Usurpation of Mongolia: My father-in-law is Genghis Khan

Chapter 283 Crushing Japan, One-Sided Slaughter!

On the fifth day of the fourth month of 1239, Zhao Shuo arrived at Busan Port in the Goryeo Province of the Empire, escorted by the Black Riders.

At Busan Port, Zhao Shuo met with representatives of maritime merchants from the five major ports of the empire.

If history had unfolded normally, China at this time would have had three major ports for foreign trade. These three ports were all located in the Jiangnan region: Mingzhou Port (later Ningbo), Quanzhou Port, and Guangzhou Port. Among them, Quanzhou Port was the best in the world.

However, Zhao Shuo changed history. Now, the economy of the north is not only more developed than in the past, but also, because Zhao Shuo has always attached great importance to maritime transport, the ports of Dengzhou and Laizhou in the north are very developed, on par with Guangzhou and Mingzhou ports, only not as developed as Quanzhou port.

The shipping capacity contributed by the merchants of the five major ports is of a very high quality.

The main ships used for China's foreign trade today are ten zhang long, three zhang wide, and have a carrying capacity of up to 400,000 jin. They also employ the world-leading "watertight compartment technology" of the time, with thirteen compartments, so that even if one compartment leaks, it will not affect the other compartments.

What is this concept?
If a soldier eats three catties of grain a day, the grain transported by just one merchant ship would be enough to feed Zhao Shuo's 120,000-strong army for a day.

The five major ports alone contributed 167 such ships!
There are as many as 863 other medium-sized seagoing vessels with a carrying capacity of around 100,000 to 200,000 jin.

If these merchants hadn't been afraid that their ships were too small and wouldn't be accepted by the government, thus avoiding using vessels with a carrying capacity of tens of thousands of kilograms, it wouldn't have been impossible for them to assemble a fleet of ten thousand ships to transport logistical supplies for Zhao Shuo.

Even considering the need to transport a large number of warhorses and the fodder they need, this transport capacity is far too abundant.

It's worth noting that the journey from Busan Port and Tamna Island to Kyushu in Japan takes only three days by sea.

A week is enough time for these ships to make a round trip!

It must be said that Zhao Shuo's Han Chinese ancestry and the character "Zhao" in his name played a significant role in the unification of the country. Most regions were pacified by issuing proclamations, which both preserved the vitality of the Chinese civilization and strengthened the people's sense of identity.

Coupled with Zhao Shuo's slogan and actions of "sharing the world with the Han and Mongol people," a single imperial edict has now gathered such a powerful force.

Zhao Shuo was very pleased and bestowed upon the five maritime merchant representatives the official rank of seventh grade. The rest of the people who contributed more than one million catties of transport capacity were all bestowed the official rank of ninth grade.

Although this official title did not come with a salary, the court recognized the holder's status, and they could wear official robes befitting their rank, build tombs according to their rank, and were not required to kneel before local officials, which was certainly very attractive.

Merchants who contributed less than a million catties of transport capacity were not granted official titles by the imperial court, but the government would bestow upon them a plaque inscribed with "Loyal to the Emperor and Patriotic So-and-so," bringing them honor and glory to their ancestors.

Besides, Zhao Shuo wasn't refusing to pay for the logistics of transporting supplies for the army; on the contrary, he paid 20% more than the market price. How could they still be dissatisfied?

Upon hearing the news, all the merchants on the sea were all smiles.

Of course, it's not the best season for large ships to set sail yet. These people won't really be needed until May at the earliest.

By May, the northeast monsoon that originally blew across the East China Sea will completely disappear, replaced by a stable southwest monsoon, which is the most suitable time to cross the sea to Japan.

At this time, the direction of seawater flow is also very suitable. The Tsushima Current flows from the southwest towards the Sea of ​​Japan, and May, June, and July are the most stable months.

August, September, and October are the least suitable months for launching a military campaign.

At that time, not only did the southwest winds gradually decrease while the northeast winds increased, but typhoons would also occur from time to time.

Why did Kublai Khan's army encounter the so-called "divine wind" during both of his eastern expeditions to Japan?
It means disrespecting objective laws.

The first Mongol invasion of Japan, launched in early October, was practically suicidal. They were caught in a typhoon during their retreat in late October.

It was reasonable for the Yuan army to launch its second campaign against Japan in early May. However, having already attacked Japan once, Japan had accumulated war experience and built "Yuan insurmountable fortifications," making it no longer so easy to conquer.

The initial force of less than 40,000 troops achieved little and could only struggle to hold on.

The 100,000-strong Han army from Jiangnan, which was the main force of this eastern expedition, dragged their feet and did not set out from Mingzhou until mid-June. Unfortunately, they deviated from their course again and did not arrive in Fusang until June 24.

The Han army in Jiangnan did not encounter the well-fortified "Yuan invaders' defensive fortifications," but instead occupied Hirado Island and Taka Island. By the time the two armies joined forces, it was already the end of July.

At this point, the two armies clashed again over the direction of their advance, delaying the journey until the first night of August. "Hail, rain and wind raged, the boats could not anchor, and were smashed by the raging waves." "Ten thousand feet of surging waves rose up the mountains," and the 140,000-strong army perished.

Therefore, it was not some "divine wind" that protected Japan, but rather the objective laws at work, and the Yuan army failed to seize the crucial opportunity to advance.

In any case, it wasn't until the eighth day of the fifth lunar month, after five consecutive days without a northeasterly wind, that Zhao Shuo gave the order for the Navy's Zheng Hongqi to remain at Busan Port in preparation for a rescue.

The Blue Banner and Yellow Banner of the Navy set off from Tamna Island, carrying a total of 18,000 Han Chinese Eight Banners marines, along with two naval banner commanders, for a total of 38,000 men, and marched towards Japan.

Their mission was to occupy a portion of Kyushu Island in Japan, paving the way for Zhao Shuo's main army to advance into Japan later.

Must be fast!

As mentioned before, May, June, and July are the best months to head east to Japan. Zhao Shuo needs to utilize China's vast transportation capacity to stockpile enough provisions in Japan for at least six months before August, for the subsequent army.

Two days later, the 38,000-strong army arrived at Tsushima Island.

Tsushima Island is 164 li long and 36 li wide, and is the largest island in Japan located between Kyushu (Japan) and Korea.

This island is located at the northernmost tip of Japan and Kyushu. The island is roughly elongated in the south, facing Korea across the Korea Strait to the northwest, and facing Iki Island and Kyushu Island across the Tsushima Strait to the southeast.

Zhao Shuo's vanguard sent four commanders to land on the island.

Today, most of Japan is under the control of the "Gokenin" (samurai of the Kamakura Shogunate).

However, Tsushima Island is an exception.

This place has been ruled by the Abiru clan for eight hundred years and has also been recognized by the Fusang court.

If history were to unfold normally, the Kamakura Shogunate would, six years later, use Ahirutaro's smuggling activities between Japan and Korea as a pretext to send the "Gokenin" Koremune Shigehisa to quell the Ahiru clan, a powerful family on Tsushima Island, and thus completely control the island.

Currently, the island is still under Abiru Taro's control.

Abiru Taro was in an awkward position in Japan and made a fortune in maritime trade. Why would he be willing to serve the shogunate?
Upon learning that four Han army commanders of Zhao Shuo's army had landed on Tsushima Island, he immediately led his eighty-odd samurai to surrender to the Han army.

Zhao Shuo's vanguard occupied Tsushima Island without bloodshed.

The next day, the vanguard left a thousand-household garrison on Tsushima Island, while the rest of the troops continued their advance toward Iki Island.

Iki Island was already under the control of the Kamakura Shogunate. Although the island was only one-fifth the size of Tsushima Island, as one of the "Eight First Islands" of Japan, it had a population of more than 9,000 people.

Therefore, Zhao Shuo's vanguard army sent six commanders to the island.

Upon learning of Zhao Shuo's army's arrival, Taira Keisuke, the "Deputy Protector" of Iki Island, resolutely pledged allegiance to the Kamakura Shogunate.

On one hand, he urgently dispatched ships to send a message to the "Daizaifu" in the Kyushu underworld. On the other hand, he led 134 "Gokenin" and more than 1,200 temporarily conscripted farmers out of the city to meet the enemy. They encountered six thousand households attacking from the west.

Within half an hour, the thousand-plus Japanese soldiers were defeated, and Taira no Keisuke retreated into the castle, where he and his entire family perished in battle.

Subsequently, the Han army resolutely implemented the policy formulated by Zhao Shuo, and slaughtered everyone on Iki Island, with only a little over a thousand young women surviving.

Not only that, Iki Island also boasts over two thousand Iki cattle, a local specialty. These cattle graze freely in the coastal pastures, feeding on tender seaweed, resulting in exceptionally high-quality meat. Apart from keeping the best six hundred to present to Zhao Shuo, the rest of the Iki cattle were slaughtered, providing the Han army with a hearty meal.

Afterwards, the entire Han army disembarked, along with its 9,000 horses, and rested for three days. Having fully recovered, they marched towards Hakata Bay.

Transporting people by sea is easy, but transporting horses is quite difficult.

Therefore, Zhao Shuo's vanguard only brought nine thousand warhorses with him.

Of course, both the vanguard soldiers and their warhorses had only been at sea for three days. They would recover after three days of rest on Iki Island.

Hakata Bay has been an important port for foreign trade in Japan for over 500 years. More than 80 years ago, after Taira no Kiyomori opened the port there, Hakata Bay gradually developed into Japan's largest port for foreign trade.

The Chinese had little knowledge of the geography of Japan, and Zhao Shuo only knew in general terms that Japan consisted of four islands. Therefore, he naturally chose this port as the location for the amphibious landing operation.

The vanguard commander of this army was Zhang Shijie.

His generals were Lü Wende, commander of the Plain Yellow Banner of the Navy, as well as Guo Zhongyuan, Yu Jie, Zhao Fan, Zhao Kui, Gao Da, and Quan Zicai.

Since it was a naval amphibious landing operation, Zhao Shuo naturally appointed a naval admiral as the commander-in-chief.

The military is a place that values ​​both military achievements and seniority. Since Zhang Shijie was appointed as the commander-in-chief, the deputy commanders naturally had to be those whose prestige could be suppressed by Zhang Shijie.

Therefore, among these six deputy commanders, apart from Guo Zhongyuan, who was a surrendered general of the Jin Dynasty, they were all surrendered generals of the Song Dynasty, and their seniority in joining Zhao Shuo was much later than that of Zhang Shijie.

But so what if it's late?
It can be said that, apart from Meng Gong, all the famous generals of the Song state from 1239 to 1239 have been gathered here.

Furthermore, Guo Zhongyuan, the "most renowned general since the southward migration" of the Jin Dynasty, was already considered an elite force.

But then again, what's going on now?

Standing on the flagship's deck, Zhang Shijie looked ahead through binoculars, but saw no Japanese warships on the vast sea.

On the shore, countless armed Japanese could be seen stretching for over ten miles. Even with Zhang Shijie holding binoculars, he couldn't see the end of them.

Could it be that the Japanese realized they were no match for the Han army in naval warfare and simply gave up on naval battles?
But what's with so many of them crowding the shore? Aren't they just sitting ducks?
Of course, since we're already here, we'll have to fight eventually.

At Zhang Shijie's command, the Han army's long-range weapons came into play.

Whoosh whoosh!
Fixed to the warship, the three-bow crossbow, with a range of over two miles, fired a single shot and three arrows!

Boom boom boom!
Seven and a half pounds of stones were launched by the catapult and slammed into the Japanese army on the shore!

And there's a deafening thunderbolt!
Flashes of fire and explosions filled the air as people and horses were thrown about along the coast of Hakata Bay, which was shrouded in smoke!
The Japanese seemed stunned, first letting out screams of fear. Then, they hurriedly retreated.

In less than half an hour, the Japanese could no longer be seen on the warship.

Zhang Shijie left six Han army commanders on the fleet for support, and then the 30,000 troops and 9,000 warhorses disembarked one by one.

Zhang Shijie immediately dispatched scouts to investigate the movements of the Fusang people. The scouts quickly returned, reporting that in a wide area about six miles to the northeast, the main force of the Fusang army was arrayed, seemingly waiting for the Han army to attack.

A rough estimate puts the number at around 100,000.

Therefore, the Han army, while spreading out scouts to guard against possible ambushes by the Fusang people, cautiously advanced towards that wide area.

According to Abiru Taro, this place is called Hyakudohara.

Soon, the two armies met at Baidao Plain.

"These Japanese are indeed easily defeated!"

Standing on his horse, Zhang Shijie held a telescope and gazed at the Japanese army ahead, letting out a joyful sigh. He felt incredibly lucky; achieving merit in this campaign against Japan had been far too easy!

He had heard Abiru Taro say that the Japanese only had swords and no longer had spears. However, he had never quite believed it.

Now all that could be seen were the flashing blades of the Japanese, and indeed, they had no spears or lances.

The only similar thing is a weapon called a "naginata," which is a broad, curved blade mounted on a long handle.

Clearly, the use of this "naginata" requires a large area of ​​space, making it unsuitable for dense formations and far less effective than a long spear.

That's still considered good.

Many Japanese don't even have a "naginata." It's just a short sword tied to a wooden or bamboo pole. Not only is it unusable as a spear, but its power is also pitifully low.

The rate of armor-wearing among the Japanese was even more pitiful.

Zhang Shijie roughly estimated that although many of them appeared to be important figures from Japan, wearing heavy and imposing armor—supposedly called "Ō-yō"—only about one-tenth were actually wearing iron armor. These people were probably the so-called "Gokenin" (official retainers).

About 20% of them wore leather armor, and the rest were all so-called "ashigaru".

Compared to the pitiful armor coverage, the warhorses of Fusang were even more pitiful.

The 9,000 warhorses in Zhang Shijie's vanguard were not the Empire's latest "Dongfeng Warhorses," but rather Arabian warhorses that had been adapted to the climate on Tamna Island for two years.

But these Japanese warhorses, let alone Arabian warhorses, are nothing more than donkeys compared to ordinary Mongolian horses.

Combined with the short stature of the Japanese, they looked like monkeys riding on donkeys.

Moreover, the number of these "donkey cavalry" in Japan was very small, only about five or six thousand, and they were not used in a concentrated manner. Instead, they were mixed with the infantry and formed into small groups.

What puzzled Zhang Shijie even more was that he also saw quite a few women in this Japanese army.

They stood near the armored warriors, carrying short swords. They didn't appear to be mere women captured to make up the numbers, but rather the families of these "Royal Retinue" members!

Do you even know what you're here for?
How could such a weak Fusang army, even if it numbered 100,000, possibly be a match for 30,000 Han soldiers?

"Guo Zhongyuan! Gao Da! Zhao Fan!" Zhang Shijie shouted.

"exist!"

"Your cavalry from the three divisions, charge out and crush these Japanese monkeys before you!"

"Yes!"

The Han army's Eight Banners were all cavalry, and normally each soldier rode three to five horses. Now that sea transport was difficult, Zhang Shijie distributed these nine thousand horses to Guo Zhongyuan, Gao Da, and Zhao Fan, who were the strongest warriors.

The Fusang people didn't even have long spears, let alone heavy axes. Their formation was chaotic, with infantry and cavalry mixed together. How could they possibly stop the Han army's nearly 10,000 elite cavalry from charging into the enemy lines?

Therefore, Zhang Shijie decided to send his elite cavalry to charge into the enemy lines!

Boom~~
The sound of horses' hooves thundered!
At Zhang Shijie's command, all nine thousand cavalrymen donned their armor and charged straight towards the Japanese army opposite them.

The force was overwhelming, as if the entire ground was trembling.

Bright armor and bloodthirsty swords gleamed with a cold yet dazzling light under the sunlight.

"Ah! What's going on? How could the Chinese be so despicable and lack martial ethics!"

Upon seeing this, Shao Erzi couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

He is forty-one years old this year, and his current position is the Governor-General of the West, and the Governor of Chikuzen, Buzen, Hizen and Tsushima, commanding all the Japanese troops in the Kyushu region.

The ambush that just took place on the shore of Hakata Bay was commanded by Minoru Suke.

He genuinely believed that the navy was no match for the Han army, which is why he didn't send the navy into battle and risk their lives.

However, he did not expect that the Han army's long-range weapons would be so powerful!

The Japanese didn't just lack spears and halberds; they didn't even have catapults, let alone triple-bow crossbows. Shao Er Zi Neng had heard of these weapons, but he never imagined the Han army's ranged weapons were so formidable. As for the terrifying gunpowder weapon, the "Heaven-Shaking Thunder," he had never even heard of it.

Therefore, they suffered a brutal bombardment from the Han army on the shore and had to retreat in panic.

He thought that with the retreat from the shore, the Han army would be without the support of long-range weapons, and with his superior numbers and the spirit of Bushido, he would surely be victorious.

Unexpectedly, the Han army's fighting style was completely different from that of the Fusang army!
When two armies clash, shouldn't they first engage in a duel, with each side sending out their "famous generals" to fight one-on-one, boosting morale before the full-scale battle begins?

Samurai against samurai!
Light-footed versus light-footed!
Why did the Han army, without distinguishing right from wrong, directly gather all the warriors and launch a charge?
Are noble warriors really so worthless?

Or……

Suddenly, Shao Erzi thought of an extremely terrifying possibility: Could it be that all 30,000 men were Chinese warriors, and there wasn't a single foot soldier among them?
Come to think of it, these Han soldiers were all wearing iron armor, how could foot soldiers afford to provide them?

"This...this is 30,000 warriors!" Shao Er Zi Neng felt a chill run down his spine, his eyes filled with fear.

However, fear is useless!

"kill!"

The Han army's thousand-household commanders formed neat square formations, with the cavalrymen standing very close together, their stirrups almost touching on the left and right, and the distance between them no more than three zhang (approximately 10 meters). The entire Han army's thousand-household formation resembled a mobile city.

The nine commanders, when combined, were like a heartless killing machine, slaughtering any enemy in their path and suppressing any dissent!
With a shout of "Kill!", they charged into the Japanese army's formation!

At this time, the Japanese had no concept of formation. In battle, samurai would ride horses, leading foot soldiers in a charge. Then, samurai would fight samurai, and foot soldiers would fight foot soldiers.

The Japanese, who were constantly engaged in "village wars" on the small island of Fusang, had never seen such a scene before.

The foot soldiers were terrified.

Because they only had swords and no spears, the foot soldiers were spread out in a very loose formation in order to make it easier to wield their long swords. They had no mature defensive formation and could only be easily crushed by the Han army's iron cavalry!

Those Fusang warriors were nothing more than donkey-riding cavalry, scattered in groups of seven or eight hundred to two or three hundred men each. They were equally helpless against the Han army's wall-like offensive!

"Hahaha, so happy! So happy!"

How many Japanese monkeys have been killed now? Ten or eleven?
Xia Gui was overjoyed and cheered loudly.

He is forty-two years old this year and is a centurion under Gao Da. If history had unfolded normally, he would have gradually distinguished himself in the battles between the Song Dynasty and the Mongol army, repeatedly making meritorious contributions and becoming one of the famous generals of the Southern Song Dynasty who resisted the Mongols.

Unfortunately, he did not live up to his reputation in his later years. The Yuan army was too powerful. More than 30 years later, Xia Gui led the three prefectures, six states, and thirty-six counties of Huaixi to surrender to the Yuan, and was despised by the world.

However, Zhao Shuo changed history, and Xia Gui became a centurion under Gao Da's command.

This person was born with extraordinary talent, not only possessing superhuman strength but also astonishing eyesight, able to see where arrows would fall at night, earning him the nickname "Summer Night Eyes." In his youth, he was punished for a crime and had two flags tattooed on his face, hence the nickname "Summer Flag Boy."

The exhilarating feeling of fighting made Xia Gui's blood boil.

He felt that just by harvesting the heads of the Japanese today, he could be promoted to a thousand households!
These Japanese are so easy to kill!
Heaven has been kind to him!
"Ah! This...how is this possible?"

At this point, Shao Erzi was completely dumbfounded.

He watched as the powerful vassal states of Kyushu were easily breached by the Han army's cavalry, like tattered rags.

One by one, renowned generals who could "fight alone" were easily killed by the Han cavalry, as easily as killing a chicken or duck.

The Matsuura family has been defeated!

The Ōsumi family has also been defeated!
Even the Satsuma family, which was known as the strongest in Kyushu, was defeated!

……

I'm afraid it will be his turn soon!

At this moment, Shao Erzi even thought of two lines of Han Chinese poetry: "Famous teachers and generals should not be complacent, for thousands of troops and horses avoid those in white robes."

Seeing this Han cavalry, even the White-Robed Army of Chen Qingzhi of the Southern Dynasty would be hard to compare with!
"good very good!"

Seeing the Han cavalry's ferocity and the Fusang army's utter vulnerability, Zhang Shijie was filled with boundless pride. He declared, "Issue my order: the entire army shall attack! Capture Dazaifu and welcome His Majesty to land in Fusang!"

Dazaifu was the capital of Fusang in the Kyushu region.

It's less than 30 li away from here!

Once the main force of Fusang is eliminated, we can march into Dazaifu and welcome Zhao Shuo to land in Fusang!
The credit for this campaign against Japan has firmly fallen into our hands!
"Charge! Kill!"

"Conquer Dazaifu and welcome the King to Japan!"

"I am willing to die for the king!"

"Kill the Japanese pirates!"

……

Twenty-one thousand Han soldiers roared and their blood boiled as they joined the battle!

Even the nine thousand elite cavalry of the Fusang army couldn't stop them, let alone the addition of twenty-one thousand Han soldiers!
What followed was no longer a war, but a one-sided massacre!

Blood flowed like a river on Baidao Plain!
"No! We can't hold on any longer!"

"We surrender!"

"Spare us!"

……

Half an hour later, even the most fearless Japanese could not hold out any longer. A small number fled to Dazaifu, and some, believing that even Dazaifu could not be defended, fled directly to the surrounding mountains. The majority immediately knelt down and surrendered!
Among them was even Shono no Sukenori, the lord of the Kyushu army in Japan!

(End of this chapter)