As we all know, Japan, as an island country surrounded by the sea, is not to mention the lack of resources, and is also located in the Pacific earthquake zone, and is facing terrible natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, and typhoons all year round.
Not to mention earthquakes and tsunamis, after all, there are not severe earthquakes and tsunamis every year, but typhoons are inevitable every year, causing the entire island country to suffer.
Although typhoons cause countless property damage and casualties in Japan every year, throughout history, the Japanese should not only hate typhoons, but also be grateful.
If it weren't for the two typhoons 700 years ago, the name Japan might not have been found on the world map today.
Refusing to "get through" will lead to the destruction of the country
In 1206 AD, Temujin established the famous Great Mongol State in history, known as Genghis Khan, and then began ambitious foreign invasions, using one western expedition after another to spread the Mongols' fierce reputation to the world.
In 1259, after the death of Genghis Khan, the Great Mongolian Kingdom gradually divided, but the Mongol conquests did not stop.
The titular Mongol Khan Kublai Khan appeared on the stage of history in 1271, abolished the Han Chinese state "Great Mongolia" and rebuilt the "Great Yuan".
Although Kublai Khan was a monarch who respected Han culture, his bones were still flowing with the warlike nature of the Mongols.
Therefore, the first thing he did after taking office was to expand abroad, and the first thing he did was to bear the brunt of the surrounding countries, including Japan.
However, because of the sea in the middle, the Mongol army, which was good at land warfare, could not kill the past if they said it, so Kublai Khan adopted the strategy of "saluting first and then soldiering". Borrowing the Goryeo people, who had long been subdued, he sent envoys to Japan to solicit edicts and demand submission.
After Daigen's letter of courtesy was delivered, the Kyoto imperial court of Japan accepted it quite cautiously.
However, because the Kamakura shogunate at that time did not have anyone who could call the shots, a group of people turned over the Daiyuan edict and studied it for several days, but they could not give a countermeasure, and finally chose to "put it on the table" and did not respond.
Although it was rotten, the entire shogunate could not help but feel apprehensive about this "great disobedience" for fear of provoking Kublai Khan's wrath, but at this point, a group of incompetent officials had to run to the shrine temple to worship the Buddha and pin their hopes on heaven.
The following year, Kublai Khan's emissary came again, bringing an edict of the same meaning, but in a slightly tougher tone, apparently unhappy with Japan's snub.
This time, the Japanese court was frightened and immediately prepared to send Kublai Khan's messenger a letter of submission to show obedience, but at this time, the Kamakura shogunate was no better than in previous years, and had a new director, Hojo Tokimune, a young man who was not afraid of tigers when he was born to a calf.
Hojo Tokimune thought that it was too humiliating to return to Daigen, so he insisted on blocking the letter of state.
In the following three years, Kublai Khan sent four envoys to force Japan to submit, and the last time directly threatened with force.
However, Hojo Tokimune resolutely refused to return to the letter, and began to strengthen the coastal defense and defense of Kyushu, making it clear that he would resist to the end.
Kublai Khan never expected that this small island country could be arrogant and not take the majesty of his grand ancestor into his eyes, so he immediately prepared army ships, intending to give the Kamakura shogunate a little color.
If there is a typhoon with divine help
In 1274, Kublai Khan began to recruit tens of thousands of shipwrights and civilians from Goryeo to build warships, and also recruited 5,000 soldiers from ordinary Goryeo peasants as a vanguard (cannon fodder) in the war of aggression against Japan.
In the second half of the year, under the urgent urging of the Yuan army, the Goryeo shipwrights finally drove out 900 warships.
In early October, Kublai Khan sent the Yuan generals Ku Tun and Liu Fuheng, as well as the Goryeo generals Hong Chaqiu and Kim Fangqing, to lead a 40,000-Yuan-Li coalition army from Hepu into the sea, aiming to take Japan in one fell swoop.
The 40,000 troops at the time was nothing for Daigen, but it was an astronomical amount for Japan, which had experienced political turmoil and was sparsely populated.
At this time, even if the top samurai of the entire Kamakura shogunate were assembled, it was difficult to stop Japan's subsequent catastrophe.
It seems that Hojo Tokimune is destined to pay the price for his youthfulness, and no one can save him or Japan unless he is a god apparition.
After dozens of days of sea travel, the Yuan army successfully reached Japanese waters in mid-October, and without waiting for rest, sent troops to attack the Japanese cities of Tsushima and Iki.
Even though Hojo Tokimune had already implemented the corresponding defensive measures, when the Yuan army really killed, the unprepared Tsushima guardian Daimune Sukekoku and Iki guardian Daihira Keitaka only had time to call out a hundred cavalry to rush into battle.
The result can be imagined, the poor number of cavalry instantly melted under the sword light of the Yuanli coalition army, and Tsushima and Iki completely lost.
After that, the Yuan army took advantage of the situation to attack the Matsuura Peninsula and the coastal islands, and the Japanese still sent only a few troops to resist, but soon after dropping the corpses of hundreds of Japanese samurai, the Yuan army was greatly defeated, and the morale of the Yuan army was greatly boosted for a while.
At this critical moment of survival, Japan has to do its best.
On October 19, Japanese warships finally arrived at Hakata Bay, and early on the morning of the 20th, tens of thousands of temporary troops composed of the Kyushu Imperial Family of Kyushu and monks from various shrines and Buddhist temples engaged the Yuanli coalition forces on the coast.
In the face of the infantry of the Yuan Army who came ashore, no matter how tenacious the "motley" army on the Kyushu side of Japan was, it was still as vulnerable as a sheep into a wolf pack.
Not to mention tactics, the weapons used by the Yuan soldiers alone, such as the gunpowder weapon Heaven-shaking Thunder, are unheard of and never seen by the Japanese army.
Under the attack of armor, flying arrows and roaring iron bullets, the Japanese with katana buns and katanas were beaten to the top, and in order not to be completely destroyed, they could only resist the attack with all their strength while retreating the defensive line.
The two sides chased and retreated, and the time soon came to the evening, the sun set on the sea level, and the situation on the battlefield became indistinguishable.
The Yuan army, which had the upper hand, did not intend to risk any more marches, so they collected their troops and began to retreat, and the Japanese army was able to breathe a sigh of relief, regrouped near Dazaifu and established a temporary defensive line.
Although the situation on the side of the Yuan army was very good, Liu Fuheng, the left deputy marshal, unfortunately suffered an arrow wound in the fierce battle during the day, and the situation was not very optimistic.
Therefore, on the one hand, considering Liu Fuheng's injury, on the other hand, fearing that the Japanese army would take advantage of the night to attack, the Yuan troops all retreated to the sea, preparing to rest in the warship for the night.
But it was this decision that became the key to Japan's escape from the scourge of national demise.
That night, a typhoon swept through the area where the Yuan warships were docked without warning, sinking 200 warships on the spot, causing countless deaths and injuries.
This raging typhoon shocked the Yuan army, who had never seen the brutal side of the sea, and completely chaotic the formation.
Coupled with the fear of a counterattack by the Japanese army, when even abandoned the invasion plan against Japan and returned in embarrassment, the expedition to Japan ended in failure.
The second expedition to Japan with the same plot
After the failure of Daiyuan's first crusade against Japan, how angry Kublai Khan was, how happy the Japanese side was.
Although the main force of the Japanese army suffered many casualties in this war, it ultimately saved the country, and the typhoon that changed the situation was regarded as a "kamikaze" by the whole country, believing that it was a shelter from the gods in the sky.
With the blessing of the "miracle", the Kamakura shogunate issued a "foreign surrender prayer order" to various temples and shrines in Japan, and promoted the authority of the shogunate through religious activities, and Hojo Tokimune took advantage of this to secure his position and won the support of everyone.
Hojo Tokimune knew that the powerful Genkoku would not give up, so he seized the time to start strengthening the defense of the coastal area of Japan, declaring that the entire territory of Japan was in a state of readiness.
Hojo Tokimune first rewarded the soldiers and generals for their meritorious service in the First World War against the Yuan Army, and then used this as an example to mobilize all Japanese "public families" and non-imperial families in temples to actively participate in defense construction.
He then mobilized the Imperial Family of San'in and Sanyo Provinces to garrison Nagato, and the Higashikoku Imperial Family stationed in Kyushu, appointing the Hojo clan as the guardians of Kyushu and other important countries.
After these personnel transfers, Hojo Tokimune organized manpower to build a strong stone barrier along the coast of Hakata Bay, which stretched for more than 20 kilometers, was 2 meters high and 3 meters wide at the bottom, and was known as "Ishi Tsukiji".
Taking advantage of this tense state of preparation for war, Hojo Tokimune not only realized his various defensive measures in a short period of time, but also took the opportunity to replace the guards of important places in the country with his own cronies, further concentrating and strengthening his power.
At the same time, Kublai Khan, the ancestor of the Yuan dynasty on the other side, was not idle.
He originally planned to launch a second Japanese expedition as soon as possible, but was opposed by his generals, on the grounds that the Southern Song Dynasty had not yet been destroyed, the state power had not yet been unified, and there was no emergency for external expansion.
Kublai Khan agreed with this, so he temporarily put aside his attachment to Japan and began to exert all his efforts to eliminate the Southern Song Dynasty.
In 1279, when the Southern Song Dynasty collapsed, Kublai Khan ignored Yelu Xiliang's suggestion to rest and recuperate after national unification, and began to raid the southern region on a larger scale to prepare for the Second Crusade.
During the preparation for war, Kublai Khan also did not forget to send two envoys to Japan to ask for tribute, in order to test the reaction of the Japanese side.
However, Hojo Tokimune was also very tough, and directly killed the envoy twice, showing a strong determination to resist, and Kublai Khan strengthened the idea of crusading against Japan.
In 1281, Kublai Khan decided on a two-way Eastern Crusade strategy, with 40,000 Mong, Han and Goryeo armies commanded by Xindu and Hong Chaqiu forming the Eastern Route Army and setting out from Hepo, Goryeo; The 100,000-strong Southern Song Dynasty led by Fan Wenhu formed the Jiangnan Army and set out from Jiangnan.
The Eastern and Southern Route Armies agreed to meet on Iki Island, Japan, in mid-June, and then take Japan directly.
After the start of the Eastern Crusade, the Eastern Route Army advanced and entered Hakata Bay in early June, avoiding the "Ishitsukichi" defense line that crossed the coast to the west, and successfully occupied Shiga Island.
However, after the victory in the first battle, the Jiangnan army, which was supposed to arrive after it, was delayed, and the Japanese army had already heard the sound of arrival.
The enemy army was close at hand, and the Eastern Route Army had no choice but to fight alone, and at first it could kill the Japanese army, but with the sudden arrival of Japanese reinforcements, the Eastern Route Army was completely defeated, and the commander Hong Chaqiu even almost died under the sword.
In the following engagements, the Eastern Route Army failed to win, and there was an unexplained plague in the army, and morale plummeted.
At this time, the Jiangnan Army led by Fan Wenhu was still silent, and Hong Chaqiu gradually had the idea of retreating.
In early July, Fan Wenhu finally arrived and joined the Eastern Route Army. At the end of the month, the main forces of the Yuan army assembled at Eagle Island to prepare to attack Dazaifu with their divisions.
However, after everything was ready, the top of the army did not know what was wrong and did not give the order to attack. After delaying time and again, the plan for the official landing operation on the second day of August was finally decided.
But on the first night of the attack, a typhoon suddenly blew on the originally calm sea, which can be called:
"The flood rises from the mountains, the hail rains and the wind are mixed, the boats cannot be moored, and when the waves strike up and down, they are all shattered."
Then the Yuanli coalition army re-enacted, the plot of seven years ago, with heavy casualties, and the floating corpses in the sea were connected, and even allowed people to step on the floating corpses.
After this typhoon, few survivors of the Yuan army returned, and Kublai Khan's second expedition ended in the same end.
After that, although Kublai Khan had the intention of raising troops and marching three times, the impact of the first two defeats was irreversible, and the Yuan Dynasty suffered repeated internal and external wars, and its national strength was greatly damaged, and the third expedition was completely in vain.
However, Japan, which was originally weak, survived the invasion of powerful countries by these two typhoons, and the Japanese called these two coincidental typhoons "kamikaze" and thus swelled their ancient "god kingdom thinking" unprecedentedly.
This consciousness of "God's Kingdom Thought" has continued into modern times, and has become an ideological tool for Japanese militarism to promote aggression and expansion, and it is also from which the destroyers built by Japan and the Japanese Air Force during World War II are named "kamikaze".
epilogue
The failure of Kublai Khan's two expeditions against Japan was not simply due to typhoons.
It is said that war pays attention to the right time and place, and if you study it carefully, these two expeditions are obviously the right time, the right place, and no one occupies anything.
Although the Yuan army is strong, it is only on land, and in the face of the sea that has never been set foot on, the Mongols are obviously too arrogant and underestimate the power of nature.
In addition, there were also big problems with the ships that Kublai Khan requisitioned by Goryeo shipbuilders. Under pressure, how many workers can sincerely build ships?
And the Mongols, who do not know anything about ships, do not know how to inspect goods, and go to sea with crude warships, naturally it is impossible to withstand typhoons and huge waves.
And his appointment of the Southern Song Dynasty to participate in the expedition was also a faint move, a defeated and obedient general, no matter how obedient on the surface, it was impossible to be loyal from the heart, let alone actively cooperate with a war where the emperor was far away.
On the Japanese side, although these two typhoons saved Japan from the scourge of national destruction, they did not change the weakness of their country itself.
However, they did not want to take the opportunity to develop and strengthen themselves, but began to engage in extreme "divine thinking", describing accidental natural phenomena as "kamikaze", "Amano Myojin out of formation", and so on, and engaged in religious worship, which must not be a long-term way to continue.
In short, although the power of nature is not comparable to manpower, most of the time we still have to believe that things are man-made, as long as we are fully prepared, people will conquer the sky.