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In 663 AD, Emperor Tenji's expeditionary fleet was completely annihilated in the Battle of Baekgang. The consequences were not only the loss of tens of thousands of elite troops, but also the complete destruction of Baekje, a close ally, and possible further retaliation from the Tang Dynasty. This caused a tense atmosphere within Japan, forcing it to make various preparations for the upcoming full-scale conflict.

However, the rapidly changing situation on the peninsula soon attracted the attention of the Tang Dynasty, and China and Japan almost concluded a temporary military alliance.

The Emperor's wishful thinking

Japan's national strength increased greatly during the Asuka period, but it had not yet gotten rid of its trade dependence on the peninsula.

In 538 AD, Japan officially entered the Asuka period and tried to transform from the original alliance of states to a centralized system. For example, the famous Prince Shotoku used the Sui and Tang empires on the mainland as a reference, hoping to replace the traditional feudal system with officials he promoted. At the same time, a large number of local iron ore was mined, allowing Japan to get rid of its dependence on foreign imports in this field. The originally depressed archipelago was able to stride forward and achieved remarkable results in technology accumulation, agricultural output and population size. Later, the Taika Reform was launched to further deepen the reform goal of strengthening the trunk and weakening the branches.

Even so, Japan's development at that time still depended on the trade demand for the Korean Peninsula. Among them, Baekje, located in the southwest of the peninsula, was particularly critical. This was mainly because the combined effect of the Japanese Kuroshio Current and the Yellow Sea Current made it easier for ships to drift to the west side of the peninsula, and the return journey was relatively convenient. Therefore, Silla, which was theoretically closer to Honshu, became alienated from it, which seriously affected its subsequent diplomatic and military decisions. Some modern scholars even concluded that the ancestors who landed in Japan during the Yayoi period mostly came from the Baekje direction, and the early Jeju Island natives also spoke Japanese rather than Korean.

Due to the Yellow Sea current, communication between Japan and Baekje was most convenient

Because of this, the importance of the small country of Baekje to Japan is beyond doubt, and it can be called the closest "childhood friend". When the former was involved in a large-scale war due to the Goguryeo issue and was attacked by the Tang Dynasty and Silla coalition forces at the same time, Japan did not hesitate to help. The scale and determination of the country were unprecedented. However, the army was seriously insufficient in strength and lacked an intuitive understanding of the intensity of the continental war, so it could only swallow the bitter fruit of defeat at the Baekgang River.

However, the defeat of a country does not mean the personal failure of the supreme ruler! Although Emperor Tenji was a temporary successor to the throne before the expedition, he had made many amazing moves during his long tenure as a prince. For example, the Eulsa Change in 645 AD was jointly launched by him and his good friend Fujiwara no Kamatari, who directly eliminated the powerful Soga clan aristocratic group. This allowed the royal family to return to the core position of politics and laid a solid foundation for further centralization in the future. As for the military assistance to Baekje, it was also in the hands of the emperor. After all, as long as the crisis exists for a long time, local forces can tolerate the erosion of their rights and interests. Even if the soldiers are embarrassed in the front, it will not affect their continued planning in the rear.

Emperor Tenchi in Japanese Ukiyo-e

Crisis strategy for eating from both ends

The Japanese Army in the Asuka Period

In 664 AD, as the defeat of the Peninsular War was certain, panic spread throughout Japan. Emperor Tenji saw that the time was ripe and decisively issued an imperial decree to start the "Jia Zi Reform". The content covered a lot, but the main purpose was to mobilize the army with a large number of newly enthroned noble families. It even violated the original intention of the national policy and encouraged these local upstarts to actively manufacture weapons and shed blood for the upcoming decisive battle on the mainland.

On the surface, the Jiazi Reform seemed to be a concession to the traditional aristocracy, but in fact it was a hidden intention to further weaken the feudal system. First of all, these new aristocratic families were often appointed by the emperor, and they must be psychologically grateful to the imperial power. Secondly, their appearance itself could also play a role in restricting the old aristocracy in their hometown. Finally, since the military threat from the Tang Dynasty had not yet been lifted, they would be in a state of war for a long time. As for who would be the target of the knife, it mainly depended on the decision of the capital Asuka Castle.

Facing the possible threat from the Tang Dynasty, the Emperor decided to strengthen coastal defense

In addition, Emperor Tenji's mobilization reforms also involved military engineering construction, which took several years to build three lines of defense against threats from the west coast:

The first line of defense is located in Tsushima Island and Iki Island in the Korean Strait, and the water city of Chikushi Province on the north side of Kyushu Island. Because of the direction of ocean currents, these areas are bridgeheads for Japan to communicate with the outside world. In particular, the two bases on the islands are equipped with beacon facilities to inform the rear of the enemy as soon as possible.

A reconstruction of the Chikushi Water Castle on the north side of Kyushu Island

Next is the second line of defense, which consists of Ono Castle, Ryu Castle and Shin Castle in the territory of Chikushi Province. It is also not far from the coastline and is the junction of the strait and the inland rear area.

Finally, there is the third line of defense, with Takayasu Castle near Nara and Yamada Castle on Shikoku Island as its backbone. It is obviously to prevent the Tang Dynasty navy from breaking through and continuing along the Seto Inland Sea to the gates of the capital.

A large proportion of the Emperor's national defense projects are designed to strengthen internal control

Compared with mobilizing the lower nobles, the construction of the third line is indeed more inclined to external defense, but it still leaves a back door for targeting local princes. In particular, the second and third line castles, which are relatively far behind, are simply throttle valves that the emperor can use to reach the key position of Kansai. Not only can it effectively curb cross-regional linkage, but it also provides an excellent excuse for the central government to directly station troops.

Considering the mountainous environment in Japan and the load-bearing capacity of ancient roads, these fortresses were also transit points for suppressing rebellions by water. Whether they could withstand the attack from the Tang Dynasty is not the subject of this article.

Three-line defense centered on the capital city of Asuka

Plans can't keep up with changes

After the war, the Tang Dynasty began to send envoys to visit Japan

While all of Japan was busy building national defense projects, the Tang Dynasty delegation headed by Guo Wucong took the initiative to contact them. They were quite peaceful and had no intention of launching an attack, not like a hostile country that had just gone to war. This was not because the emperor in Chang'an looked up to Japan, but a stopgap measure to deal with the worsening situation on the peninsula.

It turned out that after completely cutting off Baekje's hope of resistance, the Tang Dynasty did not liquidate the captured royal family. Instead, it appointed its princes as officials to continue to stabilize the occupied areas for the new master. At the same time, the Tang Dynasty was preparing to shift its strategic focus to Goguryeo in the north, worried that the remnants of Baekje would continue to use Japan as a base for restoration. Therefore, it sent Guo Wucong, who was of low status and had almost no records, to visit in the hope of easing relations between the two sides.

After the fall of Baekje, the war between Tang Dynasty and Goguryeo continued

The emperor was quite upset about this and was very unhappy about losing the external threat. So he chose to avoid meeting the delegation and stranded the entire delegation on Tsushima Island for more than 7 months. Finally, he felt that it was difficult to get away with it, so he sent a reply letter in the name of the General of Zhenxi, rewarded several gifts, and ordered the other party to expel them.

In September 665 AD, the Tang Dynasty, which had no idea what to do, sent Liu Degao and 254 other people to visit Japan, hoping to resolve the deadlock in relations as soon as possible. This time, the emperor's attitude was obviously softened, allowing the delegation to move from Tsushima Island to Chikushi Province and accepting the letter presented by the other party. This may be because the defense facilities of the water city had taken shape, and the previous delegation was still under construction when it arrived. Therefore, allowing the other party to watch closely showed that Japan had the ability and determination to deal with military threats. It even held a large-scale military parade in October, intended to show the envoys its military strength.

Emperor Tenji also held a military parade for Tang Dynasty envoys.

Of course, the emperor did not want the war to really break out, and gradually adjusted his attitude towards the Tang Dynasty delegation. First, he gave rewards twice in November and December, and then sent senior officials to see them off when they left. This shows that at least a certain agreement was reached, but the overall situation was still cold and there was not much mutual trust. Three years later, the emperor also moved the capital from Asuka to Omi to facilitate contact with Goguryeo, which was still fighting with Tang. Until the north of the Han River was completely pacified, there was no plan to move back.

However, the cold diplomacy between China and Japan still saw a major reversal in 670 AD. At this time, Silla, which was originally an ally of the Tang Dynasty, chose to turn against its old suzerain who despised it as a barbarian in order to dominate the results of the war. Due to its thorough preparation and sudden attack, it put great pressure on the Tang Dynasty garrison left on the peninsula. Influenced by this, the Baekje nobles who had been pardoned fled in all directions. Some of them crossed the river to hide in Pyongyang, while others crossed the sea to Japan. It was they who proposed to the garrison commander Liu Rengui to join forces with the emperor to attack the King of Silla.

After the fall of Goguryeo, Silla became the only rival of the Tang Dynasty on the peninsula

In November of the following year, Guo Wucong, who had led a delegation to visit, arrived at Tsushima Island again and started the third round of diplomatic negotiations with Japan. Since the Li Tang side obviously had something to ask of others, they were relatively gentle and took the initiative to send back 1,400 Japanese soldiers captured in the Battle of Baekgang. Unfortunately, Emperor Tenji was seriously ill and died soon after, which delayed this round of negotiations until the spring of 672 AD. Guo Wucong, as a representative of the Tang Dynasty, learned the bad news after landing in Chikushi Province, and led all members to wear mourning clothes to pay tribute. In return, the successor gave them a lot of gifts. In addition to the common silk and cotton cloth, there are also bows and arrows, armor and other weapons.

Of course, the newly enthroned Prince Otomo did not agree to the Tang Dynasty's request and refused to send troops to the peninsula to attack Silla. The reason may be that he put domestic affairs first and continued to deepen his father's reform results of reducing the feudal system. Therefore, he did not want to waste his own national strength and serve as a pawn for his former opponent. However, some contemporary scholars have noticed that the 47 ships of Guo Wucong's mission had a lot of spare space on the return voyage. It should be that the weapons and treasures rewarded by the emperor were shipped back to Pyongyang to offset military expenses. If this hypothesis is true, then Japan did contribute to the war against Silla.

After many twists and turns, Japan never stopped the Tang envoys from visiting.

In May of that year, this huge Tang Dynasty delegation set off to leave Japan. Just one month later, the unstable Prince Otomo encountered the Jinshin Rebellion and was overthrown by the later Emperor Tenmu. He adopted a more cunning diplomatic strategy, actively sending people to show goodwill to Silla, and even developed to the point where the two sides had delegations visiting each other every year. At the same time, he did not forget to send Tang envoys to Chang'an to learn about the various systems and laws of the empire, and did not send troops to the peninsula to interfere with the development of the situation.

Finally, the Tang Dynasty took the initiative to move the Andong Protectorate from Pyongyang to Liaodong, recognizing Silla's dominance over the Korean Peninsula. Twenty years later, Japan transitioned to the Heian period and continued the Tang envoy system until Huang Chao captured Chang'an...

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