| Battle of Bạch Đằng (938) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Map of Tĩnh Hải quân (靜海軍) and | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Tĩnh Hải quân | Southern Han | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Ngô Quyền | Liu Yan Liu Hongcao † | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 5,000 - 10,000 | 20,000[1] | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Unknown | 10,000[2] | ||||||
At theBattle of Bạch Đằng River in938 nearHạ Long Bay in northern Vietnam, the military force of the Viet-ruled domain ofTĩnh Hải quân, led byNgô Quyền, a Viet lord, defeated the invading forces of the Chinese state ofSouthern Han and put an end to theThird Era of Northern Domination (Chinese ruled Vietnam).[3] It was considered the turning point in Vietnamese history.[4]
In October930,Southern Han, a Chinese state in southern China during theFive Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, launched an attack on the Jinghaicircuit, which at the time was a Viet principality controlled by theKhúc clan. The leader of the Khuc,Khúc Thừa Mỹ, was taken prisoner by the Southern Han emperorLiu Yan.[5] In 931, the local generalDương Đình Nghệ raised a 3,000-men army of retainers and drove the Southern Han back to the borders of the Jinghai Circuit.[6]
In 937, Đình Nghệ was assassinated byKiều Công Tiễn, a military officer.[7][8] Đình Nghệ's son in law and also his general, Ngô Quyền, mobilized his army to overthrow Kiều Công Tiễn. Công Tiễn asked Liu Yan for support. Liu Yan dispatched his sonLiu Hongcao in command of the expedition fleet, which sailed to theGulf of Tonkin and headed inland upBạch Đằng River. Liu Yan led an additional force following his son's fleet.[6][9]
In late 938, the Southern Han fleet led by Liu Hongcao met Ngô Quyền's fleet on the gate of the Bạch Đằng River. The Southern Han fleet consisted fast warships carrying fifty men on each–twenty sailors, twenty five warriors, and two crossbowmen.[4] Ngô Quyền and his force had set up massive stakes tipped with iron foiled points on the river bed.[6] When the river tide rose, the sharpened stakes were covered by water. As the Southern Han sailed into the estuary, Viets in smaller crafts went down and harassed the Southern Han warships, luring them to follow upstream. When the tide fell, Ngô Quyền's force counterattacked and pushed the enemy fleet back to the sea. The Southern Han ships were immobilized by the stakes.[4] Half of the Han army died, either killed or drowned, including Liu Hongcao.[6][10][11] When the news of the defeat reachedLiu Yan on the sea, he retreated back toGuangzhou.[12]
In spring939, Ngô Quyền proclaimed himself king and chose the town ofCo Loa as the capital.[13][14] This battle has been described as the point when Vietnamese history came into its own as the Jinghai Circuit achievedde facto independence.[15]
In 1288, Commander-in-Chief PrinceTrần Quốc Tuấn, inspired byNgô Quyền, employed the same tactic against theYuan Dynasty during theBattle of Bạch Đằng (1288). This engagement was a decisiveĐại Việt victory and was one of the last major engagements in theMongol invasions of Vietnam. Both battles are widely considered to be among the greatest victories in Vietnamese history.