Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 2.djvu/191

 lists could reckon on finishing their fight undisturbed, but the victor frequently had to endure the combined assault of a number of the vanquished's comrades or retainers. Of course a skilled swordsman did not necessarily seek a single combat: he was ready to ride into the thick of the foe without discrimination, and a group of common soldiers never hesitated to make a united attack upon a mounted officer when they found him disengaged. But the general feature of a battle was individual contests, and when the fighting ceased, each bushi proceeded to the tent of the commander-in-chief and submitted for inspection the heads of those he had killed.

The disadvantages of such a mode of fighting were demonstrated for the first time when the Mongols invaded Japan in 1274. The Japanese had six years to prepare for the invasion, and they knew approximately the point at which it would impinge. What they did was to crown the heights along the shore with parapets of loose stones, and wherever the configuration of the ground did not afford the necessary elevation, they raised embankments to support the parapet. The latter varied in height from two feet to six, so as to afford shelter without impeding archery. Its trace showed no idea of flank defence, shelter being the sole object. When the flotilla of the invaders appeared, no attempt was made to oppose their landing: the moment of supreme danger