Chapter 101: Asiatic Northern War Part I - Escalation on the Steppes and Seas
One of the continuous themes of the war would be the contrast in military tactics, traditions, and equipment between the two sides. Japanese armies bore much similarity to their European counterparts, not only due to the latter’s technological influence on the former but also due to convergent developments within the feudal systems of both and the fact that both endured constant warfare among tens of polities. In both Europe and Japan, pike-armed formations were increasingly transitioning into massed ranks of musketeers and lordly cavalry armed themselves with both melee weapons and early forms of pistols and carbines. By contrast, Ming China and Joseon had mostly dealt with nomadic and semi-nomadic enemies mostly composed of steppe horse archers incapable of taking down fortifications but difficult to tame even with the latest gunpowder weaponry. Although rulers of both realms did advance the modernization of their respective armies, their core purpose remained defensive and as such continued to employ cavalry units equipped specifically to deal with foes like the Jurchens and Mongols. As for the Jurchens, they largely retained their cavalry traditions although the Sinicized Lesser Jin utilized Joseon-style infantry to some degree.
Painting of a high ranking Jurchen horse archer in ceremonial regalia
Fortunately, Sakuma Moritora was well-aware of the challenges Japanese ashigaru infantry could face in the steppe environment, having led the Amur intervention himself. In any case, he felt most at home taking charge on the saddle and thus was the perfect choice to be the leading commander ahead of Kaga Nagaaki’s arrival with the bulk of Japanese forces. As he sat down with Bahai and the khan’s military commanders in the temporary Amur capital of Nurgan, the largest Jurchen city on the Amur river, things looked dire for the Amur Khanate. The north had thoroughly been ravaged and the hordes of Gutai, backed by Gyeongseon’s reinforcements, had reached the banks of the Amur River which was lightly guarded on its northwestern end. Albazin, the old Russian outpost, was now under siege and its fall was inevitable without outside intervention. Before that could be done, however, the blockade upon the confluence of the Amur and Songhua rivers needed to be broken. This would have to be accomplished without further reinforcements or sufficient naval support, as it was too late in the year to safely traverse the now frigid waters between Kuroryutsu and Kanazawa. Nevertheless, the river’s banks would enable a steady supply line for the Japanese and Jurchens.
Although it was late in the year and only around 10,000 Japanese were on the mainland, Moritora made the determination to forge ahead and would lead an army of 16,000, half Japanese and half Jurchen. He headed straight to the confluence which centered around a small islet upon which the Jin had begun to erect fortifications. They were still incomplete, however, when the Japanese-Amur army arrived in late November. The predominantly Joseonite enemy force numbered only a few thousand and so sent messengers westwards for reinforcements from Gutai’s main horde. The battle began with the Amur-Japanese army making camp north of the island and beginning to bombard the fortifications with the field artillery that had managed to be brought along. Moritora also ordered patrols of Jurchen cavalry to monitor the enemy’s south and west in case help arrived. Despite the incompleteness of their fortifications, the Joseonites were capable soldiers and held off the Japanese and Amur Jurchens for 10 days. Eventually, Japanese musketeers and artillerymen overcame the enemy and on December 5th, the Joseonites surrendered. Moritora’s men had little time to consolidate their victory for on December 9th, a Jurchen force of 7,000 arrived onto the scene and quickly began a lightning assault upon the Japanese and Amur Jurchens. Characteristically, Moritora rallied his men and those of the Jurchens as best as he could, leading the defense. After a few hours, the Jin were forced to retreat. Although the Japanese-Jurchen coalition army had triumphed, the battle exposed their precarity and for the rest of the winter of 1666-1667, Moritora would concentrate on consolidating his position. Sadly, this cut off any potential aid to Albazin and by the end of the year, it had fallen to Gutai.
Blue = Joseon, Brown = Amur Jurchen, Salmon = Japanese
As Japan could not directly send ships, supplies, and manpower to Kuroryutsu year-round, Azuchi would target Haishenwei, the northernmost warm water port in the area [1]. Being that it was within the Lesser Jin domain, the Azuchi navy would be deployed to capture it. A navy of 10 ships led by Hotta Masanobu (堀田正信) was directed by Naval Shogun Tagawa Seikou to bombard the port before taking it by force, which also took place in early December. An initial vanguard of 8,000 would land soon afterwards, backed by supply ships and led by Sassa Katsutoyo, who was tasked with building up the port’s damaged defenses and taking over the surrounding countryside while they waited for the winter snows to melt. Once spring came, Kaga Nagaaki and the rest of the army would finally land and the Japanese would start spreading out from Haishenwei.
Or at least that was the plan, for events on the sea in early 1667 would make the operation a tall order to accomplish down the line. The Japanese capture of Haishenwei reverberated throughout the enemy ranks, especially in Hanseong. King Gyeongseon now faced demands from Hetu Ala for his realm to involve itself more in the expanding conflict, something he himself had not expected to do so at the start of Gutai’s invasion of the Amur Khanate. The Joseon court was divided on the matter, with more conservative Confucian advisors and bureaucrats advocating for restraint and moderation in the kingdom’s aid arguing against military officials and reform-minded officials supportive of a strong intervention to contain Japan’s growing power in the north. Gyeongseon would initially heed the advice of the conservatives who still retained much influence from the time they dominated the court during the king’s minority. Patrol vessels would be sent out in coastal waters to defend Joseon in case of a Japanese naval attack and gather intelligence on the movements of the Japanese navy.
One of these patrol vessels, however, ended up embroiled in an incident off the island of Tsushima. A captain by the name of Yi Heon was sailing past a cluster of Japanese ships along with another fellow patrol vessel when the Japanese sailors started yelling insults at the Joseonites. In a scare tactic, a few cannonballs were even fired although they purposefully all missed and laughter could be heard, revealing that it was nothing but mockery from the Japanese. An enraged Yi Heon, egged on by his equally insulted subordinates, fired back, this time with the intent of causing damage. A brief naval skirmish followed, where one of the Japanese ships was severely damaged and Yi Heon’s ship was captured by the Japanese. However, the other Joseonite ship escaped back to the peninsula where news of the incident quickly reached Gyeongseon. Incensed by the mockery that had triggered the incident, the king was finally persuaded into engaging directly with the Japanese, ordering his navy to make preparations for a full-scale blockade of the home islands. Signs of the preparations were visible from Tsushima and when they were reported back to Azuchi, daijo-daijin Oda Nobuhiro ordered the realm’s navy to resist any offensive moves by Joseon’s navy after deliberations in both the Sangi-shu and Shinka-in bodies. Yi Heon, the captain whose reckless response had caused this all, would die of illness while still imprisoned in Azuchi later in the year.
Up until this point, Japan and Joseon had hoped to avoid directly confronting one another despite supporting rival Jurchen khanates. The course of the war, the interests at stake, and the temper of one naval captain made this hope an impossibility and the war would quickly expand on land and the seas between the two powers. This would be Japan’s first war against a fellow Asian realm with comparable technological parity in their militaries in nearly 4 centuries.
[1]: OTL's Vladivostok
