Ch.222Island Conquest (3)

There are several routes to the Japanese islands.

Among them, the best route was naturally through the peninsula.

Accordingly, the Ulus’s large forces were scheduled to depart from the Great Capital, pass through the Liaodong Kingdom, and head to the peninsula.

However, there were some difficulties along the way, so they had to stay temporarily in a city near the Great Capital.

“The path to Japan is treacherous.”

Munglig nodded at my words.

This was because we were currently in what’s commonly called the rainy season, with storms raging.

“With so much rain, even crossing rivers seems difficult.”

To reach the Liaodong region, we needed to cross the enormous Liao River.

This river was among the seven largest rivers in China.

This river was now swollen due to the overlapping rainy season.

That’s why it would inevitably take time to proceed.

“Would it be better to sail to Goryeo by ship?”

I immediately shook my head at Elunka’s suggestion.

“We might suffer great damage if we set sail needlessly. Let’s stay here and monitor the situation.”

The reason I said this was obviously because I was concerned about the original history.

In actual history, the Mongols had encountered storms during their Japanese expedition and suffered greatly.

Of course, the Japanese expedition failed due to a combination of various issues beyond environmental factors.

But it was undeniable that they suffered significant damage from typhoons.

Since it happened not once but twice, I had to be cautious, knowing the future.

“Order the allied ships from Goryeo and the Liaodong Kingdom to remain stationed near the coast to avoid damage.”

The messenger who received my order bowed and rushed off.

As soon as the messenger disappeared, I looked up at the sky.

“O Heavens.”

Would typhoons favorable to Japan occur in this world too?

I murmured in a low voice, looking at the sky with this worry.

In response, the sky sent down a beam of light as if answering me.

Under the dark sky, a single beam of light shining down on me created an almost divine feeling.

“Light is shining on Gurkhan’s body…!”

“Truly a person chosen by the gods…!”

The soldiers looked at me with exaggerated reactions.

It was merely a natural phenomenon, but the soldiers showed me such responses.

I decided to naturally use this situation as a political theater, just as I had during the Crusade.

“O God! O Tengri! O Ancestors! The heavens are stirring and the cries of Hangarad shake the earth. Strong winds are rising, making the four seas roar. I have received divine authority to rule this land by the call of the gods. Accordingly, I seek to punish the islands that resist the will of the thousand names established by the Ulus. This eastern expedition has righteousness, and this is what heaven, Tengri, and our ancestors desire. O Heavens, please remove these dark clouds. And bestow warm sunshine upon the Ulus and our soldiers!”

As if by magic, the sky began to clear at those words.

And as the dark sky brightened, light poured down precisely on the Ulus soldiers.

The clearing of skies after localized heavy rain was a common natural phenomenon in modern times.

But given the era, all these things could only be interpreted as the will of heaven.

This made it appear as if the gods had answered my natural outcry to the heavens.

“The gods bless this expedition!”

“Heaven shows us the way forward!”

As it happened, our unit included many soldiers from Iran, the Middle East, and Anatolia.

Though they followed different religions, they were all devout believers for whom religion was deeply integrated into daily life.

When sunlight resembling divine power fell upon such soldiers, they couldn’t help but look up to me with reverence.

“Soldiers of the Ulus! The gods bless our eastern expedition! This light points the way to the Liao River, so we shall head toward the Liao River!”

“Woooaaah!”

“Long live Gurkhan!”

In truth, the exact direction this light pointed to was the Bohai Bay.

However, since this Bohai Bay connected to the Liao River that separated Liaoxi and Liaodong, it wasn’t completely wrong.

Anyway, by (well) utilizing this natural phenomenon, I was able to avoid the worst situation that might have decreased morale before the expedition.

* * *

The eastern expedition force led by Yesugei arrived in the Liaodong Kingdom.

Belgutei, the King of Liaodong and son of Gurkhan, came out personally to welcome Gurkhan.

“Gurkhan!”

“My son!”

Yesugei welcomed Belgutei with open arms.

Belgutei embraced Yesugei like a child.

“Haha! You’ve grown a lot, boy.”

“I heard you had a difficult time during the expedition.”

“Haha. It’s fine. Actually… your mother and… ahem.”

Gurkhan tried to say something but stopped.

Hearing this, Belgutei understood what his father was trying to say and nodded.

Belgutei was married to the daughter of Yi Uibang.

She was originally a woman with a generous personality who admired the warrior Yi Uibang and practiced archery.

True to her generous nature, she got along well with Belgutei.

Their relationship as a couple was also very good.

They already had three children.

This naturally made Belgutei well-versed in marital affairs.

Through this process, Belgutei could feel firsthand what an enormous task(?) it was for his father Yesugei to have three wives—from Belgutei’s perspective, three mothers.

Therefore, Belgutei could understand his father’s pain.

“Don’t worry about that, Father. I’ll speak to my father-in-law and make sure Korean red ginseng is sent to my mothers.”

“Thank you, my son.”

Yesugei sincerely thanked his son.

Belgutei nodded as if to say not to worry.

“Brother, can’t we discuss such matters later?”

“You’re right.”

At Munglig’s words, Yesugei immediately changed his expression.

Then, with a serious face, he addressed Belgutei.

“King of Liaodong, vassal of our allied nation.”

The Liaodong Kingdom was clearly a vassal state of the imperial nation of Goryeo.

This is why Gurkhan was addressing Belgutei as a vassal king.

“I heard you would provide transport and combat vessels. I want to confirm if this is true.”

“Don’t worry. I’ve prepared them in advance.”

Belgutei guided Gurkhan to the port.

There, ships ready to sail were already deployed.

“An impressive scale.”

“Fifty transport ships and twenty warships.”

Seventy ships might seem few, but unlike modern times, these ships required manpower to move.

This was because most East Asian ships were primarily moved by human power.

Additionally, the Liaodong Kingdom bordered both the Yellow Sea and the East Sea.

However, to move ships, they had to sail around the Korean Peninsula.

This naturally meant that the fleet had to be stationed on the Yellow Sea side.

The Yellow Sea was shallower than the East Sea and had tides.

Therefore, rowing was more common than using sea winds for movement.

Anyway, for these reasons, the 50 transport ships and 20 warships mobilized from the Liaodong Kingdom represented an enormous scale considering the crew required.

“You’ve done well.”

“Not at all, Gurkhan.”

Belgutei bowed and expressed his gratitude.

While he and Yesugei were conversing, someone approached.

Arriving on horseback, he dismounted 100 paces away, approached me, and bowed.

“It is an honor to meet the Great Khan of Mongolia and Emperor of the Central Plains.”

The man wearing a helmet greeted me in fluent Mongolian.

When he appeared, Belgutei bowed respectfully.

The helmeted man returned the bow.

“It’s been a long time, Uncle.”

“Are you well, Your Majesty?”

Hearing their conversation, Yesugei nodded.

Then he questioned the helmeted man.

“Are you the younger brother of Goryeo’s general?”

“Yes. I am Lee Rin, Commander of the Dragon Tiger Army. It is an honor to meet Gurkhan, ruler of the Central Plains and the four seas.”

Gurkhan nodded as if he knew him.

Then he continued speaking to him.

“Lee Rin. As a commander, are you leading the Goryeo navy participating in this eastern expedition?”

Lee Rin immediately answered Yesugei’s question.

“Yes, Gurkhan. One hundred transport ships and thirty warships are currently crossing the Yellow Sea to arrive here at Bisa Port.”

The current gathering place for the Mongol-Goryeo-Liaodong combined fleet was the Liaodong Peninsula.

It was specifically where Bisa Castle was located during the Goguryeo-Balhae period, now just a small fishing village.

This village underwent dramatic changes after the founding of the Liaodong Kingdom.

From Liaodong’s perspective, building ports on the Yellow Sea side was much better than on the East Sea with its strong currents.

Additionally, being adjacent to the Bohai Bay, which was in the sphere of influence of Mongolia, a friendly nation to Liaodong, they built ports on the Liaodong Peninsula and developed their navy.

As a result, Bisa, once just a small fishing village, grew into a strategic point connecting Goryeo, Liaodong, and Mongolia, while simultaneously becoming a core region for the Liaodong navy.

Anyway, this is why the armies of the three countries gathered here.

Of course, considering distance alone, landing in the Kyushu region via Tsushima Island from the Korean Peninsula would be best.

But since this route was an obvious attack path, they planned to attack using the currents flowing to Kyushu through the Yellow Sea under the protection of Mongol Pirates.

This way, although the distance was quite far, they could move more safely than going via Tsushima Island.

The city where the allied forces would land was none other than Hakata.

It was called Nagasaki in Japan.

“Is everything ready for boarding?”

Elunka answered Gurkhan’s question.

“The Mongol cavalry and infantry of 50,000, Goryeo infantry and archers of 20,000, and Liaodong cavalry and infantry of 10,000 have all completed preparations for boarding.”

It was a massive force of 80,000.

Considering that 90,000 Mongol cavalry had conquered Iran, Mashriq, Anatolia, and the Byzantine Empire, this was clearly a formidable force.

This meant that Nagasaki, where they planned to land, would suffer tremendous damage.