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!
The Samurai 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.
Tachi
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.
Naginata
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, putting it's overall length at 230 cm. 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.
Wakyu
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.
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.
The 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.
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.
The Shǒudāo (hand sabre) was a staple weapon of China ever since the invention of single-edged swords in the country. Around 85cm 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.
The 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.
The 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.
The 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.
]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.
X-Factors[]
X-Factors
Samurai
Song Cataphract
Training
The Samurai, like other feudal martial societies like the Knights or the Maharlika, were extensively trained from early childhood, beginning training at the age of 7 and by the age of 15 already being ready to go out on his Uijin, a young man's first battle. Throughout his life a Samurai would constantly keep honing his skills in order to match and surpass his enemies, very often other Samurai. The Ikki Uchi was a test of a samurai's skill and would sometimes be used to settle a battle before it was even decided. For that reason, the samurai became some of the best trained warriors in the entire world. They trained in martial arts like kenjutsu, naginatajutsu, kyujutsu and bajutsu, as well as to follow orders given through banners and conch shell trumpets.
The Chinese Cataphracts were recruited from the high echelons of Chinese societies, likely wealthy landowners and the sons of nobles. This was crucial because the best horses came from Tibet or the Dali kingdom, and as such the Cataphracts needed the wealth to hire such expensive imports. Because of their high social standing, they received good military training and were further drilled in the military. Military strategy and training was considered an art to be perfected and soldiers were tested in their weapon skills and in their athletic ability, as well as their ability to answer to orders given with banners and drums.
Experience
Samurai during this era were often hired as mercenaries by local landlords who fought amongst each-other in small scale battles known as kozeriai and by wealthy men who needed protection from Nobuseri bandits. Either that or they served directly under the Shogunate, which launched punitive campaigns against the nobuseri and other rebels、such as the Fushu emishi descendants of Owu. They also fought against the Mongol Invasions of Japan, where they successfully defeated the invaders in engagements such as the battle of Akasaka.
The Cataphracts fought under the Song Dynasty, which was at war against the Jurchen Jin Dynasty. This meant they had plenty of battle experience thanks to their war against them, as well as the joint war of the two dynasties against the Khitan Liao Dynasty and rebellions by minorities like the Yao people. After their victory against the Jin Dynasty, the Song were thrown into a war against the Mongol Yuan Dynasty, which they ultimately lost.
Tactics
The Samurai used hit and run tactics against their enemies, mostly staying out of range and pelting their enemies with arrows. They would first charge forth, unleashing volleys of archery against their enemies, then reel away from the enemy and retreat while continuously firing at them with their bows. They were not ones to let an opportunity for a well-placed flank charge go, however, as seen in the Battle of Akasaka where the Samurai ambushed and charged the Mongol lines in the flanks and shattered them.
The Song Cataphracts had battle tactics indifferent from most other types of heavy cavalry: they charged into their enemies' lines with their weapons and used the shock and power of their charge along with their weight of their horse and armor to smash the enemies. Once in close combat, they would chop their enemies down with their swords and polearms while protected by heavy armor, inflicting heavy casualties while being relatively safe on their part.
Notes[]
-This will be a 5 on 5 battle taking place in a flat plain in Korea
-You know the drill about voting. Good vote, I greet. Bad vote, I yeet.
