The Battles of Bạch Đằng
The most important lesson to learn from history, is that we do not learn lessons from history.
In the late Tang dynasty, a series of rebellions broke out in what is now Northern Vietnam. Each involved more and more people, until finally they ousted Chinese rule, and formed an autonomous region ruled by the local Khúc clan. In 930 CE, the Southern Han dynasty would invade to recapture the region.
General Ngô Quyền would meet the Southern Han navy at the mouth of the Bạch Đằng river. Prior to the battle, he instructed his army to install large stakes tipped with iron points in the river bed. He would use his knowledge of local tides to trap the fast Southern Han warships in an ambush. In a decisive victory, half the army was defeated, including the commander.
Fast forward 3 centuries, and the Mongol empire had crushed the Song dynasty, uniting China under Mongol rule. The nature of empires is to hunger (theirs is a hollow heart), and soon it turned its eyes toward Southeast Asia. They invaded with over 100,000 troops, taking the Đại Việt capital of Thang Long (now Hà Nội).
An army that large was more than the area could sustain at the time. After pillaging the area, they needed to wait for supplies to arrive by sea, again by the Bạch Đằng river, before they could continue their conquest. The legendary Vietnamese general Trần Hưng Đạo, would again use his knowledge of the local tides to install iron-tipped stakes in the river. His 30 warships would successfully ambush the supply fleet, forcing it to retreat -- and be dispersed by the seasonal monsoon winds.
The Mongol army was already defeated, but importantly, did not know it yet. This is what would cost them the war, and their lives. By the time they realized that supplies would not be coming, there was too little food left for an organized retreat. The starving army withdrew, only to be slowed by destroyed bridges and roads, and harassed by ambushes and traps laid by Trần Hưng Đạo. Most of the army was killed or captured. The rest fled, the Mongol advance into Southeast Asia was halted, and one of the greatest victories in Vietnamese military history was achieved.
We often say that "those who do not learn from history, are doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past". I think that's true, but only half the story -- it's not a fairy-tale curse. Perhaps the greatest among us are the people who realize how and when they have the power to cause history to repeat itself to their benefit.
In the late Tang dynasty, a series of rebellions broke out in what is now Northern Vietnam. Each involved more and more people, until finally they ousted Chinese rule, and formed an autonomous region ruled by the local Khúc clan. In 930 CE, the Southern Han dynasty would invade to recapture the region.
General Ngô Quyền would meet the Southern Han navy at the mouth of the Bạch Đằng river. Prior to the battle, he instructed his army to install large stakes tipped with iron points in the river bed. He would use his knowledge of local tides to trap the fast Southern Han warships in an ambush. In a decisive victory, half the army was defeated, including the commander.
Fast forward 3 centuries, and the Mongol empire had crushed the Song dynasty, uniting China under Mongol rule. The nature of empires is to hunger (theirs is a hollow heart), and soon it turned its eyes toward Southeast Asia. They invaded with over 100,000 troops, taking the Đại Việt capital of Thang Long (now Hà Nội).
An army that large was more than the area could sustain at the time. After pillaging the area, they needed to wait for supplies to arrive by sea, again by the Bạch Đằng river, before they could continue their conquest. The legendary Vietnamese general Trần Hưng Đạo, would again use his knowledge of the local tides to install iron-tipped stakes in the river. His 30 warships would successfully ambush the supply fleet, forcing it to retreat -- and be dispersed by the seasonal monsoon winds.
The Mongol army was already defeated, but importantly, did not know it yet. This is what would cost them the war, and their lives. By the time they realized that supplies would not be coming, there was too little food left for an organized retreat. The starving army withdrew, only to be slowed by destroyed bridges and roads, and harassed by ambushes and traps laid by Trần Hưng Đạo. Most of the army was killed or captured. The rest fled, the Mongol advance into Southeast Asia was halted, and one of the greatest victories in Vietnamese military history was achieved.
We often say that "those who do not learn from history, are doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past". I think that's true, but only half the story -- it's not a fairy-tale curse. Perhaps the greatest among us are the people who realize how and when they have the power to cause history to repeat itself to their benefit.
