The Yamato Destiny: A Japan HTTT AAR

Enewald - That's unlikely to last. I'm all missionary-ed out now. Ecumenism is the new black!

PrawnStar - Still in the lamentable Chinese tech group. One of the house-rules for this was to expand 'realistically' which means no drawing a one-province thin strip into central Asia.

I was hoping to meet some colonising Europeans, so there'll be some south seas fun in future updates.

Shadowkano - Really good to hear someone's been that inspired by this! Ming collapsing was pretty much the luckiest thing that could have happened and set up everything else.

sprites - Yes, France in HTTT has been nerfed, so they've retaliated by trying to become the Byzantines. My favourite development is the Papal States' ownership of most of England.

The Nanchang Incident: 1591-1605

Emperor Momozono, May 1576 - Aug 1604

Japan's empire was stronger than ever, but Momozono found the pressure for even greater conquests hard to withstand. His lack of experience with matters military translated into a fear that his authority at court was dependent upon continually proving himself a warrior.

The end of the last war had seen Japan hated by her neighbours, but the court kept pressing the Emperor to claim fresh territory from an obviously-ailing Wu.



The military faction demanded the conquest of Nanchang as this would allow Japan to dominate the Yangtze valley, further strangling the economic life of Wu.



For several years the Emperor was able to balance the military's demands with those of the more cautious members of the court who counselled consolidation. Wu's decision to go to war to its south made the military even more determined to take the opportunity that presented itself.

Japanese forces had been moved up to the border in anticipation of the declaration of war. As soon as the conflict had been started they began marching towards their targets.



With Wu's forces deployed to the south the country was quickly overrun. Japan's troops were well experienced in the art of siegecraft and brought many provinces under control before they met serious opposition.

One of the major achievements of the war came with the fall of Guangzhou. Wu's navy was forced out of port where they were quickly destroyed by Japanese forces.




Emperor Yukikatsu, Aug 1604 -

Emperor Momozono had insisted on leading the drive south in person. However, the Emperor was no longer in the bloom of his youth and the campaign proved too much for his dwindling stamina.

In August 1604 Momozono died amid the heat and humidity of the Wu campaign. All Japanese mourned the passing of a most unlikely warrior-emperor. Despite Momozono's fears that the military despised him as unmanly he was in fact held up as a paragon of warrior-statesmanship for centuries to come.

The coronation of Emperor Yukikatsu was a perfunctory affair, taking place as it did in wartime. Yukikatsu had longed been groomed for the throne and was already an experienced politician on his accession.



The new Emperor inherited a war that had practically been won. Japanese troops had fanned out across Wu and reduced the principal towns to submission.



Although Wu still had significant armies in the field they could not long withstand the loss of their most prosperous regions.



Wu had had enough of the war and was willing to concede to anything Japan demanded. Before the peace had even been agreed news came from Bozhou that the province had defected to Japan. Now even more anxious for a swift settlement Wu agreed to abandon the north bank of the Yangtze the coastal province of Fujian.



The war ended a complete success for Japan, but the new Emperor was ambitious to live up to and perhaps surpass his father. Yukikatsu vowed to see the borders of the Empire extended still further, and Bozhou's situation as a non-connected province was the first problem he would seek to address.

dinofs/Ashantai - Thanks. In a way this is a mopping up exercise until the Europeans turn up. To the Emperors of course it's merely the Yamato destiny in action.

promiseoffever - Thanks again. Unfortunately the Papal States are about to turn into serial bankrupts, joining Deccan on the list of great might-have-beens.

PrawnStar - Yeah, don't know what came over me. Next thing you know I'll be trying to stay tribal for 422 years.

Enewald - That situation is about to be rectified. The imperial map-maker find contiguous territory far more pleasing to draw, and as he's a favoured nephew we have to help him out.

dsb3232 - To be fair Ming took themselves out and I just nudged them along. When they're on form they are not to be taken lightly.

Plus it's not like you did badly in that department either.

FinnishFish - Yeah, meeting the Europeans is a tense prospect for anyone in my tech group.

Shadowkano - The coast does need a little tidying up now you mention it.

I've discovered all the way to Europe via spread of discoveries. As I said before, the rule is to Westernise only when Japan 'naturally' borders a higher tech-group province. I'm not even sure if I can westernise to Indian, or whether it would be worth it in the grand scheme of things.

The Bozhou Strip: 1605 to 1619

Emperor Yukikatsu, Aug 1604 -



The end of the war left Yukikatsu with a larger empire to govern and the province of Bozhou to worry about. Its defection during the war had been a display of loyalty all the more welcome for its unexpectedness, but the province did present certain problems.

Bozhou was not connected to any other Japanese possessions and neither Wu nor Qin were friendly enough to guarantee access to it in times of trouble. Yukikatsu needed little persuasion that this situation could not continue, but a choice remained: should the connection come at the expense of Qin or Wu.

On the face of it the argument for another war with Wu looked to dominate - she was Japan's most hated enemy and had killed an emperor.

However, the anti-Qin faction eventually won the confidence of the Emperor. In 1618 Yukikatsu ordered the armies to deploy along the border with Qin.



Yukikatsu's first war was about to begin.


The Qin War, 1618 to 1619

Before the first blow had even been struck Japan clearly had the upper hand. Japanese troops and those of her allies enjoyed a decisive advantage in men and it was up to Yukikatsu to make this tell.



Like his father before him Yukikatsu took to the field himself. Unlike Momozono the new Emperor was a born warrior. Taking up a defensive position in Fengyuan he issued a challenge to the main Qin forces that was to lead to the most decisive and one-sided battle of the war.



The battle of Fengyaun was a triumph for Japan and for Yukikatsu personally. Leading his elite companions from the front the Emperor threw the Qin ranks into disorder - a situtation quickly exploited by Japanese infantry. The arrival of reserves sealed the outcome and put Qin's forces to flight.

The pursuit to Shaanxi was a textbook example of manoeuvre by the young Emperor. By forced marching he was able to overtake the fleeing Qin army and wipe it out entirely.

From that point on the war took on the nature of a triumph. Qin's ally Manchu was the first to fall to Japan's might.



Soon many of Qin's provinces had given in as well.



Yukikatsu had won the victory he knew he deserved. The Qin court was quick to acknowledge that it had been outclassed and sent emissaries seeking whatever settlement Japan demanded.



The Emperor asked for a corridor of land connecting Bozhou to the rest of the empire. That this land also constituted some of the richest agricultural provinces remaining to Qin was nothing more than a happy coincidence.

In the words of prominent Japanese ministers the settlement rationalised Qin's border with Japan. The concept of rational borders was to take on an even more important role in the Empire's future.



Access to Bozhou had been secured, but the southern Yangtze remained in Wu hands as did the coast to Hainan. With the new Emperor enjoying his military adventures as much as did, how long could this continue?