Chapter 41: Iberian-Japanese War Part VII - The Battle of Cape Bojeador
In the middle of May 1632, de Oquendo’s fleet sailed into Manila Bay. The original 25-ship fleet had been accompanied by 12 ships gathered in Goa, although most of those reinforcements were busy retaking Malacca. De Oquendo immediately ordered the assembling of a grand armada set to clash against Japanese naval forces. In addition to incorporating de Amezqueta’s fleet and gathering native vessels from the Visayas and Portuguese ships from Macau, the Spaniard also hired pirates and mercenaries equipped with several junks. His objective would be to strike the main fleet in the Luzon Straits and cut off Tomoyoshi’s land forces on Luzon before organizing amphibious invasions of both Aparri and Fort San Salvador. Simultaneously, a separate army was being organized under the command of de Tabora himself to march northwards and corner the Japanese inside the Cagayan Valley.
Meanwhile, Sukenori’s battered ships had returned to the harbors of Nanbanraku Castle, where news of the defeat swiftly traveled to Oda Tadataka and Kuki Moritaka. Moritaka immediately gathered the fleet scattered throughout the Luzon Straits to the vicinity of Calayan with the exception of a few warships stationed in Aparri. On the island, Tadataka would call upon the services of Zheng Zhilong, who would subsequently gather 20 Chinese junks to join up with Moritaka, and prepare for the transport of a further 10,000 troops to Aparri from Bireitou personally led by himself.
Back on Luzon, a mixed division of 5,000 Oda and Ryuzōji troops led jointly by Ryuzōji Noriie and Otai Tomonobu (小田井知信) [1] had left Aparri on April 24th and marched westwards along the coastline, occupying any villages and outposts without serious opposition. Along the way, numerous natives joined the army, adding an additional 1,000 to the army. They approached Cape Bojeador in early June, followed by a few carracks carrying provisions and supplies. There, the Japanese began to construct fortifications to assist with conquering the western coastline. Word of their presence quickly spread, and within a week de Amezqueta’s fleet arrived and drove away the Japanese carracks before beginning to bombard the new fortifications. The Spanish fleet, centered in Bangui Bay, even landed a small force nearby that then skirmished with the Japanese army with mixed results.
Salmon=Japan, Light orange=Spain
On June 19th, however, the united Japanese fleet, consisting of the Iriebashi, Hakodate, and Sakai squadrons, the Chosokabe navy, and parts of the Mōri and Shimazu navies, sailed into neighboring Pasaleng Bay to rescue the army. De Amezqueta wisely retreated from Bangui Bay but in anticipation had also asked de Oquendo to sail north to do battle with the Japanese main fleet and achieve naval dominance in the region. 10 days later, indigenous scouts reported the looming Spanish armada sailing north towards the cape. The Azuchi naval magistrate chose to meet de Oquendo’s fleet in battle despite concerns over the size and firepower of the Iberians, as he knew the fleet needed to be blocked from the Luzon Straits. Right before the battle, Zheng Zhilong and his Chinese junks arrived, bolstering his chances. A confident Moritaka was sailing his fleet around Cape Bojeador on the morning of July 5th when from his flagship, the Yoshitaka-maru (嘉隆丸), he saw the Spanish fleet and prepared for battle.
Both fleets were divided between a center and distinct wings. Itou Sukenori’s squadron and Zheng Zhilong’s fleet of Chinese junks made up the right wing of the Japanese fleet, while Moritaka commanded the center, consisting of the bulk of the Sakai squadron and the entire Hakodate and Chosokabe navies. Finally, the left wing was a mixture of Shimazu, Sakai, and Mōri ships and was commanded by Shimazu Tadatsune (島津忠恒). Notably, Atuy Upash, the Ainu lad Nobunaga had employed in 1595 [2], led the reserves in the center and was accompanied by the “Ainu Three Hundred”, a group of elite Ainu sailors to achieve notoriety and fame in the upcoming battles. On the Spanish side, Antonio de Oquendo commanded the center while the left wing was led by Juan de Amezqueta and the right wing by Portuguese general Diogo de Melo de Castro, the right consisting of Portuguese warships and mercenaries of mainly Chinese and Malay background. Both fleets, numbering around 100 ships each, notably employed multiethnic crews, with the Japanese fleet carrying native Japanese, Bireitoan aborigine, Chinese, Ainu, and Dutch troops and the Iberian fleet carrying Spanish, Portuguese, Filipino, Latin American, Chinese, Malay, and Indian combatants.
The battle began on the western side at 9am, with de Amezqueta and Sukenori engaging in a rematch. The Iriebashi squadron, still depleted from the Battle of Hoang Sa, consisted disproportionately of carracks and hobayasen, and therefore suffered a disadvantage in firepower. However, backed by Zheng Zhilong’s junks outfitted with swivel guns and heavy cannons, the Japanese right was more mobile and able to take the initiative on boarding the Spanish-Portuguese ships as the battle quickly turned into a bloody, smoky stalemate. Meanwhile, the eastern front saw similar advantages and disadvantages at play. However, the Japanese left was headed by heavy zentousen, and de Castro and accompanying mercenaries, largely unfamiliar with Japanese naval tactics, suffered heavily from the initial frontal barrages. Subsequent exchanges of cannonfire gave way to instances of hand-to-hand combat, and within an hour the Japanese held a clear advantage over the Portuguese wing of the fleet. Meanwhile, in the center, both de Oquendo and Moritaka had engaged in limited exchanges of cannonfire but largely held back their ships in the first phase of the battle. Two hours in, Moritaka, surveying the success of the Japanese right and left, gave the signal to the frontline of zentousen to charge. De Oquendo, ever the talented and knowledgeable admiral, didn’t counter and instead steered his galleons and carracks into position. As soon as they were and the Japanese zentousen were in range, the Spanish admiral ordered an unrestrained bombardment that was so great it blew through the iron plating and mostly annihilated the ships. Damage was even dealt to the second line of lighter tekkousen, forcing Moritaka to halt their advance and instead bring out his heavy galleons and carracks, including his own flagship. Although initially forced back, de Oquendo maintained his momentum and prevented any ships from getting close enough to board his ships using his superior positioning and firepower. Even the Portuguese right, encouraged by the success of the center, re-energized and halted the Japanese left’s momentum, using their heavier guns to inflict serious damage on the less technologically advanced daimyo navies. Amidst the naval battle, a cannonball hit the Yoshitaka-maru and Moritaka was thrown into the air in the ensuing explosion and landed hard, leaving him immobile. The center, rudderless without the leadership of the naval magistrate, was only saved from immediate annihilation by the timely advance of the Hakodate reserves, led by Atuy Upash.
Nevertheless, by the early afternoon, de Oquendo was on the cusp on dealing the killing blow to the center and potentially the entire Japanese fleet. However, around this time, the Japanese right managed to push back the Spanish left, allowing it to turn and face the center with its full might. The hobayasen reached the center and began attempts to hijack Spanish galleons and carracks. Despite serious resistance from de Oquendo’s sailors, it was becoming clear that the Iberian position was becoming more precarious. The admiral made the decision to follow de Amezqueta and order a retreat southwards, and the battle was largely over by 4pm.
Although de Oquendo had chosen to leave the waters of Cape Bojeador first, the Spanish-Portuguese fleet had achieved a strategic victory, as the battle had left the Japanese fleet with greater losses, including the loss of their chief commander Kuki Moritaka, who would die of his wounds days later. This would leave the Japanese fleet too weak to defend control of the Luzon Straits until more reinforcements. The Japanese had also lost most of their zentousen and not only broken its reputation but only would force a reassessment of Japanese naval tactics, strategy, and resource distribution. With the loss of Moritaka, son of the famed pirate daimyo, Itou Sukenori, indisputably the most experienced samurai in Japan in fighting the Spanish, would subsequently be promoted to the chief naval commander of the campaign and eventually succeed Moritaka as the next naval magistrate.
[1]: Blood member of a distant branch of the Oda clan
[2]: Reference Chapter 18.