Battle of Tsushima (1274)
The Battle of Tsushima of 1274 was the opening engagement of the first Mongol invasion of Japan, fought on Tsushima Island in early November 1274. Yuan forces under Kublai Khan's command sailed from Korea and overwhelmed the small garrison of the island within two days, using coordinated tactics and massed missile fire. The fall of Tsushima was followed shortly afterwards by the capture of Iki Island and prompted the Kamakura shogunate to begin strengthening its coastal defences.
Background
In early 1269, an embassy of about seventy Koreans and Mongols arrived at Tsushima Island demanding a Japanese response to a letter from the Khan. The imperial court wished to answer, but the Kamakura shogunate refused; a defiant draft reply was prepared but ultimately never delivered. The Yuan ship that brought the envoys was forced to leave Japanese waters, but in withdrawing it seized two Tsushima fishermen. The captives were taken to Kublai Khan's court and later returned to Japan in August 1269 with Korean envoys as part of a renewed diplomatic mission.
In 1274, Kublai ordered the assembly of a fleet in Korean ports. Modern estimates suggest that some 900 ships were gathered to transport up to 40,000 troops. Other accounts give a more specific figure for the force that actually sailed, describing approximately 23,000 Mongol, Chinese and Korean soldiers accompanied by around 6,700 sailors under the command of Holdon, Hong Dagu and Liu Fuxiang, whose units were collectively known as the "Triple-Wing Force". Although Kublai had ordered the expedition to sail in the summer of 1274, the fleet did not depart until 3 October, leaving Happo, near modern Busan, and crossing the Korea Strait. It is unclear whether the expedition was planned as a full invasion or as a reconnaissance in force. Some historians have argued that the 1274 campaign was intended primarily as a probing operation rather than a genuine attempt to conquer Japan, though the scale of the Yuan operation was sufficient to indicate a serious offensive. Tsushima was chosen as the first objective because of its position roughly midway between the southern coast of Korea and the Japanese island of Kyushu.
Battle
The Yuan fleet reached Tsushima two days after leaving Korea and landed troops on the island. There it encountered a small garrison of about eighty samurai under the military governor Sō Sukekuni. Sukekuni belonged to a lineage that traced its descent from Emperor Antoku of Japan; the Sō clan had served for generations as protectors of the island.
The Mongol forces quickly overcame the small local defending force. The defenders engaged the invaders on the beach but were driven back by a dense volley of arrows—described in Japanese sources as falling "as thick as rain"—with some accounts asserting the use of poisoned arrows. After the fall of Tsushima, the Yuan force moved against Iki Island, about twelve miles from Kyushu. The fleet reached Iki on 14 October, where the island's governor, Taira Kagetaka, prepared a defence with roughly one hundred mounted samurai and inhabitants armed with improvised weapons. The defenders of Iki offered even less resistance than those of Tsushima. Japanese tradition would later hold that the samurai's bravery provoked the Mongols' anger rather than earning their respect.
Aftermath
The Mongols did not occupy Tsushima for long. They placed the island under strict watch by sea and land to prevent any communication with the outside, then, after restoring order among their forces, moved south to attack Iki Island. About a fortnight after the first landing on Tsushima the Mongols struck Iki on 14 October 1274, where heavy fighting took place. Following the fighting on Tsushima and Iki, the Japanese government decided to strengthen the defences along the coast. The bakufu also began constructing its own navy in response to the Yuan attacks.
The Yuan expedition continued towards the Japanese mainland and culminated in the Battle of Bun'ei on the shore of Hakata Bay later in November 1274 before withdrawing. The loss of Tsushima and Iki served as a warning to the Kamakura shogunate, which in the years that followed organised the construction of a stone defensive wall around Hakata Bay and other measures that would shape the outcome of the much larger second Mongol invasion in 1281.
See also
- Mongol invasions of Japan
- First Mongol invasion of Japan
- Battle of Bun'ei
- Sō clan