In December 1637, when 37,000 farmers of Shimabara and Amakusa rose in revolt, the 16-year-old Amakusa Shiro was chosen as supreme commander. His selection owed much to the miracles attributed to him—walking on water, birds landing on his hand, healing a blind girl. The rebel force at Hara Castle, a mixed group including women and children, held out against 120,000 shogunal troops for about four months. The shogunate struggled so badly it even requested naval bombardment from a Dutch ship. When Hara Castle finally fell in the last assault, Shiro was beheaded. Shogunate records reportedly described his severed head as 'of beautiful countenance.' The largest Christian uprising in Japanese history, led by a teenage boy, left a deep scar on the shogunate.