Battle of Bạch Äằng (938)
Battle of Bạch Äằng | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Vietnamese people (Tĩnh Hải quân) | Southern Han | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Ngô Quyá»n |
Liu Yan Liu Hongcao †| ||||||
Strength | |||||||
30,000 | 100,000+ |
At the Battle of Bạch Äằng River in 938 the Vietnamese forces, led by Ngô Quyá»n, defeated the invading forces of the Southern Han state of China and put an end to centuries of Chinese imperial domination in Vietnam. It took place at the Bạch Äằng River, near Hạ Long Bay in northern Vietnam.[1]
In 937, Liu Yan (Chinese: 劉龑; Vietnamese: LÆ°u Nham), the Southern Han ruler, took the chance to intervene in Vietnam again after the death of the Annam Lord Protector DÆ°Æ¡ng Äình Nghệ. He had been foiled by DÆ°Æ¡ng Äình Nghệ in 931, but now that DÆ°Æ¡ng Äình Nghệ was dead, he thought the time was ripe for another attempt. He placed his own son, Liu Hongcao (Chinese: 劉弘æ“; Vietnamese: LÆ°u Hoằng Tháo), in command of the expedition, naming him "Peaceful Sea Military Governor" and "King of Giao." He hastily assembled an army at Sea Gate, where he personally took charge of the reserve force. He ordered Liu Hongcao to embark the army and sail to Giao.
By the time Liu Hongcao arrived in Vietnamese waters with the Southern Han expedition, Liu Hongcao's plan was to ascend the Bạch Äằng River and to place his army in the heart of Giacannoto Chau before disembarking; the Bạch Äằng was the major riverine route into the Red River plain from the north.
Ngô Quyá»n anticipated this plan and brought his army to the mouth of the river. He had his men plant a barrier of large poles in the bed of the river. The tops of the poles reached just below the water level at high tide and were sharpened and tipped with iron. When Liu Hongcao appeared off the mouth of the river, Quyen sent out small, shallow-draft boats at high tide to provoke a fight and then retreat upriver, drawing the Chinese fleet in pursuit. As the tide fell, the heavy Chinese warboats were caught on the poles and lay trapped in the middle of the river, whereupon they were attacked by Ngô Quyá»n's forces. More than half the Chinese were drowned, including Liu Hongcao.[2] When news of the battle reached Sea Gate with the survivors, Liu Yan wept openly. He collected what remained of his army and returned to Canton. This victory ended China's long domination of Vietnam and began a period of Vietnam's independence until the conquest by Ming China. Ngô Quyá»n's tactic would later be reused by Trần HÆ°ng Äạo in a battle at Bạch Äằng River against the Mongols in 1288.
Background
In 931 AD, DÆ°Æ¡ng Äình Nghệ defeated the Southern Han army – one of the Ten Kingdoms near TÄ©nh Hải quân (Army of Peaceful Sea, the name used for Vietnam's army at that time) and achieved the independent status of the Vietnamese at TÄ©nh Hải quân; he named himself Jiedushi.[3]
In 937 AD, Äình Nghệ was killed by Kiá»u Công Tiá»…n to revoke the Jiedushi title. Äình Nghệ's son in law and also his general, Ngô Quyá»n, mobilized his army to revenge Công Tiá»…n.[3]
Feared of Ngô Quyá»n, Công Tiá»…n requested help from the Southern Han. Thereforce, Emperor of Southern Han, Liu Yan took his chance and prepare to invade TÄ©nh Hải (Peaceful Sea) again.[3]
Liu Yan claimed that if DÆ°Æ¡ng Äình Nghệ was dead, then Tỉnh Hãi Quân would be out of good generals. He ordered his ninth son, Liu Hongcao (Vietnamese: LÆ°u Hoằng Tháo) to become "Bình Hải tÆ°á»›ng quân" (Sea-Pacifying Military General) and "Giao Chỉ vÆ°Æ¡ng" (King of Giao Chỉ), he commanded the naval forces of Southern Han into Giao Chỉ.[3]
Executing the protestors
In the year 938 AD, after calling of all the soldiers in the nation to his side, Ngô Quyá»n led his army from Ãi Châu to the North to kill Kiá»u Công Tiá»…n. Công Tiá»…n was surrounded by Ngô Quyá»n's army and could not resist. He waited for the reinforcements of Southern Han.[3]
The Emperor of Southern Han, Liu Yan, gave his son Liu Hongcao the title TÄ©nh Hải quân's Jiedushi,[3] then Hongcao's title was changed rather prematurely into King of Giao (Jiaozhi). He led over twenty thousand troops into Giao Chỉ in the name of "Công Tiá»…n's Reinforcements".[3] Liu Yan asked Chongwen's courtier (known by the Vietnameses as Tiêu Ãch) for advice. Ãch said:
“ |
Nowadays, rain has fallen for weeks, and the sea's route is dangerous and long. Ngô Quyá»n was also a talented tactician; we cannot despise him. Our army must be so-cautioned, we should use as many scouts as possible while moving forward (cautiously) to the South. |
†| |
— Chongwen's courtier Tiêu Ãch |
The Han Emperor wanted to move fast and quickly reconquer TÄ©nh Hải, so he didn't listen to the advice of Tiêu Ãch. He ordered Hongcao to lead his army into the river of Bạch Äằng immediately. Emperor Liu Yan, as a general himself, stayed at Haimen as an alternative reinforcement.
While Liu Yan was mobilizing his army, Ngô Quyá»n marched to Äại La to kill Kiá»u Công Tiá»…n. Công Tiá»…n at that time, completely surrounded by Ngô Quyá»n's forces and was killed beforce the Southern Han's reinforcements march into the borders of Vietnam.[3]
The pole and tide tactic
Ngô Quyá»n knew that Hongcao was coming, and told his generals:[3]
“ |
Hoằng Tháo (Hongcao) is such a foolish child, leading his army from the far land. His soldiers were still tired, and eventually they became completely perplexed when they heard that Công Tiễn was killed and there was no information about the situation happening right here. Our army is strong, the enemy is weak; we can surely win victory in this war. However! They have an advantage with their mighty war ships, and if we don't plan our defence first, we don't know who will control the battle. If we order our men to place iron-headed poles under the water of the sea gate, their ships will follow the tide of sea and be caught upon the poles, and then we can easily dominate them without letting any ships of theirs escape. |
†| |
— Ngô Quyá»n |
Ngô Quyá»n ordered his soldiers to nail the iron-headed poles under the waters of the Bạch Äằng river. At high tide, the poles would be covered with water, and thus, remain unseen by the Chinese. Ngô Quyá»n intended to lure the enemy into this area when the tide was up. When the tide was down, the enemy's boats would be stranded, and be easy targets for attack.[3]
On a late winter day in 938 AD, on Bạch Äằng River, the entire Han's naval fleet led by Hongcao entered TÄ©nh Hải.[3]
The Southern Han's soldiers, seeing the small ships of Ngô Quyá»n, aggressively marched in, thinking that they could easily defeat the small force of Ngô Quyá»n. Ngô Quyá»n ordered his army to retreat upstream. He waited until the tide lowered and ordered his army to fight back. The big ships of Southern Han were stranded and penetrated by the poles. At that time, Ngô Quyá»n used all of his forces to attack. The Southern Han's Army lost the battle and retreated, Liu Hongcao and more than half the force was killed by the Vietnamese.[3]
The Emperor of Southern Han was leading his army at the borders, so he could not respond to the situation. Hearing the news that Hongcao was dead, Liu Yang was horrified, and ordered his remaining forces to retreat ([4]). After that, the dynasty of Southern Han forgot about invading Tĩnh Hải quân.[4]
Year 939, Ngô Quyá»n became King, took the title Ngô VÆ°Æ¡ng (Ngô King), created Vietnam's Ngô Dynasty, set his capital at Cổ Loa (Today's Äông Anh, Hà Ná»™i).[5]
Later, in Battle of Bạch Äằng (1288), Trần HÆ°ng Äạo would reuse this tactic to win against the Mongols.[6])
Tactics
The military tactics used by Ngô Quyá»n were original, as Lê Văn HÆ°u described: "Great tactic, good combat" (Vietnamese: "MÆ°u giá»i mà đánh cÅ©ng giá»i" or "mÆ°u tà i đánh giá»i") in Complete History of Äại Việt (Äại Việt sá» ký toà n thÆ°).[5] However, according to militarists, applying the pole-and-tide stratagem to inflict damage upon an enemy navy required the successful combination of two factors:
- First, lure the enemy past the poles when at high tide as the poles are hidden.
- Second, know the tide and calculate the time when the tide ebbs, and ensure the enemy ships are above the poles at this point, causing them to be impaled on the poles and sunk.
These two processes were integrally linked, for if the enemy came in at low tide, they would have seen the poles, but if low tide did not come in time, Liu's boats would have easily sailed over the poles.
This is the situation that the militarists of Vietnam recorded of Battle of Bạch Äằng (981), that the Song's army (Vietnamese: LÆ°u Hoằng Tháo) passed the poles and forward into the land without obstacles (But then they were tricked by Lê Hoà n and was defeated.
Therefore, for this tactic to take effect, beside preparing the poles secretly and quickly, luring the enemy into the right route at the right time was the most decisive factor. Ngô Quyá»n achieved success with this tactic by calculating and predicting the tides.
One general who reused this tactic was Trần HÆ°ng Äạo in the Battle of Bạch Äằng (1288); Trần HÆ°ng Äạo also understood the requisites behind this tactic and applied them successfully in pushing the Mongol army out of the Bạch Äằng River. Using poles to destroy ships is not easy to pull off: it is no coincidence that both Ngô Quyá»n and Trần HÆ°ng Äạo are considered great generals in the History of Vietnam.
Significance of the Battle
“ | Liu Gong was too greedy in taking the other lands, he wanted to expand his nation, but even that the lands were not taken yet, he harmed his own son and harmed his people, like Mencius said: "Use the unloved ones to harm the loved ones", didn't it? | †| |
“ | Tiá»n Ngô VÆ°Æ¡ng could take the newly raised soldiers of Viet to defeat thousand troops of LÆ°u Hoằng Tháo, created the country and claimed himself King, made the Northerns feared as they didn't want to come again. We could say this is a wrath to ease the people, great tactics, good combat too. Although he just claimed himself a king, not fully heir to it, changed his title, but the formal of our Äại Việt, His Ancestor reconnected it. | †| |
The great victory at Bạch Äằng, 938, has an important significance to Vietnam, because it ended 1000 years of First Chinese domination of Vietnam (The Long Eclipse) in History of Vietnam, opening up an independence age for the nation of Vietnam.
The Victory of Bạch Äằng is the victorious final of Vietnam in the fighting the Chinese domination and assimilation to retake the independence of Vietnamese people. The full great meaning of this victory can only be seen in the background of the 1117 years Long Eclipse.
Moreover, in those 1000 years, the enemy of the Vietnamese people is a large empire, one of the highest military positions in the Eastern Asia, with the Han's expansionism increasing at it highest rate. Especially under the Eastern Han Dynasty, Tang Dynasty. Continuing the expansion of Qin Shi Huang, the Han Dynasty successfully conquered Northern Korea and the nomads in the North, expanded its borders to Middle Asia and invaded the countries at the South Western. In the 7th century, the Sui conquered today's Taiwan, Giao Châu (North Vietnam), and Tây Äồ Quốc..., the Tang Dynasty expanded in all directions, formed a vast empire as Emperor Taizong of Tang declared: "I have conquered more than 200 kingdoms, parcified both four directions, the Di Mans at the far land have to come here and serve me".[7]
In the first century CE, the population of Han's empire was over 57 million. At that time, the population of Vietnam was just over 1 million. After the conquest of Vietnam, the plot of the Han Dynasty not just stopped at destroying the national sovereignty, exploiting the people, scavenging the treasures of Vietnam but also assimilate the entire Vietnamese people forever, annex the lands into China. The Chinese assimilation plan is a feature of Han expansionism, was used from the Han's Dynasty to the Tang. In the entire History of Vietnam, this is one of the most dangerous and destinying time that the Vietnamese people must pass.[8]
Ngô Quyá»n – the hero in the great Victory of Bạch Äằng in 938, is the King that has rebuilt Vietnam, King of the Kings, as the Äại Việt sá» ký toà n thÆ° described.[4] Phan Bá»™i Châu said: "He is surely worthy with the title "The Mid-Ancestor" of Vietnameses people."
After victory of Bạch Äằng, Vietnam entered a new age to rebuild the country in large-scale. That is the age of the modern Äại Việt, of Thăng Long's traditional, the age of defeating the Song, defending against the Mongols, liberating from the Ming, a golden age of Lý Dynasty, Trần Dynasty, Lê Dynasty.[8]
Historian Ngô Thì Sĩ described:
“ |
The Victory on Bạch Äằng River is the basis to rebuild the nation. The victories under the Äinh, Lê, Lý, Trần's Dynasty after then also followed the prestige this victory left. Battle of Bạch Äằng has a great fame, resounded to thousands of Autumns, it didn't just glorious only at it's time. |
†| |
— Việt sỠtiêu án[8] - Ngô Thì Sĩ |
See also
References
- ↑ China and Vietnam: The Politics of Asymmetry - Page 113 Brantly Womack - 2006 "However, the facts that Dinh had consolidated local control, that Nan Han had been defeated by Dinh's predecessor in the battle of Bạch Äằng River in 938, and that Vietnam was difficult terrain for Chinese armies constrained the Song to ..."
- ↑ Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 281.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Ká»· Nam Bắc Phân Tranh - Äại Việt Sá» ký toà n thÆ°
- 1 2 3 Äại Việt Sá» ký Toà n thÆ°
- 1 2 3 4 Tiá»n Ngô VÆ°Æ¡ng - Äại Việt Sá» ký Toà n thÆ°
- ↑ Nhà trần - Äại Việt Sá» ký toà n thÆ°
- ↑ Old Book of Tang
- 1 2 3 Äại việt sá» ký tiá»n biên, Ngô Thì SÄ©
External links
- Xa Bach Dang Dong Hung Thai Binh Viet Nam