be redistributed to other provinces. Those peasants who wished to feed their families he conscripted into his own army, swelling it to around 30,000 men.
To defeat the Mongol advantage in the flat, open Noubi Plain, Takeda kept his cavalry constantly striking Mongol lines and scouting parties to deny them any advantage. He set up small encampments to mislead the enemy, where small detatchments of his warriors led suicidal resistance against their enemies. Even with all this, it was clearly not enough--he and his subordinates could not force the Mongol raiding parties into a decisive battle and they gradually eroded his advantage. On the rainy day of September 25, 1303, Qutluq-Temur and the young and talented commander Naimantai (乃蛮台) let Takeda's force attack his own army of 11,000 men not far from Takeda's camp at the village of Sunomata along the bank of the Sai River.
Takeda used the success at engaging one part of the enemy army to execute his strategy to evacuate his warriors across the river to force the enemy to conduct a difficult crossing. He delegated actually destroying the enemy to Houjou Munenaga and half Takeda's force. Houjou was unable to prevent a slow, gradual withdrawal of Yuan troops and chased them too far. At a key moment, Yuan commander Li Dayong unleashed a burst of gunfire and bombs on Houjou's lines, a completely unexpected factor in the rainy weather. This shielded the arrival of the main Mongol army and scattered Houjou's force.
Regardless, Tokitsuna still pressed the attack to save his subordinate. His skirmishers used the rivers to strike the Mongol flanks while his man force with their backs to the river as at Aonogahara kept the Mongols at bay for hours. Burilgitei did not dare deploy his cavalry due to the well-deployed walls of Japanese spearmen, but his subordinate Shi Bi attempted to do so anyway. Shi found his cavalry cornered by an ambush of spearmen and lost thousands of men.
Yet on the open Noubi plain, this advantage was short-lived. Burilgitei's own cavalry forced the spearmen to retreat with thousands of losses as Burilgitei's center consisting of infantry, archers, and crossbowmen advanced. He successfully baited Takeda into charging at this exposed center and pulled back these men at the last moment, a manuever possible thanks to the discipline of Ijuuin Hisachika's warriors and the vengeance sought by many Kingdom of Japan samurai for the losses at Aonogahara. As Takeda charged, Burilgitei's cavalry circled back around and outflanked Takeda and his warriors.
As Takeda tried retreating, the rain intensified into a thunderstorm and brought an early end to the fighting. The plains of mud denied the Mongols mobility and along with the darkness, stopped their attack. Takeda successfully disengaged and retreated across the Nagara River. An attempt to infiltrate the river by nightfall failed as Takeda's wary crossbowmen struck down the invader. Although the Mongols lost around 5,000 men, Takeda lost over twice that number, albeit mostly conscripted peasants.
Although among the largest battles in the Banpou Invasion in terms of number of soldiers, the Battle of Sunomata was rarely remembered in the same context as Aonogahara. Nanghiyadai for taking excessive losses, while Takeda viewed the loss of so many men and his retreat a defeat. The battle changed little in the overall situation--the Mongols gained little ground while the Shogunate still fought at a great disadvantage.
The flooding slowed the pace of the campaign, and no major battles occurred after the Battle of Sunomata in 1303. Each army settled into winter quarters, with Burilgitei and Kim Heun planning to complete the conquest of Mino and Owari the following year. Takeda, on the other hand, chose to use the many rivers of the Noubi Plain to his advantage, where he could threaten any Mongol army in Japan.
Although defeated, the flooding in Shima and Ise was severe enough that it prevented Kim Heun's army from uniting with Burilgitei to outflank Takeda. As Kim and the fleets of Sashi and Hong struck Owari Province, the local military governor Chuujou Kagenaga (中条景長) grouped with the remnants of the Shogunate forces defeated earlier and clashed with Kim's force in several inconclusive battles in early October. Upon hearing this, Burilgitei withdrew from Mino as he feared being being outflanked and the stress on his supply lines.
That winter, another power struggle broke out in the Shogunate due to Houjou Kunitoki's death. Shogunal Regent Houjou Munenobu tried naming his nephew Sadanao (北条貞直) (Muneyasu's son) as the new Deputy Rokuhara Tandai leader without Nagasaki Enki's permission. This would have ensured his Osaragi branch of the Houjou controlled the highest offices of the Shogunate (minus the Senior Rokuhara Tandai leader)--his brother Sadafusa was second in command as cosigner while another brother Muneyasu was Iyo Tandai, and his son and heir Koresada served as chinjufu-shogun [12]. For Nagasaki Enki, who relied on his role as protecting the main branch of the Houjou clan and their child heir to support his power, this was unacceptable.
Nagasaki sprang into action in November 1303 and forced Munenobu's resignation as regent to protect the head of the Houjou clan, the boy Houjou Sadanori. He banished Munenobu and Sadanao to the Izu Islands and purged several Munenobu allies among the Houjou vassals. Few were prominent due to Nagasaki's awareness of the dangerous situation with the invasion--the primary victims of the conspiracy were the non-Houjou vassal Shibukawa clan due to their head Shibukawa Sadayori (渋川貞頼) being the cousin of the Osaragi Houjou leader Munenobu. Nagasaki's warriors murdered Shibukawa alongside twenty retainers.
This was termed the Shibukawa Incident, and despite Nagasaki's intentions of it projecting a message to both powerful vassals like Ashikaga and Takeda and to branches of the Houjou clan, it only further weakened Houjou rule. Aside from reassigning a few minor Houjou fiefs, the Osaragi maintained much of their powerbase. Even the Shibukawa remnants did not suffer, for Nagasaki returned their confiscated lands to their distant Ashikaga cousins.
To replace the exiled Munenobu, Nagasaki elevated Houjou Mototoki to the post of shogunal regent. Houjou Sadakuni (北条貞国), son of Houjou Tokimune's youngest half-brother, replaced him as senior Rokuhara Tandai leader. Houjou Sadaaki of the Kanezawa Houjou became Deputy Rokuhara Tandai leader for the third time. While Sadaaki was controversial for his advocacy of scorched earth tactics and further disgraced for having served in that same position during Munekata's usurpation, he was a talented commander and saved the Shogunate force at Uchiyama.
Overall, these promotions weakened the Houjou clan--Mototoki and Sadakuni were both easily manipulated, and the refusal to promote a commander as successful as Houjou Munenaga infuriated not just his Nagoe Houjou or someone like Munenaga's in-law Takeda Tokitsuna, but the Shogunal vassals in general who increasingly viewed Nagasaki as nothing but a parasite on the Shogunate. Even so, none could act at the moment with the grave danger of the continued Mongol advance.
---
Author's notes
Author's notes
This chapter ties up the odds and ends of 1303 (beside Shikoku and Mutsu/Dewa) and shows what happened after Aonogahara. It shows how the war is just as much an inter-Japanese war as it is a foreign invasion. The Hanbou Disturbance is of course a direct consequence of Mongol policies in Japan and how those in the Kingdom of Japan do not actually care much for the invaders. Meanwhile, the Japanese victory at Aonogahara is shown to be dubious strategically--the Mongols are able to rapidly advance elsewhere because the Japanese focused much of their effort and best soldiers at Aonogahara rather than other places under threat from the Mongols. And even those forces are still vulnerable to Mongol attack.
The next chapter I have not yet decided, but it will cover either Shikoku or the north of Japan, and then the one after that will be the one I didn't cover there.
[1] - Kawashiri was the medieval name for a port town in modern day Kumamoto--it was also very near the seat of Higo Province's old provincial capital.
[2] - Sumo was popular in medieval Japan, although matches were either devotional games at Shinto shrines (including the prominent Suwa Shrine) or were inter-warrior competitions held at Kamakura. The Oda clan's descendent Nobunaga was a very important patron for the sport
[3] - Not to be confused with Shimazu Tadamune, fourth head of the Shimazu clan overall and son of Shimazu Hisatsune. While I did not describe his fate TTL, consider it canon he perished in the Kou'an Invasion of 1281-85 alongside his father
[4] - Referring to Burilgitei of course. Suwa Yorinao was (probably) the younger brother of Yorishige (killed at Ki Castle in 1299 TTL) and uncle to Jikishou (killed at Aonogahara TTL). Although not the head of the Suwa clan, he is more prominent TTL than OTL (where all that's known is his name and immediate relations) because of his seniority.
[5] - Setsen Khan was the Mongol regnal name Kublai Khan used, and Qutluq-Temur as mentioned is his youngest son, born from a low-ranking concubine
[6] - Takemoto is better known as Kai Takemoto (甲斐武本), for OTL he killed Takamori's son to try and gain headship of the clan, but failed and was forced to flee to Kai Province, hence his change of surname
[7] - "蕃坊" was (and is) OTL a term used by southern Chinese to refer to these non-Chinese enclaves, but feels appropriate to have spread to Japan TTL given the trade carried on between Kyushu and Fujian and the fact most of the Mongol soldiers and leaders were men assigned to Fujian
[8] - These are probably the ancestors of Oda Nobunaga who lived in this era, although I don't find the "Oda clan was descended from the Taira clan" theory to be compelling. These men are named in the (likely fake) genealogy Oda Nobunaga and his clan used. However, it is clear the Oda clan did have an association with Ota Manor (織田荘) in Echizen, hence their surname 織田. Consider these the otherwise unnamed son and grandson of Fujiwara no Michioki (藤原道意), a Shinto priest active in that area and probably the real ancestor of the Oda clan
[9] - More commonly known as Houjou Tokimoto (北条時基). He may or not have been alive at this point but I've decided to give him slightly better health so the old man (he would have been 73 in 1303) can die defending his country
[10] - Miyanokoshi was an important medieval port in Kaga Province that today is part of Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture
[11] - Mouri Motochika was Mouri Tokichika's older brother. I cannot tell if they were full brothers or half brothers, but the inheritance of their father Tsunemitsu was split between them (and not their other four brothers). I wasn't really sure what to do with him, hence his lack of role TTL and my explanation that he lost a lot of potential status compared to his younger brother due to annoying the Mongols
[12] - Similar clashes between the shikken and Nagasaki Enki (and Enki's son) occurred OTL, reflecting the Houjou clan trying to take back control of their own organisation from their powerful majordomo
Last edited:
So the sluggish onslaught goes on. Brilliant move by Mouri Tochikaka on baiting the shogunate to release their 'bait'.
So I take it that Shouni clan has fallen further out of favour of the mongols due to the riots. Miura is proving to be both a capable administrator and a politician as well.
Battle of Sunomata is like the battle of Kharkiv,large but ignored in favour of the more dramatic stalingrad one.
And Ninja Hattori tricking mongols makes for a fun anime. So cultural influence of the shadow Warriors will thrive in Japan much Earlier
So I take it that Shouni clan has fallen further out of favour of the mongols due to the riots. Miura is proving to be both a capable administrator and a politician as well.
Battle of Sunomata is like the battle of Kharkiv,large but ignored in favour of the more dramatic stalingrad one.
And Ninja Hattori tricking mongols makes for a fun anime. So cultural influence of the shadow Warriors will thrive in Japan much Earlier
Makes sense. Although even with the Hong clan and their allies trying to rebuild ports along the Sea of Japan in northeastern Korea and the modern Russian Far East, a lot of the people they'll be encountering wouldn't necessarily be Han or even Koreans, but Jurchens, other Tungusic people, and whatever remained of the Balhae people (sources still mention them into the 14th century and they don't seem to be spoken of as a former ethnicity until the mid-15th century).
I can confirm this is 100% the case so far, starting with the fact we have the third OTL Yuan emperor Khayishan meeting an early death in Japan rather than becoming Kulug Khan/Yuan Wuzong as he did OTL. His strategist Bayan the Merkit who died alongside him was also a major political player in the Yuan dynasty OTL. A lot of the Yuan military and politics in the 1300-1320 period was dominated by a circle of generals who followed Prince Khayishan--most have appeared ITTL. Let's just say they still have someone to follow, since Khayishan has a younger brother (and a bastard son, but he's not really a figure of importance...yet).
Thank you. I can't read Japanese very well (can understand it somewhat if spoken to me), so doing the research for this probably taught me as many kanji as I learned since the last time I was in Japanese class some 8 years ago. But since most of the new kanji I learned are kanji used are generally used in names, the only application seems to be reading the credits whenever I watch anime. Oh well.
If you're curious, the research is mostly English language sources on Japan and the Yuan as well as using machine translation of a few easily accessible Japanese sources (Wikipedia, Kotobank, and some guides detailing castles and old geneologies) plus using my limited knowledge of Japanese plus dictionary/language guide to check and see if it's correct. Yandex seems to be decent at Japanese, especially since it doesn't translate a lot of specific historical terms (meaning you need to know, which I do because I have good sources on hand). Unfortunately I can't really do the same for Chinese (mostly Baidu Baike) and Korean sources (mostly Encyclopedia of Korean Culture), but I assume the translation gets me the best information.
Not Tokichika, this was his nephew Tokimoto as Tokichika died at Aonogahara. Apparently the fire cattle strategy was not a highly successful one since every general who tried using it beside Tiana Dan and Minamoto no Yoshinaka failed, sometimes very battle.
Correct, the Shouni clan has lost a lot of influence because they lost a lot of their allies to the war, and also because Miura Yorimori (and his son) are simply better politicians who better understand the political situation and are more capable of exploiting people.
Yes, Hattori Yasuyuki is indeed the ancestor of Hattori Hanzou. There would clearly be quite a story to be told between Shuten Douji's reincarnation leading Mongol warriors under a poor unassuming bewitched Confucian and Hattori and his ninjas helping the outmatched Shogunate drive them off. A pity it's only a legend from another timeline.
Interesting. Thanks for the info. I guess it makes sense this is what results.
I rely heavily on Wiktionary and Jisho, the Encyclopedia of Korean Culture is new to me. This is not a historical period I know very well so it's good to know this stuff. Thanks.