Hinoan invasion of Chisei (1571–1591)

The Yamataian invasion of Chisei of 1571–1591, also known as the Great Shinbi War (辛未大戦 Shinbi Taisen) or Great Islander Barbarian War (島蛮大戦 Toban Taisen), was a major conflict, or more accurately, a series of conflicts between Yamatai and various states on the Chiseian mainland, most notably the Kazahara dynasty (and later the Takeshima regency) of Shirakawa. The conflicts arose as a consequence of the collapse of the Kazahara dynasty in the Jinshin war, and played a major role in the domestic politics of Yamatai throughout the period, destablising the Hinoan-ruled "Yashiman Empire" and ultimately laying the groundwork for the rise of the Second Empire of Yamatai in it's place. The wars also sowed the seeds of eventual union between Shirakawa and it's northern neighbor of Saramosir, as a consequence of Saramosiri intervention against Yamatai.

The wars would spawn further Shiro-Yamataian conflicts, including the second (1611) and third (1676) Shiro-Yamataian wars.

Names
In Chiseian Yashiman, the first phase of the war is known as the "Yamataian incursion of ", after the year the war began. The second phase, from 1574 to 1582, is known as the "Second War of Kiyū", and the 1591 invasion by Saramosir and Shirakawan exiles is known as the "Shinbō War to Liberate The Nation" (Sinbo kotumi in . The period of the invasions as a whole is known as the "Great Shinbi War" (辛未大戦 Shinbi Taisen) or the "Great Islander Barbarian War" (島蛮大戦 Toban Taisen).

In, the period, often including the Jinshin war and prior Uranni-Chiseian conflicts, is known as "Ömnöd ikhdain" ('The Great War in the South').

Timeline

 * 1571 - Major rebellion against Kazahara rule in Kitahashi (near Hinomoto). Since the Grand Queen and Court are busy trying to overthrow eachother, the governor is helpless. Maybe he says fuck it and flees to Hinomoto to ask for help. Yams are already looking for a way to meddle on the mainland, and use the rebellion as a pretext to sweep in and invade.


 * 1572 - Eito gets sacked by Uraan again, and this time permanently occupied. They move to take Enokaji too, but the regency gov. gives them a bloody nose. Yams seize most of the northern coast up to Ochiaijuku in the north and Oarai in the south basically without any resistance except for some rebels and a few fortified manors/monasteries.


 * 1573 - 74 - Uraan and the Yams eat up the scattered basically independent areas. In 74 Yams finally launch an invasion across the big river with Eniwa and Kiyosu on it. The Kazahara finally put up a fight but they fckin lose and the Grand Queen is trampled by some horses or something. Kazahara dynasty is now officially dead. After news the Queen is dead come out, most of the Royal court fall in line with the regency council and pseudo-parliament in Enokaji, which reorganises itself under a charismatic veteran, Takeshima Noriko.


 * 1574 - 1576 Yams seize most of the country save for the Kumagahara plateau, while Uraan advances on Enokaji from the north. Wanshu comes under a siege, and holds until 1579, when the Yamataians just say fuck it and burn it to the ground. The Khan of Uraan attempts to siege Enokaji, but is pushed back.


 * 1576 - 1580 - Yams lay siege to Enokaji in 1577 and quickly seize it as most of the defenders, including Takeshima, flee over the lakes and on north into exile in Saramosir.


 * 1580 - 1582 - The Shiro-Yam war essentially ends here and spills on into a Yam-Uraani war as the Yams drive the Uraani out of Eito. Uraan quickly retreats and after some Yamataian punitive expeditions into their home territory quickly agree to a peace treaty (though random raids ofc continue)


 * 1585 - Yams invade Gyoushou but fail to get very far with how much money they burned on the previous two decades on frequent wars.


 * A bad harvest in 1587 leads to an explosion of rebellions in the north. Yam armies aren’t used to fighting off regular border raids from nomads, and lots of resources are tied up on the Uraani border as a result so rebels are just left to run rampant for a while and take some cities before being put down in 1588.
 * In 1589 Gyoshou easily retakes Pekin.


 * 1590 - The final straw for Yam rule is when Saramosir invades, having struck a deal with the Shirakawan exiles to help them against the Yams in exchange for taking the northern coast. Yam armies are routed outside Eito by a Saramosiri army with Takeshima at the helm, and attempts to reinforce the forces on the mainland are thwarted by the Saramosiri navy, which blockades the Toshima-Hinomoto strait. By Winter Yamataian holdings are reduced to a few coastal enclaves.


 * In 1591 Yamatai abandons the mainland entirely and signs a Peace Treaty with Saramosir and Takeshima.


 * 1591 - Shirakawa is independent, yay! Takeshima sets herself up as regent again, and pulls a royal claimant out of her ass (Gejou Torashi), who is crowned as Shun Torashi (posthumously Shun Taiso). Saramosir get the land they were promised. Shirakawa becomes the Shun dynasty.

Jinshin war

 * 1545 - 65: Shirakawa, then known as the Kazahara Dynasty, is embroiled in a nasty chain of succession crisis after succession crisis, regional rebellions, nomad raids and nobles killing eachother in the capital. In 1563 some Uraani raiders essentially waltz into the capital and burn it to the ground. The (very dubiously legitimate) Grand Queen who is the last living member of the dynasty flees to Wanshu, while the rest of the nobility set up a Regency government in Enokaji.

War atrocities & human cost
Yamataian troops engaged in crimes against civilians in battle and often killed indiscriminately. Outside of the main battles, raids to acquire food and supplies from civilians were common. Captured prisoners were often mistreated or worked to near-death by starvation and neglect. The Siege of Wanshu (1576–1579) saw most of the surrounding countryside heavily pillaged, and according to both Yamataian and Shirakawan sources, "every able-bodied man put to death" on the orders of the Empress. Tactics of terror such as this helped to break the will of opposing forces and hasten the end of Shirakawan resistance.

The breakdown of the social system in Shirakawa during the Jinshin war and the subsequent invasion meant atrocities were commonly committed even by Shirakawan forces against Shirakawans. The armies of Grand Queen Iratsume and the Enokaji Regency frequently massacred civilians and burned crops in the territories of their rivals. The large armies used by all sides during the war required active pillaging and forced requisitioning of supplies to sustain for long periods, and this was worsened by deliberate scorched earth policies, such as the attacks against peasant villages conducted by Royal troops south of the Taihan river, shortly prior to the 1574 Yamataian invasion. became an increasingly frequent occurence in western Chisei from 1572 onwards.

During the 1591 Saramosiri-Yamataian War, the forces of Takeshima Noriko adopted a policy of against captured Yamataians and supposed collaborators. Shirakawan troops, following their customs at the time, collected pieces of fallen soldiers' bodies such as ears or noses as and to keep track of casualties.

, already prominent from the early stages of the Jinshin war, grew greatly in prevalence as a result of the Yamataian invasion, and raiding parties frequently preyed on Shirakawan civilians and survivors left behind by marauding armies. Piracy grew significantly along the coastal regions, and would continue to plague the countries of the region well into the late 18th century. The large numbers of soldiers, made redundant by eventual peace in the 1590s after half a century of incessant warfare, also turned to criminal activities in many cases.

The hasty retreat by Yamataian forces over the winter of 1590 and 1591 left many Yamataians stranded in Shirakawa. Those who were not killed in the field were often rounded up and sold into slavery within Chisei or in neighboring markets.

Statistically, the invasion had an immense human cost on Shirakawa and Yamatai. Estimates of military dead range from ~800,000 to over 1 million in total, primarily from frequent outbreaks of disease but also from the poor treatment of prisoners. Comparison of pre- and post-invasion records, as well as cross-referencing of Chiseian and Yamataian sources, suggests there may have been anywhere between 3 and 6 million civilian casualties throughout the period, and likely many more deaths in the aftermath as a result of famine and other conflicts spawned as direct outgrowths of the war. It is difficult to quantify how many were displaced by war, but widespread famine, pillaging and forced relocation meant many villages and small towns were destroyed or abandoned. The population of Wanshu, recorded as being ~70,000 before the war, was reduced to ~32,000 by 1600. Overall, as much as %35 of Shirakawa's population may have been wiped out or displaced as a consequence of civil war and the invasion, and population levels did not reach those recorded prior to 1545 until 1730.

In culture
The Shiro-Yamataian conflicts of the period were a defining series of events for the 16th and 17th centuries of Western Escaric history, and inspired many works of fiction and folklore, from then to the present day.