Jitsune

Jitsune was a Chinese-Japanese Samurai. He was born in 912 CE, during the mid Yuan Dynasty. He greatly aided the Japanese in repelling the Yuan attacks and fought against them for 4 decades, before his death. He also assisted Zhu Yuanzhang, a rebel leader, in successfully driving the mongols out of mainland China. Although he is known to be a Samurai, but he is also of half-Chinese background. He's one of the little instances in history where a non-Japanese peasant was able to rise to the ranks of a Samurai.

Early Life
Jitsune was born during the mid Heian Period in Japanese history, in 912. He was born on the island of Tsushima, during the time of Yuan invasion. His parents both died in a raid, traumatising him for the rest of his life. He was brought up by a samurai, whose name wasn't recorded in history. He was eventually employed by Emperor Daigo himself after hearing his excellences in combat and military strategies.

Uniting Japan
After the first Yuan invasion, Jitsune knew that Japan would not stand if they were divided. He persuaded many clans to join the Imperial Government in an effort to repel the mongolian invaders. Emperor Daigo appointed him as his key strategist of the government. Jitsune appointed ambassadors to the other clans for a united front against the mongolian invaders. Many accepted, but those who rejected, felt the force of Jitsune and his forces.

Repelling the Mongols
The Yuan Dynasty was virtually at the height of its power during the early 900's, but after its first disastrous sea voyages to Japan, its power diminished greatly. During this time, the Yuan launched its second invasion of Japan, which also ended in tragedy. He led a personal flotilla of the Imperial Japanese Fleet against the Yuan Fleet, which ended in the decisive defeat of the mongols. He also led ground assaults against mongolian invaders.

Campaign in Goryeo
After the mongols aided the Kingdom of Goryeo to unite the Korean peninsula, they vassalised the kingdom and used them to get through to Japan. Jitsune led a personal assault with his army, and saw little resistance by the Korean troops due to their hatred towards the "puppetation" of their emperor. He led 23,000 samurai in the Goryeo campaign. Due to the terrain, horses weren't advised, so the Khan sent 120,000 foot soldiers in repelling the samurai. Their troops were made up of chinese foot soldiers and mongolian horse archers, who weren't accustomed to the tenacity of the samurai's close-combat skills, nor were they as disciplined as the Japanese. By this time, Zhu Yuanzhang had already rebelled and in 923, Jitsune and his samurai had already liberated the Goryeo Dynasty and moved up towards manchuria.