Chapter 424
Quickly Go and Ask the Song Dynasty to Save Japan
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In May of the 21st year of the Hongwu reign, Wanyan Wuzhu led more than 7,000 remnants of the Jin dynasty out to sea, aiming to emulate his ancestors by conquering Japan.
Prior to this, Jin Wuzhu and his group landed in the southern part of Jidi. They divided their forces into three routes and raided the three counties of Jinhai, Gucheng, and Juji, plundering a lot of ships, able-bodied men, and grain.
Since the Goryeo period, there have been no pirates in Jiji. After the Song Dynasty took over the area, no pirates dared to target it.
In addition, in recent years, the Song Dynasty has been focused on recovering the northeastern region and has no time, energy or money to build a large-scale coastal defense in Ji.
This made the Jurchen raid very successful. Their numbers quickly increased from more than 7,000 to more than 15,000, and they managed to seize a number of ships, including three treasure ships.
By the time the Song Dynasty learned of this, the Jurchens had already returned victorious.
The matter was reported up the chain of command, eventually reaching Zhao Yu.
Zhao Yu, who had already returned to Bianliang (Kaifeng) from the Northeast, was at a loss for what to do after learning of this matter.
These kinds of bandits are often the most difficult to eradicate.
The reason why bandits are the most difficult to eradicate lies in their characteristics of being "rootless, mobile, and unpredictable".
Jin Wuzhu's troops were originally remnants of the Jin state, without fixed territorial boundaries. They had no need to defend cities or maintain rear supplies, and lived entirely by plundering. Like a malignant tumor, they would fight and leave without ever lingering in battle.
Their leather boats were both amphibious and flexible, allowing them to launch silent raids near the sea, escape when pursued, or even abandon ship and go ashore, hiding in the grass and forests to make their pursuers lose sight of them. The long coastline and weak coastal defenses of Jidi provided them with more opportunities, and even if the Song army noticed, it would be difficult to mobilize troops in time to form an encirclement.
More importantly, their scale would continue to expand with the looting. Captured able-bodied men and plundered supplies not only strengthened their power but also made their movements more scattered. Today they would raid one place and tomorrow they would move to another. No matter how long the Song army's defense line was, it would be difficult to defend everywhere. They would often be unable to defend one place and were exhausted from running around.
Fortunately, Zhao Yu had Zhang Chun and Li Lin, two talented individuals who were well-versed in history and military affairs.
Drawing on historical experience in suppressing bandits, Zhang Chun and Li Lin proposed a series of plans to prevent the Jurchens from acting like bandits, and implemented strict defenses against them.
After suffering two defeats in Jidi, Wanyan Wuzhu immediately abandoned the idea of continuing to expand his power there and decisively led his people away from the coast of Jidi to Japan.
In October of the 21st year of the Hongwu reign, three treasure ships and more than 150 medium-sized warships formed a goose formation and sailed along the east coast of the Korean Peninsula with the help of the south wind, following the old route of the Jurchen ancestors "Dao Yi Invading", heading straight for northern Kyushu, Japan.
"Your Majesty, Tsushima Island is just ahead!" The scout's roar pierced through the wind and waves.
Jin Wuzhu picked up a rusty telescope and peered into the distance. The outline of the island was vaguely visible through the mist. A cold smile curled at the corner of his mouth: "Issue my decree: upon landing on the island, burn down every house you see, plunder every piece of wealth you find, bind all able-bodied men and put them on the ship, and leave no one alive, including the old and weak!"
The Jin men responded in unison, the crisp sound of their scimitars being drawn mingling with the roar of the waves, startling the seabirds into scattering and taking flight.
When the Jurchen warships docked, the Japanese on Tsushima Island were still working in the fields. Seeing the dark fleet approaching, they mistook it for merchant ships.
It wasn't until Jin Wuzhu leaped ashore first, slashing down the first Japanese farmer who reacted with his scimitar, his blood splattering red on the beach, that gasps of surprise echoed across the island.
Having been tempered by years of fighting against the Song army, the Jin soldiers were like wolves among sheep when facing the small Japanese civilians. As their shield formation advanced, arrows pierced the air, and the Japanese laborers were no match for them. Flames from the thatched huts soared into the sky, and gold, silver, grain, and cloth were continuously loaded onto the ships. The captured Japanese laborers howled and dragged the goods under the whip.
In three days, the Jurchen fleet swept through Tsushima Island and, led by Japanese traitors, headed straight for Iki Island.
The local Japanese noble families had already received the news and hastily organized hundreds of samurai to resist.
At this time, the armor worn by Japanese samurai was mostly simple leather armor, and the few iron armors that were imitations of Song armor were far inferior in craftsmanship to those of the Central Plains. Their ranged weapons were mainly Japanese bows, which had a draw weight of less than one stone and were considered light bows, far less powerful than the crossbows of the Song and Jin dynasties.
Even if the number of Japanese samurai were ten times that of the Jin people, they still wouldn't be able to defeat them.
After all, if it weren't for time travelers like Zhao Yu, the Jurchens would have been the dominant force and the strongest army of this era.
Furthermore, Japan's tactics were extremely outdated.
Before the Toi invasion, Japan operated under a military system based on the Ritsuryo regime. Its troops were mostly conscripted on short notice, lacking unified training, and their tactics relied heavily on individual combat and independent fighting, with no concept of coordinated warfare. It wasn't until the Toi invasion that Japan began to integrate its military forces, emphasizing unified command and gradually moving away from the primitive, one-on-one combat style. Even so, their tactics were still far behind those of other regions at the time. It was common to see situations where a single person charged into battle with only a sword.
This is mainly because,
On the one hand, this was the late Heian period in Japan, the court was controlled by the Fujiwara no Regent family, the emperor and court nobles were indulging in refined pursuits and had no interest in military development, the samurai class had not yet risen, and the military force had long been in a loose state.
On the other hand, Japan was implementing a policy of national isolation at this time, which interrupted large-scale foreign exchanges like those of the Tang Dynasty's envoys to Tang China. As a result, its military technology and tactics could not be nourished by advanced external experience and could only stagnate at a primitive stage.
The result was self-evident: almost all of these hundreds of warriors, except for those killed by the Jurchens, knelt down and surrendered.
Jin Wuzhu ordered that the old and weak on Iki Island be killed, and that the able-bodied men, money, and provisions be taken away.
Half a month later, the number of golden men, which had reached nearly 20,000, arrived at Hakata Bay in Chikuzen Province, northern Kyushu.
This is the western gateway to Japan. The Dazaifu government troops have been deployed here, with thousands of soldiers lined up on the coast, armed with longbows, long swords and bamboo spears, and dozens of small warships patrolling behind them.
Clearly, Japan had made some preparations for the Jurchen invasion.
Seeing this, Jin Wuzhu did not rush to land, but instead ordered the fleet to anchor outside the bay to observe the Japanese army's deployment. "Although the Japanese army is numerous, their formation is loose and their fighting strength is not strong. It is not difficult to defeat them." Jin Wuzhu said to his generals, "Tomorrow morning, Salihe will use half of his warships to launch a feigned attack on the left side of the bay entrance to attract the main force of the Japanese army. I will lead my elite troops in large ships to break through from the right side and take Hakata Port directly."
The battle began at dawn the next day.
The Jin army on the left-hand side of the warships feigned a landing, and arrows and imitation Li Lin cannons attacked the Japanese army's positions. As expected, the Japanese army mobilized in full force and surged towards the left-hand coast.
Upon seeing this, Jin Wuzhu immediately ordered the right-hand fleet, especially the three treasure ships, to advance at full speed. The Song treasure ships easily rammed and destroyed the small Japanese warships. The gangplanks were placed on the shore, and the Jin army immediately surged ashore like a tide.
Unable to defend both ends, the Japanese army's defensive line was quickly overwhelmed by the powerful Jin army, and the Japanese officials of Dazaifu led their remaining troops in a sorry state.
The looting of Hakata Port lasted for ten days.
This bustling port had numerous shops and manors. Gold, silver, jewelry, silk, porcelain, and all kinds of supplies were continuously loaded onto ships. A large number of Japanese soldiers and young men were captured and forcibly incorporated into the Jin army.
Jin Wuzhu placed particular emphasis on seizing artisans, and as a result, a large number of Japanese artisans were coerced into joining the Jin state.
Jin Wuzhu sent people to arrange for these Japanese craftsmen to forge weapons and armor according to the standards of the Jin Dynasty and to form a cavalry.
Many small Japanese boats were captured by the Jin people, and the Jin army grew to 25,000 men. Jin Wuzhu used Meng'an and Mouke to firmly control these Japanese.
At this point, Jin Wuzhu was no longer satisfied with plunder. Looking at the growing strength of the Jin Kingdom and its military power, ambition ignited in his eyes: "Northern Kyushu has a thousand miles of fertile land. If we can occupy this land, it can serve as a base for my Great Jin to conquer the entire Japanese kingdom."
After discussing with the Jin Dynasty's high-ranking officials, Jin Wuzhu ordered troops to be stationed at Bodo Port to repair fortifications, while sending fleets to harass surrounding prefectures and counties and plunder more people and provisions.
During this period, although the Japanese Dazaifu organized several counterattacks, each attack ended in failure against the Jin army, which had strong ships, superior weapons, and fierce tactics. The coastal areas of northern Kyushu fell entirely into the hands of the Jin state.
The Jin army also rapidly expanded to 30,000.
Jin Wuzhu felt that they had already conquered northern Kyushu and had a real base for the Jin Kingdom.
……
At the same time, the Japanese imperial court was already aware that they had suffered the most severe invasion in history.
After much inquiry, speculation, and verification, they finally determined that the invaders were Jurchens who had been defeated in the war against the Song Dynasty.
In Japan, after the emperor abdicates, he is honored as "Retired Emperor" (abbreviated as "Emperor Emeritus"), a system whose origins can be traced back to the "Retired Emperor" of the Central Plains dynasties. If the retired emperor becomes a monk, he is promoted to "Retired Dharma Emperor" (abbreviated as "Dharma Emperor"), becoming a special existence that combines the remaining power of the emperor with religious symbolism.
Before Emperor Shirakawa, Japan was under a regency system, which was essentially a system of power held by the emperor's relatives. These relatives gained the most power in Japan by controlling the emperor. In order to counter this, Emperor Shirakawa, who was still Emperor Shirakawa at the time, secretly abdicated and became the retired emperor. This allowed the regency family to control his son, Emperor Horikawa, while he himself took real power and lived in the Shirakawa-in Palace. He relied on lower-ranking samurai to recruit an army, establish a court of officials, and frequently issued imperial edicts, becoming the arbitrator of political affairs.
Several years later, Emperor Shirakawa became a monk, taking the Buddhist name "Kūkaku," and officially became the "Emperor Shirakawa."
This act of becoming a monk did not weaken Emperor Shirakawa's power; on the contrary, it gave him a more transcendent status—he was freed from the constraints of secular etiquette and law, and strengthened the legitimacy of his rule through religious authority. At this time, he was the true supreme ruler of Japan, and the power of the regent family was completely usurped.
Emperor Horikawa was under the strict control of Emperor Shirakawa throughout his reign until his death.
Subsequently, Emperor Shirakawa placed his five-year-old grandson, Emperor Toba, on the throne, continuing to wield absolute power, thus bringing the authority of the cloistered government to its zenith.
But as time went by, Emperor Toba grew up and became unwilling to be a puppet to be manipulated any longer. He began to secretly accumulate power, attempting to reclaim the real power that belonged to the emperor.
Emperor Shirakawa keenly sensed his grandson's unusual behavior and, relying on his years of political experience, quickly resorted to his old tricks—forcing Emperor Toba to abdicate.
The recipient of this abdication was Emperor Sutoku, the eldest son of Emperor Retired Emperor Toba and Fujiwara no Shōshi.
Fujiwara no Shōko was the adopted daughter of Emperor Shirakawa, and grew up in the Shirakawa estate, where she had a close relationship with the emperor. At that time, rumors even circulated in the court and among the public that Emperor Sutoku was not the son of Emperor Toba, but rather the illegitimate son of Emperor Shirakawa and Fujiwara no Shōko.
In other words, the grandfather not only wanted to continue controlling his grandson, but also to firmly grasp the imperial power in his own lineage by supporting his illegitimate son, thus completely cutting off the possibility of Emperor Toba ruling in his own right.
Ultimately, Emperor Toba was forced to abdicate in favor of the young Emperor Sutoku, while Emperor Shirakawa remained in power at Shirakawa-in as the Retired Emperor, continuing to control Japan's military and political power.
This political tycoon, who served three emperors, used a strategy of retreat to advance, and used religion as a pretext to exercise despotism, used his lifelong political maneuvering to transform the title of "Retired Emperor" from a mere religious honorific into a symbol of supreme power that surpassed both the Emperor and the Regent. He also laid a profound foundation for the political landscape of the late Heian period in Japan. He is the current supreme leader of Japan.
Faced with the invasion of the Jurchens, Emperor Shirakawa keenly sensed that Japan, which had never fought a war with a foreign country, could not withstand the invasion of the Jurchens. If he did not quickly find a solution, Japan would surely have to change its surname to "Jin".
After consulting with his staff.
Some suggested that since the Jurchens couldn't defeat the Song Dynasty on the mainland, they certainly couldn't defeat the Song Dynasty in Japan either. They proposed sending people to the Song Dynasty to ask for help, hoping that the Song Dynasty would send a large army to help Japan wipe out the Jurchens.
Emperor Baihe believed that since the Song Dynasty had destroyed the Jin Dynasty, the two countries were bound to be mortal enemies. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, so perhaps they could actually get reinforcements from the Song Dynasty.
Therefore, Emperor Baihe ordered lavish gifts to be prepared and then sent envoys to the Song Dynasty to request assistance...
...(End of chapter)