User blog:Kazanshin/Powerhouses of the East: Samurai vs Song Soldier



Out of all the empires of East Asia, none have been as powerful as China. They, for thousands of years, have subjugated all countries in their vicinity and had indirect control over all of the continent through its tributary state and the legendary Mandate of Heaven. However, there was another. A tiny, insignificant country that called itself an empire and at nearly all points in history refused to bow to the Titan of Asia. The kingdom of Great Harmony, Yamato, the empire of the Sun's Origin, Nippon, and Japan. Many names for such a small yet tenacious and stubborn country. Today, we take some of the most influential and feared warriors of each country's past and rewrite history to simulate a battle between the two sides to see if Japan truly bites as hard as it barks.

The Kiba Musha, more commonly known as the  Samurai, mounted elites of the Kamakura Shogunate who drove away the Mongol Horde!

The Zhongxing Qibing, more commonly known as the Song Cataphract, possibly the heaviest cavalry force the High Middle Ages ever saw!

' WHO. IS. DEADLIEST!? '

Samurai=

The Sam​urai were a Japanese aristocratic warrior class that existed from about the 10th century onward. From the late 12th century onward, Samurai warlords, known by the title shogun were the de facto rulers of the Japan, with the emperor serving only as spiritual leader. The samurai were known for living by the code of Bushido, which emphasized loyalty, duty and honor above all else, even in the face of death. In the 11th to 14th centuries, the Samurai served under the Kamakura Bakufu, the first ever Shogunate of Japan. Under the Kamakura, the Samurai fought the first ever invasion of Japan by an external power: the wars of Bunei and Koan, in which the Mongol Yuan Empire invaded Japan. However, the Samurai were able to successfully repel the invasions until, both times, a storm washed the Mongol fleet away. Despite the Shogunate's plans to launch a counterattack against the Yuan, this plan never came to happen.
 * -|Close range=Tachi.jpg

The Tachi (broad sword) was the main close range weapon of the Samurai from the Heian to the Kamakura period and was the forerunner to the more popular "Katana". A "Tachi" was a term that applied to all swords with a blade length of between 60 and 90 cm, with everything longer being a Otachi and anything shorter being a Kodachi. It had a more pronounced curve than later Japanese swords, which fitted its role as a cavalry sabre, allowing the samurai to inflict devastating slashing attacks against enemies while riding by on his horse. It was typically used as a secondary or even tertiary weapon after the enemy came too close to be shot with a bow and if the samurai wasn't armed with or was disarmed of his naginata.
 * -|Mid range=Naginata.jpg

The Naginata was a Japanese glaive, first coming to prominence during the Heian period and staying a common weapon in Japan for all of its history. It consisted of a blade 30 to 60cm long mounted on a long wooden shaft often lacquered with Urushi to make it more durable. Mainly a weapon of the Rōtō foot soldier class, it was designed to be an effective weapon both to counter cavalry and to fight against enemy infantry. A samurai would use a naginata from horseback and try to knock of stab his opponent off hi horse, or if that fails kill the enemy's horse itself.
 * -|Long Range=Wakyu.jpg

The Wakyu is the word specifically designing Japanese longbows, while the more commonly used word "Yumi" refers to bows in general. The Wakyu was a massive, powerful laminated longbow with a core of Japanese yew and incased in bamboo to make it more powerful than self bows known as "Maruki Yumi". Unlike the common misconception that they were short ranged and weak, Wakyu after reached extremely heavy draw weights, with a surviving example being estimated to have had a draw weight of 90 kg (198 lbs). This gave them very long ranges as well, with Chinese accounts even stating Japanese bows could fire arrows in a straight line to distances of 163 meters. Obviously, at that range the killing power of the bow would be decreased, and according to Miyamoto Musashi the effective killing range of the Wakyu was of around 40 meters. Samurai used these bows while mounted and trained in the Kyuba no Jutsu (technique of the Bow and Horse), employing shooting techniques similar to the Middle Eastern Parthian Shot, and the Ikki Uchi (single combat) which was similar to European jousting but with bows instead of lances, in which both samurai would chage at each other and try to shoot the other off his horse.


 * -|Special=Nyubu_masakari.jpg

The Masakari was the earliest iteration of Japanese battle axes. It was a powerful axe often symbolic of strong, mighty warriors, and as such was a relatively popular weapon in the Kamakura period when single combat was still common, especially for Kachi Musha (foot samurai). It had a 17cm long blade mounted on a 95 cm wooden shaft and was used not only to hack and cut enemy soldiers but also as a percussive weapon to beat enemies down with the sheer momentum of the weapon. It had a heart-shaped hole in the middle to make it easier to wield, but the thickness of the blade meant it was still durable and unlikely to break in battle.


 * -|Armor=O-yoroi.jpg O-Yoroi was the main form of Japanese armor during the Kamakura Jidai, and a piece of armor most often associated with the Samurai. Reserved to the mounted samurai class, it was made of leather and steel lamellae as well as silk. The steel and leather scales alternated, thus making the whole body covered in steel whiole also having a secondary defensive layer of leather scales. Furthermore, the defensive capacity of the O-Yoroi was enhanced by its unorthodox construction method: the lamellae were not laced together but rather laquered into a rigid plate, giving it many defensive properties reminiscent of solid cuirass armor. The pauldrons known as O-Sode could be used as shields to block incoming projectiles as they were very durable and were often used to block arrows. Alongside the O-Yoroi, the Kabuto helm and many kogusoku auxiliary armors such as sune-ate greaves, menpo face guard and kote arm guards were donned and under the armor was worn the Yoroi-Hitatare, a thick silk robe which acted as padding. It weighed around 26kg, but because a lot of the weight was applied on the shoulders, it was less effective and felt heavier on foot than on horseback.

Song Cataphract=The Song Dynasty ruled China from 960-1279. During this period of time, Chinese soldiers made the first use of gunpowder weapons, including bombs, guns, rockets, and land mines. The Song Dynasty finally fell to the Mongols in 1279. While the Song Dynasty was lacking in terms of cavalry compared to their rivals like the Jin and Yuan Dynasties, they did have a powerful, heavy cavalry force with horses often imported from the cavalry-rich lands of Tibet. These were developped to counter the heavy cavalry of the Jurchen Jin dynasty. Recruited from the higher echelons of Song society, these soldiers were well trained, equipped and a devastating shock force on the battlefield. They were at their time quite possibly, in my mind, the heaviest cavalry force in the entire world, likely only matched by Middle Eastern Mamluks.
 * -|Close range=Shoudao.jpg Shǒudāo (hand sabre) was a staple weapon of China ever since the invention of single-edged swords in the country. Around 80 cm long in total and with a very broad blade (almost 5 cm), the sword was meant to unleash heavy blows against enemies from horseback and would evolve into the later famous horse-chopper sabre. Using it's heavy weight and thick blade, the horseman would ride by his enemy and, in a single blow, kill the poor soul on the spot. This was a very effective tactic against the light infantry of the Jurchen and even worked relatively well against heavy horsemen, who even through their armor would feel the shock of the blow. This came with the disadvantage that it was a hard weapon to use when trying to thrust, however, as the tip was not as sharp as other types of swords.
 * -|Mid range=Qudao.jpg Qūdāo was a Chinese polearm that evolved from the earlier Guandao glaive, which was also the basis of the Japanese Naginata. With a heavy blade but a relatively sharp point, the Qūdāo was, like the Shǒudāo, meant to deal heavy blows against enemies and was meant more for slashing than thrusting, although it definitely was capable of thrusting if needed. It was mainly used against cavalry. It had a 50 cm long, broad and powerful blade mounted on a long shaft, making the overall weapon's length around 200cm.


 * -|Long range=Chinese_crossbow.jpg Nǔ was the Chinese crossbow used throughout the nation's history from all the way back since the Han Dynasty. I had a composite crossbow design made to penetrate armor and was wielded by both foot soldiers and, apparently, even heavy cavalry. It had a very long range, up to 260 meters, and a draw weight of around 200 kg. This obviously came at the disadvantage of a fairly long reloading process, however. This was not an issue for the Cataphracts, who's main fighting style revolved around charging forth and trampling their enemies with their weight and power.


 * -|Special=Guduo.jpg Gūduǒ was a type of Chinese long-handled mace used during its medieval times. A very powerful weapon meant to deal with armored opponents, the Gūduǒ had two round metal heads which acted as counterweights for one-another, making the weapon balanced and easy to use despite its relatively heavy weight. It was 127 cm long and made of iron with a long wooden shaft and served as a go-to anti-armor weapon in close-quarters combat in medieval China.


 * -|Armor=Song_lamellar.jpg]Of all the armors a soldier could wear in the army of the Song Dynasty, none was as prestigious as a Cataphract's armor. Heavy steel lamellar laced together with silk cords created an almost impenetrable barrier between the wearer and the enemy, deflecting most blows aimed at the warrior. A tough Dōu helmet protected the head and lamellar gorget protected the lower face, only leaving the eyes open to any kind of attack. The armor was obviously extremely heavy, up to 40 kg in weight, and thus was not suited to foot combat at all. The horse was also armored with hardened leather armor, making it resistant to enemy attacks. This heavy set of armor made the Song Cataphract more than a match against his Jurchen rivals.