The Mongol Invasion of Kyushu, Pt. 1
It is fresh in our memory that a faithful knight of Iki came to Kiushu Isle with the horrible news of the Mongol raids on the two isles.
From: 1274 C.E. To: 1274 C.E.
Location: Fukokua
Click Here to Read More About the Mongol Invasion of Iki
From Ghenko, the Mongol Invasion of Japan by Nakaba Yamada, 1916.
Note: This article has been excerpted from a larger work in the public domain and shared here due to its historical value. It may contain outdated ideas and language that do not reflect TOTA’s opinions and beliefs.
It is fresh in our memory that a faithful knight of Iki came to Kiushu Isle with the horrible news of the Mongol raids on the two isles. Kiushu, whereto the brutal force of Kublai set off from the last isle which it had ravaged, is one of the five large islands which compose the empire of Japan, to which the Japanese had given that name, meaning "nine states"; one of those nine, which is situated in the northern extremity of the big island, is called Chikuzen province, the coast of which is the nearest to the isles of Tsushima and Iki, and of which the geographical condition is so important for any invaders attacking the empire, that this district, once occupied, will become a strong base for all the invading operations against her capital in the main island, which faces Kiushu across the narrow channel of Nagato.
Also the flat and long coast of Chikuzen has in its front an open sea known as "Ghenkai," across which the island of Iki smiles as companion of the big island. The city or port of Dazai-fu is in the south-western part of the northern Kiushu. And politically Kiushu was, as a whole, under the control of the Kamakura Government; but the minor states or districts were ruled by the local lords of great influence in arms. And those were the clans of Otomo, Matsu-ura, Kikuchi, Harada, Oyano and Kodama, and so on.
Kiushu, especially its northern coast, had, since the reign of the Emperor Tenchi (a.d. 668—671), a fortification called "Mizu-Shiro " (water castle), which is supposed to have been established against invasion in olden times. As the meaning of the name indicates, the old fort had been protected against attack by the water within the fortification. But these fortresses, existing here and there on the long coast, had not been used for so long a time that none of them seemed of practical use at the time of the Mongol invasion; therefore, as soon as relations with the Mongol empire had become dangerous, Tokimune first ordered his western government to repair these castles and to strengthen them with other new strongholds made of parapets, and of other bulwarks, between six and fifteen feet in height, principally constructed of stones and earth, so that a spectator on the Ghenkai Sea would find such long fortifications along the Chikuzen coast, about thirty miles of them, as if a huge dragon were lying in wait for invaders.
It was indeed when this sort of coastal defence had hardly been completed that Dazai-fu received the shocking news so suddenly arriving from Iki Island. The government sent messengers post-haste to every state of Kiushu to order out the army of defence and to hasten them to the northern district.
Wherever the swift messenger went, the chivalrous and loyal knights of the land came to the call, bow in hand and sword in belt. So the lords and yeomen chiefs obtained in a short time a great army, with which they made haste to the Chikuzen coast. These Kiushu men were of the most daring, robust, and persevering race that Japan boasted of; in addition, their spirit of vengeance against the Mongols, who had perpetrated indescribable brutalities upon their brethren, was so high that on their swift march to the northern district the great army had swollen to a still greater number with volunteers.
Now could be seen along the great walls of the northern shore of Kiushu all those recruits stationed, assembling respectively under their lords' banners and watching for the enemy's appearance on the horizon day and night; when the sun shines, high above the long hill-like ramparts, unnumbered white-pennants, with coats of arms painted thereupon, wave in the north wind gallantly over the countless knights of the guard; when the moon rises, thousands of the watch-fires of their camps on the shores far surpass even the beauty of the moon-lit night.
For four days the sun and moon shone over the Chikuzen shore, when the Mongol armada arrived at last on October 19th.
The reader may imagine how arrogantly the victorious fleet of Kublai came to attack the land; and it need not be further described. But one thing we must record here, for even the bravest knight of Kiushu shuddered at it. Numbers of the huge Mongol ships had hundreds of the Iki people, entirely naked, hooked and hanging by their prows. How the blood of the Japanese boiled! How gallantly they confronted the enemy who came to land, with as much valour as David had once shown when he met the greatest enemy of the Israelites! The contest differed from those which had occurred at Tsushima and Iki.
The first difference was that the great extensiveness of the battle-front along the coast made a great difficulty for the defenders, who did not think it manly to depend upon the walls from the beginning, but sallied out of them to cut down their enemies in the water. The second difference, which involved a new danger to the Kiushu knights, was caused by the amazing sound of the Mongol war drums, at which almost all the Japanese horses went mad; the din was particularly made for the purpose of alarming the animals so that the Japanese flank should be disordered. A third weakness was the insufficient power of the defenders, whose reinforcements had not yet all arrived, against the enemy's force of more than 40,000 that came to land at the same moment on countless points of the long coast.
Despite these disadvantages on the Japanese side, the brave garrison were still holding the enemy on the outskirts of their fortifications until the end of the third day of battle; of course, with great losses on both sides. The Japanese lack in numbers was soon currently rumoured throughout the land, wherefrom the recruiting forces were hastening to the northern shores; the reinforcements from the far south could no more see the Ghenkai water as soon as the armada sped on the water in a fair wind. So the reinforcements from the nearest district were most urgently summoned. Dazai-fu had a certain scheme of war, said to have been designed by its famous governor, Shoni-Kakuye, who had been told that the Mongol armada would concentrate their power on breaking the barrier of Chikuzen province. He at once decided to direct his sea power (which was a flotilla consisting of about 300 small boats manned with the intrepid knights of Kiushu) to push back the Mongol armada arrogantly anchored in the Ghenkai Sea; on the other hand, he, as the commander of a force 3,000 strong, set out to reinforce the most dangerous part of the Chikuzen coast. How, in this time of danger, the spirit of the Japanese arose against the brutal invader is well shown by the following example.
On leaving the castle of Dazai-fu old General Kakuye was keenly implored by his grandson Suketoki, a boy of only twelve years, to take him with him to the campaign. "Never shall you be allowed, my darling boy," answered the warrior solemnly, "because you are too young to take part in the battle. Wait for your manhood and you will then take part in numbers of such enterprises."
There came an extraordinary answer from the boy's lips to the old man's ear: "Grandfather, a son of a knight has been taught to be able to join the war at his coming of age of fifteen, in fact; however, a few years less makes no real difference. You said just now that many another chance will come to me later; but will my age of twelve come once again? Great shame overcomes me that I cannot take part in this national warfare." So saying, the adventurous boy drew his dirk and would have slain himself had not the old warrior, ere the blade had more than touched the skin, held firmly the right arm of his grandchild and chivalrously said: "Well, my brave boy, I see the firmness of your mind. Come to the front with me, and you shall be honoured as a fighter."
Click Here to Read About The Mongol Invasion of Kyushu, Pt. 2
Yamada, Nakaba. Ghenko, the Mongol Invasion of Japan. Smith, Elder, & Co., 1916.
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