Battle of Bạch Đằng (938)

At low tide the Southern Han fleet was trapped on stakes in the river and suffered a crushing defeat; its commander, Liu Hongcao, was killed in battle.

Belligerents

Background

In 937 Kiều Công Tiễn, a local strongman in Jiaozhou, killed Dương Đình Nghệ; Dương's lieutenant and son-in-law Ngô Quyền rose in revolt against him, and Kiều Công Tiễn appealed to the Southern Han for help. The Southern Han emperor Liu Yan sent his son Liu Hongcao south with a fleet.

Course of the battle

1. Stakes planted in the riverNgô Quyền had iron-tipped sharpened wooden stakes driven into the riverbed at the mouth of the Bạch Đằng, where they were hidden by the water at high tide.
2. Luring the enemy inNgô Quyền sallied out with small boats on the rising tide, feigned defeat and fell back, luring the Southern Han warships into the area of the stakes.
3. Combined attack at ebb tideAs the tide ebbed the stakes were exposed, the Southern Han warships ran aground and were holed, and Ngô Quyền's army attacked from all sides.

Outcome at a glance

Impact

The battle ended a thousand years of Chinese rule and is regarded in Vietnamese historiography as the beginning of national independence; three hundred and fifty years later Trần Hưng Đạo used the same tactic on the same river to defeat the Yuan army.