Ch.224Island Conquest (5)

Yoshitsune was personally leading his soldiers.

By the time they reached Nagasaki where the Mongol army had landed, enemy cavalry began to appear one after another.

“Archers!”

The archers stepped forward.

They skillfully prepared their arrows and waited for the command.

“Fire!”

Whoosh.

Arrows poured from the archers’ hands.

However, since the enemy was cavalry, they could easily escape the range of the arrows.

Yoshitsune wasn’t particularly concerned about this.

It was because the arrow attack was initially meant to test the enemy.

“The enemy forces that landed here appear to be elite troops.”

“Yes, General.”

“That means the enemy commander in Nagasaki is likely a high-ranking officer among the invasion force commanders.”

Yoshitsune made this judgment after watching the Mongol cavalry skillfully avoiding arrows.

Though not entirely accurate, his assessment had some merit.

This was because vanguard units were often composed of elite troops.

However, even considering that, it was remarkable that they could skillfully avoid the shower of arrows without suffering any casualties.

Anyone leading such elite troops was likely at least a commander with full authority or possibly the expedition’s commander-in-chief.

“But for the commander-in-chief to personally lead the vanguard would be practically suicidal.”

Yoshitsune nodded at his staff officer’s words.

“It means he has either the courage or the ability to do so.”

Yoshitsune said this while looking toward where the enemy commander appeared to be.

He wanted to determine whether the enemy commander was being reckless by participating as the vanguard leader—the position with the highest probability of death—or if he had something reliable to depend on.

“Judging by the amount of dust rising, the enemy seems to have noticed we’re close by. And… looking at all the dust rising around, they appear to be fortifying their position.”

“Fortifying? Do you mean the enemy intends to stop our forces here?”

“That’s right. If their goal is to hold out while blocking our attacks as much as possible… their main force is clearly heading for Tsushima.”

Yoshitsune realized the enemy’s objective was to buy time.

The evidence was that instead of coming out from their landing site for a field battle, the enemy vanguard was fortifying their landing position.

“Then perhaps we should leave the enemy here and head for Tsushima…”

Yoshitsune shook his head at his staff officer’s suggestion.

“Then the enemy would plunder this entire region as if they’d been waiting for it, and recruit forces locally to face us.”

The Kyushu region was one of the more densely populated areas in the archipelago.

Therefore, by raiding this place, plundering resources, and forcibly recruiting locally, they could amass a considerable force.

If they increased their numbers that way, the Bakufu forces led by Yoshitsune would likely face a diversionary attack from Tsushima.

“That’s why we must do everything we can to drive out the enemy. Otherwise, we’ll end up facing attacks from two directions.”

The staff officer nodded at Yoshitsune’s explanation.

Having convinced him, Yoshitsune asked a question.

“By the way, what’s the status of our reinforcement request sent to Miyako?”

“They’re currently coordinating with the Oonanushi.”

Yoshitsune frowned at this.

Coordinating with the Oonanushi, who were equivalent to local lords, was a natural course of action.

However, he believed this matter had already been settled before the expedition.

Therefore, having another round of discussions with the Oonanushi seemed like a waste of time from his perspective.

More precisely, it looked like a trap set by his brother, Minamoto no Yoritomo, to dispose of him.

But right now, this was a battlefield.

In this situation, he had no choice but to follow orders from above.

“…I understand for now.”

Dealing with the enemy before him was the priority.

Political issues would come after.

* * *

“The Mongol army has finally landed!”

Emperor Gotoba rose with a pleased expression.

His close associate, Minamoto no Noriyori, was equally delighted.

“Fortunately, now that they’ve landed, the Bakufu forces are essentially finished.”

The Minister of the Right spoke up to temper their excitement.

“Although the Mongols have landed, it’s only their vanguard, so their numbers won’t be great.”

“I see…”

The young Emperor immediately showed disappointment.

Seeing this, Noriyori quickly advised:

“We must support them.”

“Now?”

“Yes. If their vanguard is pushed back, the Ulus won’t be able to land in Japan for some time. Then the Bakufu’s influence will grow stronger, and Your Majesty’s influence will diminish.”

There were many omissions and leaps in his reasoning.

But since the Emperor was young, this was better than explaining too many details.

In any case, as Noriyori suggested, if the Bakufu drove away the Mongol vanguard, the Bakufu’s authority would likely increase.

Japan was a country that had never been invaded by foreign powers for a long time.

To be precise, there had been several incidents that could be considered invasions.

However, from a nation-to-nation perspective, there was no precedent of another country invading Japan.

Therefore, if the Bakufu defeated the invading Mongol forces, it would strengthen the Bakufu’s influence.

From the Imperial faction’s standpoint, this was something that had to be prevented at all costs.

Therefore, Left General Noriyori was proposing that they should help the Mongol vanguard before this happened.

“This is serious. However, unfortunately, I don’t believe I have any available troops under my command.”

Emperor Gotoba was an Emperor without the Three Sacred Treasures.

As a result, there weren’t many who followed him naturally.

Of course, there were high-ranking officials like Noriyori and the Minister of the Right who followed Gotoba.

But even they were essentially people who had fallen from power in the Bakufu—people without real authority.

To hold real power in the realm, one needed troops.

So having no real authority meant these people had no troops they could lead.

“You don’t need to worry much about that point.”

Noriyori answered as if telling him not to worry.

The Minister of the Right looked at the General with a surprised expression.

“It seems you have a clever solution, General?”

“I plan to seek help from the Fujiwara clan of Oshu.”

Oshu referred to the Tohoku region, or the northeastern region.

The lord ruling this area was Fujiwara Yasuhira, son of the recently deceased Fujiwara Hidehira.

The Oshu Fujiwara clan had a cooperative relationship with the Minamoto clan, which established the Kamakura Bakufu.

However, from the perspective of the Minamoto clan, which aimed to overthrow the Heike and seize hegemony over the realm, the Oshu Fujiwara clan could no longer be considered cooperative.

Objectively speaking, the Kamakura Bakufu established by the Minamoto clan was a regional government of the Kanto region.

From that perspective, the Tohoku regional government led by the Oshu Fujiwara clan could be seen as a similar regional power.

Thus, as eastern and western regional powers, the two clans could essentially be considered equivalent regional governments.

In fact, Fujiwara Hidehira held the position of Chinjufu Shogun, a rank slightly lower than Sei-i Taishogun, which Minamoto held.

Therefore, in terms of hegemony over the realm, the Minamoto clan and the Oshu Fujiwara clan were bound to be in opposition.

Minamoto no Noriyori understood this well.

That’s why he wanted to use their power.

“They will help us who seek to oppose the Kamakura Bakufu.”

Emperor Gotoba couldn’t hide his joy.

The Minister of the Right asked with a worried expression:

“But they won’t help us for nothing. In fact, Fujiwara Hidehira once demanded the position of Sei-i Taishogun.”

As the Minister of the Right said, Fujiwara Hidehira had once requested the position of Sei-i Taishogun.

In fact, as the title of Sei-i Taishogun suggested, it was a position for subjugating the Emishi.

The main stronghold of these Emishi was the Tohoku region.

So from Hidehira’s perspective, who actually ruled the Tohoku region, it was a perfectly reasonable request.

However, since this was a political demand, it had to be rejected.

And until the Oohime incident, the relationship between the Emperor and the Sei-i Taishogun was good, so Hidehira’s request was bound to be ignored.

In such a situation, seeking help from the Oshu Fujiwara clan would inevitably cause problems.

“However, Your Majesty once put this matter on hold. If we are to request their help as the Left General suggests, it seems we must provide an answer to this.”

At the Minister’s logical statement, the Emperor showed reluctance.

In a way, he bore some responsibility for this.

At that time, he believed the Sei-i Taishogun would support him.

So he made such a misjudgment, which inevitably strained relations with the Oshu Fujiwara clan.

“You don’t need to worry about that either, Minister.”

“I see you’re confident you can resolve this issue as well, General.”

“Haha. That’s right.”

Noriyori nodded.

And with an expression telling him not to worry, he looked at the Emperor.

“Don’t worry, Your Majesty. You merely put the answer to them on hold, so you can provide an answer now.”

“By answer, you mean…”

“Send an edict promising them the position of Seito Taishogun, and it will be resolved.”

“Seito Taishogun!”

“Yes. It’s a position of equal rank to Sei-i Taishogun. So it’s essentially the same as the Sei-i Taishogun position they requested.”

The people called Emishi in Japanese, or Ainu in their native language, were a formidable enemy threatening all of Japan.

As a result, the government created two Taishogun positions, Sei-i and Seito, to push them back.

In other words, it wasn’t a hastily created position but one with a long history and tradition.

Therefore, it was a sufficient incentive to turn the Fujiwara clan’s heart and gain their cooperation.

“Seito Taishogun? Does the Right General intend to make the Oshu Fujiwara clan into a Bakufu like the Minamoto clan?”

The Minister of the Right expressed concern with these words.

Indeed, if they obtained the position of Seito Taishogun, which was equivalent to Sei-i Taishogun, the Fujiwara clan would essentially gain enough authority to establish a Bakufu like the Minamoto clan.

This would mean two regional powers within Japan.

The Minister couldn’t help but criticize the General for an action that would further divide the archipelago.

“Don’t worry. This is merely a title.”

“With such a trivial decision…”

The Minister had much to say but couldn’t continue in front of the Emperor.

It was the Emperor who had granted the position of Sei-i Taishogun to Minamoto Yoritomo.

So criticizing it as a trivial decision would be like insulting the Emperor to his face.

“That’s enough. I have made my decision.”

The Emperor rose.

And looking at Noriyori, he spoke:

“General, please send someone to request help from the Fujiwara clan. And convey my promise to grant them the position of Seito Taishogun in return.”