Medieval Kamikaze - The Failed Mongol Invasion of Japan

[CelticSaintAndScholar]

In the Middle Ages, the Mongol Empire launched an attempted invasion of Japan. The fleet was destroyed by a large storm, or "Divine Wind". It also transpires that the fleet had its ships prepared in a hurry, so they were less likely to survive the storm. Maybe if they were higher quality, the invasion would have succeeded? Either way it's quite a turning point in Asian and world history.

 

[Jopa79]

I'm not fully aware of the strength level of this exact storm, but if it was a typhoon(s), I think, no fleet - even a modern one - could survive from such a natural, but disastrous phenomenon.

Nearly 300 years after the failed Mongol invasions, one other, particularly interesting event happened on the Japanese coast. Some Portuguese ships drifted ashore near Kyushu, the cargo they had on the ships included for instance arquebuses and this changed the warfare in Japan and affected the Japanese martial arts indelibly.

 

[Lord Tim]

Perhaps worth noting, it wasn't really a "Mongol" invasion so much as an invasion by Mongol vassals (Koreans and Chinese) under Mongol command. Which applies to both invasions. I think the attempt on Java (which also failed) used only Chinese ships, but there may have been some Korean ones there too.

The Mongols. Just not as good with Sea Horses as they were with Land Ones.

 

[demanvanwezel]

also to note: the initial landings had either failed or been repulsed by japanese forces, as of such it's quite likely that even without the typhoons the invasions would have failed anyway

 

[Yakman]

Perhaps worth noting, it wasn't really a "Mongol" invasion so much as an invasion by Mongol vassals (Koreans and Chinese) under Mongol command. Which applies to both invasions. I think the attempt on Java (which also failed) used only Chinese ships, but there may have been some Korean ones there too.

The Mongols. Just not as good with Sea Horses as they were with Land Ones.

The "Mongol Empire" idea lacks nuance. Yes, Mongols were the guys in charge, but it was a Chinese Empire. Same thing happened when the Manchus were in charge of China. They were steppe nomads in charge of a Chinese Empire. There are other examples of the same - notably the Turks in Persia / Anatolia / India (before they got off their horses).

But yes, it was a Mongol led invasion of Japan. The guys on the boats? Chinese dudes. The guys who drowned? Chinese dudes.

Same thing happened with the Mongol invasion of Vietnam. The guys in the army? Chinese dudes. The guys who got killed? Chinese dudes.

Heck, the defeat of the Southern Song Dynasty was northern Chinese guys beating southern Chinese guys. Mongols were the executives.

 

[CelticSaintAndScholar]

Perhaps worth noting, it wasn't really a "Mongol" invasion so much as an invasion by Mongol vassals (Koreans and Chinese) under Mongol command. Which applies to both invasions. I think the attempt on Java (which also failed) used only Chinese ships, but there may have been some Korean ones there too.

The Mongols. Just not as good with Sea Horses as they were with Land Ones.

Not as good with sea horses as land ones is a golden line!

 

[Henry IX]

Heck, the defeat of the Southern Song Dynasty was northern Chinese guys beating southern Chinese guys. Mongols were the executives.

Although they were also a critical part of the army as well. Mongol horsemen gave the Northern Chinese armies a significant advantage over the Southern armies and this partly explains why the Southern Song strategy put such a large emphasis on strongly guarded fortifications - pitched battles put them at a significant disadvantage. None the less, your general point about the (attempted) southern and eastern expansion of the Mongol empire being done primarily with Chinese resources is correct.

In addition, I would add that even had the Mongol army successfully landed, the geography combined with the militarized nature of Japanese society would have made actually conquering Japan (as opposed to extracting some tribute as a 'go away' payment) a very difficult and extremely risky proposition.

 

[Antediluvian Monster]

I'm not fully aware of the strength level of this exact storm, but if it was a typhoon(s), I think, no fleet - even a modern one - could survive from such a natural, but disastrous phenomenon.

Halsey actually blew through a typhoon during the Pacific War: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typhoon_Cobra

All the ship casualties were at least nominally avoidable, being either old treaty designs (which tended to have unsatisfactory compromises) or compromised by insufficient ballasting.

Japanese had also had unfortunate experiences with West Pacific weather in the '30s (the Tomozuru and Fourth Fleet Incidents). They had spent considerable effort weather proofing their navy before the war.

 

[DarthJF]

also to note: the initial landings had either failed or been repulsed by japanese forces, as of such it's quite likely that even without the typhoons the invasions would have failed anyway

Yup, "kamikaze defeated the Mongols" overlooks the fact that the first Mongol fleet invaded in June and they were still fighting for beachhead two months later when the typhoon hit.

The kamikaze story was partly propagated by Japanese Buddhist monks who called dips for rewards after the war because it was "clearly" their praying that had called the storms and defeated the Mongols.