Part III. The Beginning of the Great War.
"It is said that even after one's head has been cut off, he can still perform some function. This fact can be known from the examples of Nitta Yoshisada and Ono Doken. How shall one man be inferior to another? Mitani Jokyu said, 'Even if a man be sick to death, he can bear up for two or three days,'"
The arrival of Takeda Shingen [1541] and Uesugi Kenshin [1543] in Korea along with a massive troop build up in the region inevitably led to the second declaration of war on China in 1545 in what scholars would later refer to as a series of conflicts entitled the 'Great' or 'Long' War. Once again the Chinese forces appeared to be surprisingly poor opponents in combat allowing the Japanese to attack (Fig.9) and besiege both Liaoning and Tianjin. Following the historic* fall of Beijing in 1547 and of limited hostilities afterwards the Japanese were in excellent position to demand the annexation (Fig. 10) of Liaoning and Tianjin for peace.
Following peace, war hungry Japanese generals, waited impatiently for the chance to replenish and redeploy forces, ready for the chance to attack the seemingly useless chinese armies. They were given their chance again in 1555 and wasted no time at all in destroy any opposition facing them. Hepie and Kirin fell in 1556 followed by Beijing in 1557. The Taiwanese Trade Post is burnt to the ground by chinese forces in the region. Peace is observed in 1559 with the Japanese annexation of Kirin and Hepei (Fig. 11). The few years after the end of the war are once again spent on developing a powerful army in Northern China led personally by Oda Nobunaga himself. In 1565 forces in the region are ready once again for conflict (Fig. 12).
* It would not be the last time Beijing would pay host to the Japanese invaders...
"It is said that even after one's head has been cut off, he can still perform some function. This fact can be known from the examples of Nitta Yoshisada and Ono Doken. How shall one man be inferior to another? Mitani Jokyu said, 'Even if a man be sick to death, he can bear up for two or three days,'"
The arrival of Takeda Shingen [1541] and Uesugi Kenshin [1543] in Korea along with a massive troop build up in the region inevitably led to the second declaration of war on China in 1545 in what scholars would later refer to as a series of conflicts entitled the 'Great' or 'Long' War. Once again the Chinese forces appeared to be surprisingly poor opponents in combat allowing the Japanese to attack (Fig.9) and besiege both Liaoning and Tianjin. Following the historic* fall of Beijing in 1547 and of limited hostilities afterwards the Japanese were in excellent position to demand the annexation (Fig. 10) of Liaoning and Tianjin for peace.
Following peace, war hungry Japanese generals, waited impatiently for the chance to replenish and redeploy forces, ready for the chance to attack the seemingly useless chinese armies. They were given their chance again in 1555 and wasted no time at all in destroy any opposition facing them. Hepie and Kirin fell in 1556 followed by Beijing in 1557. The Taiwanese Trade Post is burnt to the ground by chinese forces in the region. Peace is observed in 1559 with the Japanese annexation of Kirin and Hepei (Fig. 11). The few years after the end of the war are once again spent on developing a powerful army in Northern China led personally by Oda Nobunaga himself. In 1565 forces in the region are ready once again for conflict (Fig. 12).
* It would not be the last time Beijing would pay host to the Japanese invaders...
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