The Battle of Bun'ei (文永の役, Bun'ei no eki), also known as the First Battle of Hakata Bay was the first attempt by the Yuan Dynasty founded by the Mongols to invade Japan. After conquering the Tsushima Island and Iki, Kublai Khan's fleet moved on to Japan proper, landing at Hakata Bay, a short distance from Kyūshū's administrative capital of Dazaifu. Despite superior weapons and tactics of the Mongols, who established the Yuan Dynasty in China in ...
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The Battle of Bun'ei (文永の役, Bun'ei no eki), also known as the First Battle of Hakata Bay was the first attempt by the Yuan Dynasty founded by the Mongols to invade Japan. After conquering the Tsushima Island and Iki, Kublai Khan's fleet moved on to Japan proper, landing at Hakata Bay, a short distance from Kyūshū's administrative capital of Dazaifu. Despite superior weapons and tactics of the Mongols, who established the Yuan Dynasty in China in the early 1270s, the Yuan navy landing at Hakata Bay were grossly outnumbered by the samurai force; the Japanese had been preparing, mobilizing warriors and reinforcing defenses since they heard of the losses at Tsushima and Iki.
The Yuan troops withdrew to their ships after only one day of fighting. A storm that night threatened their ships, persuading them to return to Korea.
After landing in the bay, the Yuan force quickly overtook the town of Hakata (now a ward of Fukuoka), but were engaged by a number of samurai soon afterwards.
At first,...
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