What was the real reason for the failure of the Yuan Dynasty to invade Japan twice?

Ships that attacked Japan twice capsized at sea in the face of typhoons, causing serious casualties.

In A.D. 1274, the expeditionary force that attacked Japan set sail from Korea and sailed for Kyushu Island. Expeditionary force * * * 25,000 people, about half of whom are Mongolians and Koreans, and some jurchen and a small number of Han people. The commander-in-chief of the Expeditionary Force is Hu Dun of Mongolia, and the two deputy commanders are Hong Chaqiu of Korean nationality and Liu Fuheng of Han nationality. The Yuan Army sailed to Hakata Bay, first captured and ravaged Tsushima Island and Yiqi Island, and then landed in Kyushu. Of the three invading armies, one is the main force and the other is the cooperative defense. The landing site of the main force is about near Nagasaki.

The Yuan-Japanese War was triggered by Kublai Khan of Yuan Di and his vassal country, Korea, sending troops to attack Japan twice in 1274 and 128 1 year. These two invasions were collectively called "Yuankou" or "Mongolian Attack" in Japan, or according to the Japanese title at that time, the war against the first attack of the Yuan Army was called "Wenyong War" and the second was called "Hongan War". The titles of Kamakura era and Muromachi era (Mongolian attack, foreign thief attack, Mongolian joint operation and foreign joint operation) are also called killers, and the great Japanese history of Edo era is called Yuan Kou. These two invasions were also dominated by Kitakyushu. Although these two aggression attempts failed in the end, they still played a very important role in macro history. These two wars are one of the most famous events in Japanese history and occupy an important position in world history because of their role in preventing the expansion of the Mongolian Empire and the Yuan Dynasty. These two incidents have been mentioned in many novels, and the word kamikaze commando came into being. In addition, apart from what happened at the end of World War II, these two failed aggression attempts should be regarded as the biggest threat of aggression that Japan 1000 has faced for more than a year.

Powerful Mongolia once swept Eurasia and was invincible. But the two invasions of Japan suffered heavy losses. The Mongols attacked Japan because Japan refused to submit to the Mongolian Empire. Kublai Khan sent envoys to Japan for many times, demanding that Japan surrender and pay tribute. King Koryo also wrote to the Japanese, asking them to yield to the Mongols, but the Japanese refused Kublai Khan's request contemptuously every time. In the face of such an attack, of course, the Mongolian Khan, who dominated the world, could not tolerate it and resolutely launched two large-scale wars of aggression against Japan.

Mongolia invaded Japan for the first time in A.D. 1274. The expeditionary force that attacked Japan set sail from North Korea for Kyushu Island. Expeditionary force * * * 25,000 people, of which Mongols account for about 50%, Koreans account for about 50%, and some jurchen and a small number of Han people. The commander-in-chief of the Expeditionary Force is Hu Dun of Mongolia, and the two deputy commanders are Hong Chaqiu of Korean nationality and Liu Fuheng of Han nationality. The Yuan Army sailed to Hakata Bay, first captured Tsushima Island and Yiqi Island, then landed in Kyushu and invaded the inland. Of the three invading armies, one is the main force and the other is the cooperative defense. The landing site of the main force is about near Nagasaki. In the face of the first "Mongolian attack", the Japanese Kamakura shogunate mobilized some regular troops to participate in the war, and the Kyushu coastal governors also urgently organized warriors and militia to participate in the war. After more than 20 days of hard work, Liu Fuheng was killed in the fierce battle, and the Yuan army returned to the beach to rely on the gun to defend. At this point, the Yuan army suffered heavy casualties and defeat was inevitable. Because the arrows were exhausted and could not continue to hold their ground, the Yuan army had to board the ship and retreat.

128 1 year Mongolia invaded Japan for the second time. After Kublai Khan unified China, he set out to prepare for the second Japanese invasion. The huge Yuan Imperial Expeditionary Force set out from both Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Korea. This expedition is even more spectacular. * * * There are nearly 5,000 ships with about 200,000 troops, including 45,000 Mongols, more than 50,000 Koreans and about100,000 Han people, most of whom are newly attached troops (incorporated into the Southern Song Dynasty army). The ancient Mongols in the expeditionary army are naturally the backbone of the battle. At the beginning of June, the Yuan Army began to land in Jiulong Mountain, not far from the main landing place of the last war. This time, the expeditionary force met with more tenacious resistance. Hong Chaqiu, commander-in-chief of the Korean army, was captured and killed, and many senior Mongolian generals were killed one after another. Fierce fighting lasted for more than a month, and the losses of the expeditionary force have exceeded one third. Because Japan built a solid stone wall along the beach, the Yuan army could not break through the repeated attacks. By the end of July, the Yuan army had basically run out of grain, grass and arrows, and ended up retreating.

After analyzing a large number of historical materials, the author thinks that there are six main reasons why Mongolia failed to conquer Japan in two attacks:

First, the first attack on Japan was insufficient. The Southern Song Dynasty has not yet perished, and Mongolia only controlled China in the north. At that time, the Mongolian empire was massing heavily in the south to attack the Southern Song Dynasty, and only more than 50,000 troops attacked Japan. The expedition and cross-sea operations that Mongols are not good at, coupled with the strength of the Japanese nation, are obviously not enough. In addition to the factors of multi-line operations, the main reason for the shortage of troops was that Kublai Khan did not take Japan, which had strong military strength at that time, seriously.

Second, Mongolia has no advantage in tactics. According to the Japanese, the fighting capacity of Mongols is not as strong as expected. After the war began, the Japanese adopted the tactics of close combat with the Mongols, which invalidated the advantages of the Mongols' bows, arrows and carbines. In all fairness, Mongolian soldiers can work hard. When necessary, they can live by eating raw horse meat and drinking horse blood, and they have strong operational mobility. Generally, they only bring very little food and grass. The problem of food and clothing for soldiers is mainly solved by plundering the war zone. However, in these two wars, the Mongols were unable to give full play to their specialties and never broke into the residential areas in the mainland. Naturally, there is no land to plunder. In contrast, the Japanese tactics are very clever.

Third, Mongolia has no obvious advantage in weapons and equipment. In the war against Japan, Mongolia used weapons and equipment to meet its opponents for the first time. The advantage of Japanese equipment lies not only in combat knives, but also in the armor of samurai. It is said that the swords of ordinary soldiers of the Yuan Army are easily broken with those of Japanese swords (at that time, Japan's smelting and knife-making technology was world-class, and the performance of Japanese combat knives was only comparable to that of Damascus steel knives produced in North India and West Asia. Nippon Steel is obviously superior to Sinosteel). As long as the distance is a little longer, Mongolian bows and arrows can't penetrate the armor of Japanese samurai.

Fourth, Japanese samurai have received strict military training since childhood, and their fighting skills are far better than those of Mongols. Mongolian records say that the Japanese are good at fighting alone, which can be confirmed by the Japanese statement. The Japanese have the lowest evaluation of the Han people in the Yuan Army. In their view, the Han army is afraid of death and has low morale. It is a standard fishing force.

Fifth, the confidentiality of cross-sea operations is not strict. Japan's two invasions were not sudden attacks, but Japan got reliable information in advance and made full preparations for the battle. Especially in the second invasion, the Japanese closely monitored the movement of the Yuan Empire and made full preparations for attacking Mongolia. At this time, Japan's political situation was stable, and Sejong Kitajima's control over Kamakura shogunate and Japanese vassals was far better than before, so the Japanese could use more manpower and material resources to resist the invasion. The shogunate commandeered civilian workers in Kyushu, and built stone walls along the beach in the area where the enemy troops were most likely to land in Hakata Bay to stop Mongolian cavalry. In fact, Mongolian soldiers never broke through this line of defense.

Sixth, the weather is not beautiful, and the hurricane helped Japan, which the Japanese call "kamikaze". Both invasions of Japan were hit by violent hurricanes and suffered heavy losses. During the second invasion of Japan in 128 1 year, in August 1 year, a violent hurricane suddenly blew in the Pacific Ocean and lasted for four days. The ships of the Southern Fleet of the Yuan Army were basically destroyed, and most of the ships of the Northern Fleet were also lost. The remaining ships of the Northern Fleet, carrying the commander and some Mongolian and Korean troops, fled the battlefield and returned to North Korea. Confederate army commanders and some senior officials saw that there was nothing they could do, so they had to leave their large forces and escape by the remaining ships of the Southern Fleet. At this time, there is still an army of nearly 100,000 yuan on the beach of Jiulong Mountain. These people have lost their supplies and retreat, unable to break through the Japanese defense line and fall into despair. Three days later, the Japanese army began to counterattack, driving the remaining Yuan troops to a narrow area called Bajiao Island, and then attacking with troops. Most of the Yuan troops were killed, and the remaining 20,000 people were captured.