The Mongols and the Samurai were both famous for their warrior spirit. While the Mongols are often
criticized for their ruthless, uncompromising warfare strategies – strategies that often
involved the annihilation of entire cities – they were still tactically brilliant on the
battlefield. The Samurai, meanwhile, are known as stoic, disciplined warriors with a strict
code of behavior and virtues. Both have gone down in history for their military successes.
So, what happened when two of the most feared and respected warrior nations in history meet on the
battlefield? Welcome back to Nutty History. Today, we’re exploring the time when the Mongols faced
off against the Samurai…twice. It all started off diplomatic enough – at least for Mongol standards.
By the late 1260s, the Mongol empire stretched across Asia, into eastern Europe and the Arabian
Peninsula. It was the largest contiguous land empire in the history of the world.
Genghis Khan's grandson, Kublai Khan, was in the process of establishing the Yuan dynasty
across much of east Asia, had taken control of Korea, and had his sights set on Japan.
The Kamakura Shogunate had been ruling Japan since 1192, and its leader at the time was
Hojo Tokimune. Kublai Khan was intent on a bit of diplomacy at first, and in 1268 he sent a polite
letter to the shogun expressing how much he wanted to be trading partners and recognizing him as the
“King of Japan,” but at the same time demanding that the Japanese pay the Mongols tribute, “or
else.” The end of the letter reads, “Enter into friendly relations with each other from now on.
We think all countries belong to one family. How are we in the right, unless we comprehend this?
Nobody would wish to resort to arms.” The passive aggressive letter wasn’t lost on Tokimune,
who basically ignored it, secure in his belief that his island nation
was strong enough to withstand anything the Mongols had to throw at them. Then,
the Mongols sent another letter. This time it was downright aggressive and insulting,
and reads like something a WWE wrestler might say to his opponent before the fake fighting starts.
It goes like this: “But now, under our sage emperor, all under the light of the sun and
the moon are his subjects. You, stupid little barbarians. Do you dare to defy us by not
submitting?” Once again, the Japanese ignored the letter. Once again, Kublai was furious.
By 1271, Kublai Khan had defeated the Song Dynasty and amassed a sizable navy. Using
the newly-subjected Korea as a jumping off point, the Mongols sailed towards the Japanese islands
in autumn of 1274 with a massive fleet of between 500 and 900 ships and possibly as many as 40,000
soldiers. Accounts of the actual numbers vary, though. Some historians say that both the Mongols
and the Japanese had a tendency to over exaggerate the strength of their respective armies in their
historical records, leading some to estimate that the total number of Mongol soldiers was
a mere 3,000. However large or small the Mongol invading force was, they quickly overpowered the
Japanese and their samurai warriors. They first landed on the small northern islands of Tsushima
and Iki and decimated the small population. Then, they headed to Hakata Bay on the island
of Kyushu near the modern-day city of Fukuoka. The Mongol armada was too much for the couple thousand
Japanese samurai defending the island. In addition to being outmanned, the samurai were also not use
to the Mongol battle tactics. The samurai fought according to the laws of bushido, the ancient
code of conduct for the Japanese warriors. According to bushido, when two armies meet,
one warrior from each side steps out and they engage in one-on-one combat. The Mongols, however,
attacked en-masse in tight, well-coordinated battalions of cavalry and infantry. When a
single samurai stepped out into the open to declare himself and wait for his opponent,
the Mongols simply sent a barrage of arrows his way and charged past the now deceased soldier into
the stunned samurai ranks. The Mongols also had superior weaponry. They had already developed all
kinds of gunpowder projectiles that they would fling with catapults into the Japanese ranks,
causing widespread devastation. They also used poison-tipped arrows and longbows that had
twice the range of the samurai archers. Despite these advantages, the samurai were able to hold
out for a time using their superior swords and protective armor. Much of what we know about the
Battle of Brunei, as this first clash between the samurai and Mongols became known, was documented
by a Japanese samurai named Takezaki Suenaga. In his account, the samurai, broken but not beaten,
managed to retreat to safety. During the night, heavy rain and wind began to sweep across the
coast. Worried their ships may run aground, the Mongols retreated into open waters.This
was their biggest mistake as they were hit by a massive typhoon, and by some accounts more than
a third of the Mongol ships ended up at the bottom of the Pacific and some 13,000 troops with them.
The kamikaze, or divine winds, had struck. The event went down in Japanese legend, mythologized
to the point where it’s difficult to parse the myth from the reality. In any event, the Mongols
had to retreat back to Korea, where they would regroup for another attempt a few years later.
After the Mongols were blown back by the kamikaze winds, there was an interlude of sorts before they
would decide to invade again in 1281. During the interlude, the Japanese apparently were expecting
another invasion, so they built a 12-mile long wall around Hakata Bay, the site of their first
near defeat in the Battle of Brunei. In 1276, Kublai Khan made a second attempt at diplomacy
by sending another group of ambassadors to try to negotiate some kind of deal. Shogun Tokimune was
even less impressed this second time around, and had the messengers ended. Kublai tried again three
years later, and again, the Mongol emissaries were forced to part ways with life. Meanwhile,
Kublai Khan had established a government division called “The Ministry for Conquering Japan.” It
seemed like, once again, diplomacy was over and it was time for another crack at the island nation.
In 1281, the Mongols again set out from the Korean peninsula. This time, they had even
more ships – upwards of 4,000 – and even more soldiers – by some accounts as many as 140,000.
But the Japanese were prepared. They had pieced together an army of nearly 40,000. Their defensive
walls around Hakata Bay were well-fortified. They were ready. When the Mongols entered the bay for
the second time, the battle was more leveled. The Mongol armada was still waiting for its main fleet
to arrive, but in the meantime they attacked anyway. The Mongols were unable to breach the
walls, though. Samurai would sneak out in small boats in the middle of the night, under the cover
of darkness, and set fire to many Mongol ships. Eventually, the Mongol reinforcements arrived.
The Japanese were now faced with an invading army that was more than three-times larger than theirs,
and defeat seemed imminent. But then, the Japanese were saved a second time by the Divine Winds.
Another typhoon blew through the island. In the end, only a few hundred ships were able to remain
afloat. The Khan’s armada was destroyed. Any survivors who made it ashore were taken out by
the samurai. The Mongols were once again forced to flee with their tails between their legs,
victims of the wrath of the Gods – at least that’s how the Japanese viewed it. The two kamikaze winds
that blew through and saved the Japanese from the Mongols reached a legendary status in Japan.
Warriors would draw strength from the story for centuries to come. The Mongol Empire would
splinter over the next century, but the Japanese Shogunates would persist for hundreds of years.
A huge part of the samurai mentality was bushido, their code of conduct which we alluded to earlier.
Bushido was much more than battlefield tactics, though. It was an entire framework for how a
samurai should live. Values like frugality, righteousness, courage, benevolence, respect,
sincerity, honor, loyalty, and self-control were held up on pedestals. Buddhism was the
religion of the land at the time, though while bushido was considered an ethical framework,
it wasn’t considered religious. In general, the samurai actually believed they were doomed to
the Japanese version of hell – called Jigoku – because they were trained to fight and end
those who opposed them. What developed was a very Buddhist state of mind, one where the samurai were
said to be unafraid of death. Overcoming the fear of death is a very Zen Buddhist type of practice.
The samurai referred to it as the “Divine Shield.” It made them formidable warriors who
were completely committed to their ‘craft.’ And it was basically considered a craft. The idea of the
“warrior-poet” – the noble, educated, disciplined fighter – was really all the rage back then.
Shortly after the Kamakura Shogunate came to power in Japan, the Mongols stormed across Asia
and Eastern Europe. From the Mongolian steppe, Genghis Khan created a war machine unlike any in
the history of the world. By the time of his death in 1227, the Mongols controlled most of northern
and central Asia. His grandson, Kublai, took things a step further, conquering more land in
the east and eventually subjugating the once-great Song Dynasty. Now, when you think of the Mongols,
the first thing that comes to mind are men on horseback riding across plains. For the Mongols,
horses were life. They basically lived on them. Their children were said to have learned to ride a
horse before they could walk – how much of that is just legend and how much is fact is up for debate.
In any case, you probably don’t think of the Mongols as very seafaring people. Yet when Kublai
conquered the Song Dynasty, he also gained control of their pretty impressive naval fleet. That,
combined with their subsequent subjugation of Korea, gave them perhaps the world’s most powerful
navy at the time. Many Song and Korean generals and sailors ended up switching over to the Mongol
side. The Mongols were very adept at getting those they conquered to team up with them. They were
religiously tolerant and realized the usefulness of incorporating the people of the regions they
conquered back into society. As a result, by the time Kublai Khan set his sights on Japan,
the Mongol navy boasted thousands of vessels that were either built using Song boatbuilders who had
defected, or that were taken from the Song by force during the Mongol conquest of the dynasty,
which to no avail proved successful against the Japanese samurai in the end.
Thanks for watching! Let us know what crazy facts you know about the Mongols and Samurai
in the comments section, and don’t forget to like and subscribe for more Nutty History.