Summer is making many people impatient with the continuous peak heat. To the point that people can create cuisines that have 1-0-2 days of hot sun, such as grilling meat, grilling fish in the sun, or drying… meat in one sun, eggs in one sun…
But perhaps we will have a little more sympathy for summer, if we know that this hottest season of the year has saved the life of an entire country, a culture that today the whole world must admire.
That country is Japan, and the story takes place in the 13th century.
Conquered by one of the strongest armies in history
At the end of the 13th century, Japan was in crisis because of the conquest of the Mongols, led by the Great Khan Kublai Khan.
The mighty Mongol army has looked at Japan many times.
At that time, the Mongols were one of the largest, most powerful, and brutal armies, occupying up to 1/5 of the world’s area. But with the ambition of global unification, the Mongols needed Japan as a fulcrum – a sea base.
By 1274, the Mongols sailed to attack Japan with a completely overwhelming number – up to 40,000 troops, capturing the two islands of Tsushima and Iki. With overwhelming numbers, plus strong road combat skills, Japan was almost exhausted.
Bloody battles between the Mongols and Japanese samurai caused heavy damage.
But when approaching Hakata Bay, encountering the indomitable spirit of the Japanese samurai, the Mongols were forced to temporarily retreat to their base in China. However, the Japanese army also suffered heavy losses, making it difficult to resist if the Mongols continued to attack afterward.
And this is when the miracle happens.
The miracle called “summer”
Summer is storm season, the season of hurricanes. Heat from the Sun causes sea water to evaporate, forming tropical depressions and storms with incredibly strong winds. And coincidentally, Japan is also the place most affected by storms.
On the way back, the Mongols encountered a huge hurricane. In fact, even today’s modern ships are not sure to be able to withstand tropical storms due to primitive shipbuilding technology from the 12th century. As a result, after a few days, 2/3 of Mongolia’s warships Lying on the bottom of the sea, the vast majority of soldiers drowned. The remainder withdrew to China.
Illustration of a hurricane that swept away Mongolian ships.
Unable to swallow the defeat, 7 years later – in 1281, Kublai Khan once again conquered Japan, with an army nearly 5 times larger. However this time, Japanese promptly built a 2m high wall around the coast to prevent a second invasion.
The Mongol army could not find a harbor, so they were forced to anchor at sea to search for a landing spot. After a few months, another hurricane struck, wiping out the entire fleet of thousands of warships. The Mongols were forced to give up, and never did invade Japan one more time.
The Kamikaze hurricane swept away the enemy.
Those two hurricanes were called “Kamikaze” by the Japanese – meaning “divine wind”, sent by Phong Than and Thunder God to foreign invaders.
However, to the scientific community, what created those two storms was summer. In other words, summer is the “savior” for the Land of the Rising Sun.