Ch.243Eastern (3)

The envoy’s request was simple.

Song Dynasty had made a mistake.

Therefore, please withdraw the Mongol Pirates.

He was practically begging, using extremely polite language.

“Great Gurkhan, our country is suffering from the raids of the Mongol Pirates. Please withdraw them.”

The Song envoy was pleading while addressing me as Gurkhan rather than Khan.

This was something rarely seen from a nomad’s perspective.

For people of the Central Plains, the center of the world was China.

They could maintain this pride because Song Dynasty was dominating other countries at this time.

Of course, they had bowed their heads to the Jin Dynasty due to military inadequacies.

But even when bowing their heads, they merely recognized and respected Jin as an emperor of the frontier—essentially a being assimilated into Chinese civilization.

From the Song Dynasty’s perspective, they also viewed me as a frontier emperor who had defeated Jin and seized hegemony over the Central Plains.

Calling me Khan was evidence of this.

But now, Song Dynasty was so desperate that without me even requesting it, they were voluntarily addressing me as Gurkhan and showing respect.

Based on this, I could immediately tell how desperate Song Dynasty was.

But it was Song Dynasty that was desperate, not me. So I shook my head.

“I refuse.”

“Gurkhan!”

“This is not my decision. It’s a decision made to keep faith between nations, according to our treaty.”

“Ah…”

Hearing this, the Song envoy could say nothing.

As mentioned earlier, Song Dynasty was a country of Neo-Confucianism. Words like faith and righteousness held tremendous meaning for such a country.

Moreover, the Song Dynasty of this era, unlike modern China, was truly a pioneer of civilization encompassing East Asia.

For such a country to be treated this way by Mongolia, which could hardly be said to have culture, made it difficult to argue back.

“Return home.”

I said this while tossing a handkerchief to the envoy.

Seeing this, the envoy silently stared at the handkerchief.

* * *

About four weeks had passed since the Mongol Pirates began seriously raiding Song Dynasty.

During these four weeks, our troops had sufficient rest and recovered their morale.

“How is the situation with the Shogunate?”

At my question, Elunka immediately reported.

“They are holding out in the field near Oshu Fujiwara and Miyako.”

“Holding back thousands of soldiers with just hundreds…”

As the saying goes, “Even a rotten fish still has value”—the founder of the first Shogunate was indeed different.

I couldn’t help but inwardly click my tongue in admiration.

“It seems they firmly believe that a request for aid will come from Song Dynasty.”

“I see.”

Yoritomo was highly unlikely to know that I had sent the Song envoy back.

The main reason was that he was preoccupied with blocking Oshu domain’s attack.

The second reason was that he didn’t know the relationship between Mongolia and Song Dynasty was like this.

This was because, on the surface, the Ulus was in a tributary relationship with Song Dynasty.

To be precise, the Ulus was a tributary state of Song Dynasty.

Japan was aware of this fact. Therefore, it was not easy to predict that a Song envoy would come to me begging about the Mongol Pirates issue.

Of course, this wasn’t important to us.

What was important was that it was time to completely conquer the archipelago.

“It seems it’s time to wrap up the eastern expedition.”

At my words, Elunka, Munglig, and Temuge nodded.

I gave each of them orders.

“Elunka.”

“Command me.”

“Take the Tamma and bypass Miyako to head for Oshu army’s main camp.”

Currently, the Shogunate forces and Oshu forces were in the midst of a full-scale war.

This meant that the Oshu army’s base, which had been dispatched to occupy the Shogunate, was completely empty.

At any rate, the abandoned Oshu territory could be easily occupied with just 500 cavalry.

I intended to have Elunka occupy that place.

“Munglig.”

“Command me, Gurkhan.”

“Take the Kheshig and occupy the south gate of Miyako.”

“I will follow your orders, Gurkhan.”

As I’ve been mentioning, the Shogunate was preoccupied with fighting the Oshu army.

Accordingly, I had Munglig attack the relatively less defended southern part of Miyako.

Anyway, Elunka and Munglig received their orders.

Temuge, who was watching the two, looked at me with an expression that seemed to ask why I wasn’t giving him orders.

“You will overthrow the Shogunate forces with me.”

Overthrowing the Shogunate.

To unify the archipelago and do anything else, we needed to eliminate the Shogunate completely.

To make Khasar the Tenno,

And to make Temuge, or rather Yoshitsune by his original name, the new Shogun.

This might seem like a cruel task for someone who once bore the name Minamoto Yoshitsune.

Because he would have to lead the downfall of the Minamoto clan with his own hands.

“I will prepare weapons and gather the soldiers.”

Temuge seemed rather pleased with my order.

“Seeing your expression, you look happy. Tell me the reason.”

At my words, Temuge revealed his true feelings without reservation.

“Originally, the Minamoto clan should have served the Tenno and pursued the realm. However, the Shogunate did not fulfill that responsibility.

They merely built what was essentially an independent force under the young Tenno. This is unacceptable and fails to uphold righteousness as a subject.”

Temuge harshly criticized the Shogunate, or rather, his brother’s rule.

One might wonder how this constitutes criticism, but criticizing the Shogunate’s rule within Japan was no easy task.

Additionally, he mentioned the Tenno and exposed the Shogunate’s wicked ambitions without reservation.

Of course, by modern standards, one might question how this qualifies as harsh criticism.

However, as mentioned earlier, considering the era, even this level of criticism could be fatal.

In a sense, it was criticism risking one’s life, so it could be considered harsh criticism.

“You’re right, Temuge.”

I said this, expressing my agreement with Temuge’s words.

Then I stood up and stepped forward.

“We are here to save the Japanese people who are suffering from the broken politics of the archipelago.”

The biggest reason for Mongolia’s conquest of the archipelago was, of course, profit.

By conquering and occupying the archipelago, there would be fewer restrictions on raiding Song Dynasty.

However, this was a justification that should only be thought internally.

Of course, we could reveal this outwardly, but in that case, we would likely remain seen as invaders.

For Mongolia, which aimed to directly rule Japan, this could be an obstacle.

Therefore, I had no choice but to make such an absurd claim.

The claim that we were saviors who came to rescue the Japanese people suffering under false rulers.

Mongolia was planning to become the archipelago’s savior and overthrow the Shogunate.

Like a hero facing a villain.

* * *

“The front line remains in a stalemate.”

“That’s right.”

The Shogunate forces said this while looking toward where the Oshu forces were.

“Still, it’s amazing we’ve held out against such a large force.”

“We have to hold out. Otherwise, we die.”

At the soldier’s words, other soldiers nodded.

War was a series of desperate struggles.

It was a place where the life struggle between those who kill and those who try to survive continued.

As a result, soldiers weren’t very interested in winning and achieving military merit.

They were just blocking to survive,

They were just enduring to survive.

That was all.

“But I don’t think we can hold out any longer…”

One tactless soldier blurted this out.

Other Shogunate soldiers looked at him reproachfully.

In truth, all the soldiers knew.

They felt in their bones that defeat awaited if things continued like this.

“Ah… it’s nothing.”

Faced with the soldiers’ glares, the tactless soldier had no choice but to close his mouth.

Seeing this, a soldier who appeared experienced calmed the other Shogunate soldiers and spoke.

“Calm down, everyone. We all know that young friend’s words aren’t wrong…”

“Still, he should watch what he says.”

“That’s right, elder.”

“But reality doesn’t change just because we don’t speak of it.”

At that moment, the atmosphere on the battlefield suddenly began to change.

Sensing this, the Shogunate soldiers turned their heads to look at the place where an eerie atmosphere was flowing.

“That place…”

“Do you know something about it?”

At another soldier’s question, the man nodded.

“That’s where the faceless ones were.”

When the story of the faceless ones came up, the Shogunate soldiers shuddered, feeling the eeriness.

News about the Tamma had spread throughout the archipelago.

As a result, exaggerated stories about them were also spreading.

There were even absurd rumors that the faceless ones were participating in the war to reclaim their lost faces.

This showed just how great the fear of the Tamma was.

“They ride horses with multiple legs and can travel a thousand li in a day.”

At the man’s words, the soldiers swallowed dry saliva.

A thousand li in a day.

At that rate, it wouldn’t be impossible for them to travel throughout Japan to reclaim their lost faces.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

As the man was talking with the soldiers, suddenly drum sounds began to echo from above.

This was the drum sound announcing battle.

So the soldiers hurriedly picked up their weapons to prepare for battle.

“Move quickly!”

“The Mongol army is attacking!”

Adjutants went around urging the soldiers.

At their urging, the soldiers tried to arm themselves as quickly as possible, but…

Neeeigh!

“!@)*(#(!)*)(!!!”

“asuiduaos#*!!”

“Hii…eek! It’s the Mongol army!”

“The Mongol army has already arrived!”

It was beyond their capacity to stop the Mongol army that had taken sufficient rest.