[00:06] The fierce resistance on the beaches of Hakata
Bay and the cataclysmic encounters with typhoons
[00:12] - later known as the kamikaze - stand tall
in the popular memory of the Mongol invasions
[00:17] of Japan both within and outside of the country.
[00:21] Having covered the course of the two invasion
attempts previously, we will now cover the
[00:26] first clash between Mongol horse archers and
Samurai warriors, and their spirited defence
[00:32] of the islands of Tsushima and Iki.
[00:34] By the way, we have a podcast covering the
history of the Mongols, the links are in the
[00:39] description.
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[01:42] The island of Tsushima is situated between
the southern coast of Korea and the Japanese
[01:47] island of Kyushu.
[01:48] Only a short distance from Korea, Tsushima
was a prominent base for Japanese pirates
[01:54] to raid Korea, known as wakō.
[01:57] As Tsushima itself was mountainous with little
arable land, many turned to providing for
[02:02] themselves on the sea, either through fishing
or making the short trip to Korea.
[02:08] In the thirteenth century the raiders found
Korea a particularly vulnerable target, as
[02:13] the kingdom suffered continuously from a far
more fearsome enemy: Mongol horsemen of the
[02:19] Great Khan.
[02:20] Over a thirty-year period, Mongol forces repeatedly
invaded Korea, and the Korean King Gojong
[02:27] was forced to seek refuge on an island.
[02:30] During this destabilization, Japanese pirates
attacked Korea several times, though these
[02:35] attacks ended by the time King Gojong made
peace with the Mongols in 1259.
[02:41] It is these attacks which first brought the
Japanese, and Tsushima itself, to Mongol attention,
[02:47] alongside rumours of the great wealth of the
Japanese monarchs.
[02:52] When the new Mongol Emperor Kublai Khan began
sending envoys to Japan in the 1260s, demanding
[02:58] they accept his Heaven ordained rule, Tsushima’s
close proximity to Korea made it a natural
[03:04] stopover for the Khan’s messengers.
[03:07] However, the Japanese government, the Kamakura
Bakufu under Hojo Tokimune, repeatedly refused
[03:13] to even see Kublai’s envoys.
[03:16] One returning group of frustrated envoys in
1269 captured two fishermen from Tsushima,
[03:22] Tojiro and Yashiro.
[03:24] The two were brought all the way back to the
court of Kublai.
[03:27] There, the most powerful single individual
on the planet entertained two humble fishermen,
[03:33] showing off his grandeur and demanding that,
upon their return, they would tell Hojo Tokimune
[03:39] to show him proper respect, that the Khan
wished only to have the Japanese King at his
[03:44] court, and to bequeath his fame to posterity.
[03:49] On returning to Japan, the fishermen found
no more success than Kublai’s official envoys
[03:55] did.
[03:56] The continued diplomatic offenses were not
forgotten, and Kublai’s pretensions only
[04:01] increased with the declaration of the Yuan
Dynasty in 1271.
[04:06] With the fall of the key Song Dynasty stronghold
of Xiangyang, preparations soon followed for
[04:11] an invasion fleet against Japan.
[04:15] On the 2nd of November 1274 an armada of perhaps
20,000 Mongols, Northern Chinese, Jurchen,
[04:22] Khitans, and Korean soldiers and sailors aboard
nearly 1,000 ships set out from Happ’o on
[04:28] Korea’s southern coast.
[04:30] Tsushima was where the hammer blow would strike
first.
[04:34] By the evening of November 4th, the defenders
spotted the Mongol fleet off the Tsushima
[04:38] coast.
[04:40] Lacking naval powers beyond their small pirate
and fishing vessels, the Japanese had no way
[04:45] to harry the Mongols at sea.
[04:48] Tsushima was at that time controlled by the
Sō clan, whose head, Sō Sukekuni, was the
[04:53] deputy shugo, military governor, of the island.
[04:57] According to the Hachiman Gudokun, a Japanese
source written soon after the invasion, on
[05:02] Tsushima there was a shrine to Hachiman, the
Japanese god of war.
[05:07] Tradition holds that on the day the Mongol
fleet neared Tsushima, a fire broke out at
[05:12] Hachiman’s shrine - a foreboding omen.
[05:15] The fire was extinguished, and white doves
were seen gathering on the roof of the shrine.
[05:21] As doves were the messengers of Hachiman,
Sukekuni interpreted it as a warning from
[05:26] Hachiman: for why else would the god set fire
to his own shrine?
[05:31] Some modern authors have interpreted this
as the doves having caused the fire, perhaps
[05:36] from incendiaries tied to them and hence,
the opening salvo in the Mongol attack upon
[05:41] the island.
[05:42] Either way, news reached Sukekuni that a massive
fleet was approaching.
[05:47] Sukekuni rallied his forces: some 80 mounted
Samurai and their retainers.
[05:52] He led them through the night over rough terrain
to set up on the beach of Komoda, and prepare
[05:58] for the dawn.
[06:00] As the Yuan fleet neared Komoda beach early
on the morning of November 5th, Sukekuni sent
[06:05] a small vessel out to inquire as to the purpose
of their arrival.
[06:10] With the bakufu having rebuffed the Great
Khan’s envoys repeatedly, the time was well
[06:15] past for talk.
[06:17] Sukekuni knew chances of victory against such
a massive force were non-existent, yet lined
[06:23] the defenders of Tsushima up for battle all
the same as the smaller enemy landing craft
[06:28] neared the shore.
[06:30] The primary weapon of the samurai was the
bow, their valuable and iconic yumi, with
[06:35] which each warrior was highly skilled.
[06:38] Like the Mongols, the Samurai fought as mounted
archers, though their maneuvers on horseback
[06:43] could not compare to steppe nomads born into
the saddle.
[06:48] The wealthiest samurai were well protected
in their colourful and distinctive yoroi,
[06:53] though on a poorer island like Tsushima few
of the 80 samurai gathered by Sukekuni would
[06:59] be so well armoured.
[07:00] For sidearms, Sukekuni’s warriors had their
single curved blades, the predecessors of
[07:06] the famous katana, while the remainder of
his forces were armed with little beyond spears
[07:11] and naginata.
[07:14] In contrast, the forces sent against him were
varied, commanded by the Mongol general Ho-tan.
[07:20] Most of the infantry Ho-tan threw against
Sukekuni were Chinese and Korean levies raised
[07:26] by the Khan, armed with spears, large wicker
or bamboo shields, and protected by cloth
[07:32] and gambeson-like armours.
[07:35] As per Mongol tactics, these troops considered
most expendable were sent in the first waves,
[07:41] soaking up enemy arrows while the more valuable
Khitan, Jurchen, Turkic and Mongol horse archers
[07:47] disembarked from the ships.
[07:49] Generally lightly armoured but highly experienced,
their composite bows made them a deadly counter
[07:55] to the samurai.
[07:56] The sea voyage and need to lead their horses
from the landing craft meant they could only
[08:02] slowly get into their formations, preventing
them from immediately trying to outflank their
[08:06] enemies as was their usual practice.
[08:10] While the Mongols readied their horses, the
Korean and Northern Chinese troops were sent
[08:15] against the samurai.
[08:16] Per Samurai tradition, battle began with a
whistling arrow sent high into the air; per
[08:23] Mongol tradition, drums marked the start of
their own advance.
[08:26] Sukekuni’s skilled archers took a heavy
toll on the foe marching up the beach.
[08:32] As the Yuan forces neared them, challenges
for single combat by the Samurai went unanswered
[08:37] by the Chinese and Koreans, marching as they
were behind rather un-samurai-like large shields.
[08:44] Unused to the press[ure?] and greatly outnumbered,
Sukekuni pulled his men back to the treeline
[08:49] where the Yuan advance was slowed.
[08:52] Here, the swordsmanship of the samurai made
itself known.
[08:56] One of Sukekuni’s closest comrades, Saito
Sukesada, brought down several of the Yuan
[09:01] soldiers and one senior Mongol officer.
[09:05] Standing over the fallen officer, Sukesada
shouted threats at the Mongols, calling on
[09:10] any who dared face him in battle.
[09:13] The Mongols responded with arrows, three of
which pierced the armour of Sukesada’s chest
[09:18] and ended him.
[09:20] In the tradition held in the history of the
Sō family, seeing the doom that awaited them,
[09:24] Sō Sukekuni loosed the remainder of his arrows
into the Yuan, and led one final futile cavalry
[09:31] charge into his foe.
[09:33] In the end the defenders were slaughtered,
leaving the island open to the Mongols, and
[09:38] over the following week Tsushima was overrun.
[09:41] Towns were burnt, many were slaughtered, and
a number of women of the Sō family committed
[09:46] suicide lest they fall into Mongol hands.
[09:49] A worse fate awaited the prisoners.
[09:52] Both Japanese and Yuan sources attest that
wire was threaded through the palms of the
[09:57] prisoners, mainly women, who were strung along
the prows of the Yuan ships as a gruesome
[10:02] necklace.
[10:04] By the 13th of November, Tsushima had fallen
and Ho-tan ordered the fleet to the next island,
[10:10] Iki.
[10:11] Here, the deputy shugo Taira Kagetaka had
had time to prepare his forces, sending word
[10:17] to Kyushu for aid.
[10:19] After sending women and children to Hinotsume
Castle, he took 100 mounted Samurai and their
[10:24] retainers to meet the Yuan fleet on the northern
beaches of the island.
[10:29] Kagetaka’s forces held them off for a few
hours, slowing down the Yuan landing, but
[10:34] were unable to prevent it.
[10:37] As the Yuan foothold grew, Kagetaka had no
choice but to withdraw to Hinotsume Castle
[10:42] in the evening.
[10:43] Here, the small wooden walls would not long
provide shelter against the warriors who had
[10:49] taken Xiangyang.
[10:50] Kagetaka sent his daughter, Katsura-hime,
with a single samurai to take word to the
[10:56] bakufu, and prepared for a hopeless last stand
as the Yuan encircled the castle.
[11:02] Women and townspeople within the castle joined
in the defence, hurling what they could at
[11:07] the enemy.
[11:08] Catapults and Mongol arrows made short work
of those on the walls, and when Kagetaka attempted
[11:13] to lead a valiant sally through the gates,
he found the Mongols pushing captive Japanese
[11:19] before them, wire threaded through their palms,
living cover for Mongolian archers.
[11:25] His numbers dwindling, Kagetaka led what was
left to the castle.
[11:30] As fire began to engulf the fort and his remaining
men gave them what time they could, Kagetaka
[11:36] watched his family commit suicide before he
too joined them in his final act of defiance.
[11:42] Iki was thus overrun, and slaughter and other
atrocities followed.
[11:47] Katsura-hime never made it to shore, her boat
coming too close to Mongol arrows.
[11:53] Survivors, such as Katsura’s Samurai bodyguard,
brought news of the terrors on Tsushima and
[11:58] Iki to the rest of Japan.
[12:01] In popular tradition, upon learning of these
horrors the regent, Hojo Tokimune, stated
[12:06] that this would be the most momentous occasion
of his life.
[12:10] When asked by a nearby priest how he intended
to reply to the Mongol invasion, Tokimune
[12:16] shrieked “Katsu!”
[12:17] - Victory.
[12:18] As we covered before, the Mongols would not
find victory on the shores of Hakata Bay,
[12:24] where stiff Japanese resistance and an unexpected
storm pushed the remnants of the fleet back
[12:29] to the Yuan realm.
[12:31] Undaunted by the efforts of this small archipelago,
Kublai threw another, even larger fleet against
[12:38] Japan after he had conquered the Song Dynasty.
[12:41] In 1281 his forces returned to Tsushima and
Iki, though little information is provided
[12:48] on these second encounters other than the
fact local defences once again fell quickly.
[12:54] One detail provided is that Saito Sukesada’s
son, Sō Moriaki, continued in his father’s
[13:00] legacy and fought the Mongols on the beaches
of Tsushima.
[13:04] Another is that the crying of children in
the mountains of Tsushima alerted the Mongols
[13:09] to the presence of families hiding there,
resulting in the deaths of 300.
[13:14] Ultimately, the invasion of 1281 proved an
even greater disaster than the first, and
[13:19] thousands of Chinese, Mongols, and Koreans
met their end in the sea off the coast of
[13:24] Japan.
[13:27] Local defenses on Tsushima and the Japanese
islands continued to be maintained during
[13:31] the following decades for the possibility
of a Mongol return, which was threatened but
[13:37] never materialized.
[13:38] Emboldened, Japanese pirates once more began
to threaten the coast line, continuously attacking
[13:44] Korea throughout the Yuan and Ming eras, and
in time ranging as far afield as Malaysia.
[13:52] On Tsushima and Iki, memorials stand to the
brave samurai who stood against unstoppable
[13:57] odds, local heroes who gave their lives for
the defense of their islands, small garrisons
[14:03] against perhaps the most fearsome army in
history.
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