In 1268 the emperor of China sent envoys to the emperor of Japan offering a stark choice: subservience or war. It was occasion for careful consideration. Japan was an island nation, proud, independent and never conquered. But China's emperor was Kublai Khan, leader of the Mongol empire. The Mongols had already conquered four-fifths of Asia, from Korea to the Polish frontier. Every major city in Korea had been sacked. 40 million Chinese had been killed, nearly half the population. The skulls of the defeated were piled into huge roadside pyramids. Unless the Japanese agreed to pay tribute, they might suffer the same fate. Kublai Khan twice tried to conquer Japan But his two massive amphibious assaults on Kyushu island were stymied by tropical cyclones. These storms sank his ships, bankrupted his government and contributed to the fall of his dynasty.
