After the last withdrawal of the Yuan army, the Kamakura shogunate decided that the Mongols would attack again, and two years earlier, they again ordered the reinforcement of the defenses in various parts of the western country. It was divided into two main sides, one for the Chugoku region (i.e., the area around Kyoto and the Honshu of the Kamakura shogunate) and the other for Kyushu, which directly faced Goryeo, and was the core of the defense.

The shogunate designated Hizen and Higo to the west of Hakata Bay and Chikugo and Bungo to the east of Hakata Bay as key garrison areas, and in particular, the areas along the coast of Hakata Bay, such as Hakozaki, Hakata, Minohama, and Imatsu, which were suitable for the landing of large armies, were the top defensive priorities.

Tsushima, Iki and other offshore islands are far away from the Japanese mainland, and if a real fight were to go, it would be difficult to hold such islands no matter what. Therefore, the Japanese did not deliberately arrange heavy garrisons on these islands, but only set up beacon towers on coastal islands such as Tsushima, Iki, Oshima, and Takashima, and once the enemy attacked, they raised beacons as soon as possible, so that the samurai in various parts of Kyushu could complete the mobilization and assembly as soon as possible.

The defense of Kyushu was dominated by the local warriors of the Imperial Family of various countries in Kyushu. In order to always guard against the resurgence of the Yuan army, the shogunate assigned important points along Hakata Bay to each country, and the samurai of each country took turns to guard them. For this reason, the shogunate and the imperial court also deliberately exempted them from the "Daiban service" of going to Kyoto and Kamakura to serve as guards.

In order to strengthen Kyushu's defenses and prevent the Kyushu royal family from leaving Kyushu, Hojo Tokimune issued an order, "Enter, not out", on the one hand, ordered that samurai who had territories in Kyushu must be "on the spot", otherwise they would be deprived of their territory, and on the other hand, it was strictly forbidden for any Kyushu royal family to go to other places for any reason, not even to leave temporarily after a lawsuit. At the same time, so that they will not be dissatisfied. They were also exempted from their annual tribute. Groundland warriors were allowed to take up other positions.

Kyushu is the birthplace of Japan's ancient civilization. There is a piece of the Fukuoka Plain, which is very rare in Japan. The Fukuoka Plain is bordered by Genkai Beach to the north, and is adjacent to Hakata Bay, which has a wide water surface and gentle currents. Hakata Bay was an excellent landing site, and after landing, the flat Fukuoka Plain became a natural base from which the Mongol cavalry could gallop and plunder the city at will.

Three years earlier, during the Battle of Bunei, the Japanese had won a fluke victory by relying on a life-and-death raid and the light enemy of the Yuan army, and finally realized that the Fukuoka Plain was a huge hole for the Mongol cavalry, and they had to find a way to close it.

After a long period of consideration, in March last year. The Zhenxi Prefecture ordered the construction of permanent fortifications on the shore of Hakata Bay where the Yuan army might choose to go ashore when they returned. At that time, military service and labor were apportioned among the samurai according to the amount of land they owned, and the fortifications stretched from Imazu in the west of Hakata Bay to Hakozaki in the east, and were built along the coastline or at a certain distance from the coast, with a total length of about 30 li, and each member of the imperial family was responsible for building at least one zhang.

The cross-section of the fort is trapezoidal, and in order to make it easier for your troops to climb the fort for defense, the slope on your side is relatively gentle, so not only people can climb it, but horses can also run up. The side near the sea is naturally very steep and smooth, almost vertical.

The height of the fortifications was about six or seven feet. A little higher than the height of a person riding on a horse, for poor Japan. It's the limit of what you can afford.

The top of the fort is about five or six feet wide, which means that the defending side can ride horses on it and maneuver and dispatch, which also enables the soldiers above the fort to line up two or three layers and cooperate in battle.

One of the interesting features of the fortifications is that there are no battlements! A bare straight line from beginning to end! The reason why the battlements were not repaired is still one word - poor!

Of course, the Japanese also knew that if there was no cover on the bare stone barrier, the soldiers standing and defending on it would be a live target, especially for the Mongols and Koreans, who were good at archery. How can this problem be solved? The Japanese did this very economically, and they placed a plate at the top of the fort. The so-called skushin is actually a large wooden shield, and the Japanese put many slabs side by side to form a battlement that can be assembled and dismantled, and at the same time, they also used a lot of skumps in field defense and water warfare.

There are many estuaries along the coast of Hakata Bay, and these estuaries are actually unsafe as well. It is entirely possible that the enemy would take advantage of the high tide to sail upriver from these estuaries in small boats and break into the rear of the fortifications to flank the defenders on both sides. Therefore, the Japanese also set up "ranhang" at these estuaries to prevent ships from entering. The so-called "chaotic hang" is actually piling at the bottom of the river. There is also a unified specification for the timber used for piling, which requires that it must be one zhang long and four inches thick, and it is short and thin. The Japanese not only drove piles, but also drove them horizontally and vertically, sharpening the top end to firmly seal the estuary.

Since Cheng Yue's intention to attack Japan was never concealed, and it was not difficult to find out the approximate time, troops, and generals who led the expedition, the Japanese businessmen and spies who came to live in the Southern Song Dynasty and Japan had already brought back relevant information in batches, the most important of which was the "China Daily."

These items were sent all the way to the hands of the Jinsai Governor Fujiwara Keishi, the Kyoto Emperor's Court, and the Kamakura Shogunate, causing different surprises and panics.

Since ancient times, any foreign expedition with great fanfare can only mean one thing, that is, the person who set out the expedition has decided that he will win. And Cheng Yue made it even more exaggerated, not only did the names and strength of the generals of each army be made public, but he even directly pointed out in the newspaper that the army would land in Hakata Bay!

How can there be such a war?!

Fujiwara Keiji and the Kamakura shogunate were puzzled when they saw it. Although the landing in Hakata Bay is expected, there is no need to find out before the battle, right? If the armies of the Yuan Dynasty and the Song Dynasty were blocked by the fortifications and could not capture Hakata Bay, wouldn't Cheng Yue have to make a disgrace? Or is Cheng more sure of victory, so he doesn't worry about Japan's defense?

After consulting with his subordinates, Hojo Tokimune did not dare to slack off, and once again tried his best to strengthen the defense of the western country.

Fujiwara Economic Resources as Zhenxi Executive, the last Mongolian expedition **** also had great military achievements, the shogunate ordered him to command all the Kyushu troops, full command of the countries under the jurisdiction of Zhenxi Prefecture to protect the battle. At the same time, he also served as the guardian of the so-called "three front two islands" of Chikuzen, Bunzen, Hizen, Iki, and Tsushima. The main generals under his command were Bungo Guardian Otomo Yoritai, Hojo Tokimune's own brother Chikugo Guardian Hojo Somasa, Higo Guardian Adachi Morimune (Adachi Taimori's second son), and Shimazu Hisatsu, the head of the Shimazu family in Southern Kyushu, who served as the guardian of Satsuma, Osumi, and Hyuga. In order to strengthen the defense of Kyushu, the shogunate had already sent Goro Ada, Jiro Ando, and other samurai directly under the imperial family to Kyushu to control the army that had been reinforced by the eastern country. These men mobilized all the forces in their respective territories, totaling about 60,000 men.

In addition, because Du Shizhong and other executed Yuan Dynasty envoys landed in Nagato, in order to prevent the Yuan and Song coalition forces from also landing here, Hojo Tokimune ordered his younger brother Hojo Soyori to serve as the guardian of Nagato State, defend Chima Pass, and put the samurai of a total of 22 countries in Sanyang Road, Mountain ****, and Nankai Province under his unified command, with a total of more than 40,000 troops. Akama Pass, which guards the Shimonoseki Strait, is a choke point that enters the Seto Inland Sea from the western sea, and is another key point in the war.

Hojo Tokimune was worried that these forces would not be able to cope with the 200,000 Yuan and Song coalition forces, so he urgently dispatched a total of 100,000 troops from neighboring Shikoku and Honshu. Of these, 60,000 entered the defense of Kyushu, 20,000 were stationed in Nagato, 10,000 reinforced Kyoto, and another 10,000 reinforced the Kamakura shogunate.

In order to raise the food for these people, Hojo Tokimune even had to borrow money from lords and even the imperial family in various parts of Japan, which can be described as a desperate gamble. Just because he can't afford to lose this big battle, he definitely can't afford to lose!

When Cheng Yue arrived in Goryeo, reinforcements from all over Japan arrived in Kyushu and Nagato, and they came under the command of Fujiwara Keizai and Hojo Soyori. In Kyushu alone, 120,000 heavy soldiers have gathered, ready to fight to the death with Cheng Yue!

Because this was a major war related to Japan's national fortunes, the whole country of Japan was mobilized from top to bottom. The samurai prepared for war, while the royal family and the common people prayed to the gods and Buddhas of Japan to bless Japan and defeat the Yuan and Song coalition armies, which were about to invade.

On March 15, the Imperial Court presented a sacred horse and an imperial sword to the shrine, praying that the god Kamo Kenkaku, who had led Emperor Jimmu to pacify the Yamato Kingdom in the form of Yata-guru, would once again appear to destroy foreign enemies.

On March 25, the imperial court sent a coin envoy to the "22 Shrines" to present coins, and this coin envoy was a special envoy sent to the 22 major shrines when the Japanese imperial court encountered major natural and man-made disasters.

In early April, the Imperial Court ordered all temples and shrines in Japan to pray collectively once a month, hoping that through such sacrifices, the gods of war in Japanese mythology, such as Dansheng Myojin, Hachiman God, and Fudo Myo, would not slack off in battle.

On May 13, the Imperial Court sent an envoy to Ise Daijingu Shrine to pray for the blessing of Amaterasu, the ancestor of the Imperial Family, to his descendants and help repel the powerful enemy.

In addition, Emperor Kameyama and Emperor Go-Fukakusa also held large-scale pujas such as the Blazing Light Method and the Five Altar Great Secret Method, in order to pray for the gods and Buddhas to protect the country.

The Japanese were busy praying to God and worshiping Buddha, but Cheng Yue did not have this habit, and the king of Goryeo wanted to pray for him, but he did not appreciate it.

Cheng Yue lived in Shoudeok Palace for a few days, and Kudu Lujian was lost and urged the Goryeo chamberlains and palace maids to build a tall and gorgeous stage, all decorated with colorful silk and flowers, and did his best to be ingenious.

Cheng Yue didn't stop her this time, just let her be busy every day, it's better than her getting into trouble everywhere.

On the fifth day, when the stage was completed, Kudu Lujian was lost and happy, and invited Mongolian and Goryeo nobles and ministers to the palace to watch the performance of the Eight Princesses, and even Xindu, Hongchaqiu and Shima Tianqu, who were recuperating at home, were among them.

(Note: Most of the above part about the state affairs of Japan and Goryeo is excerpted from "Kublai Khan's War in Japan" by Laremaru, and it is a pity that the author cannot be contacted.) If the author sees the above content and thinks that the copyright has been infringed, please contact me to delete it immediately. If the author considers that some of the passages I quote are not too long to be forgiven, I would like to pay you the highest respect. Without this work by Mr. Rarokumaru, the content of this book about the expedition to Japan would not have been completed, thank you very much) (to be continued.) )