Late Middle Ages · Southeast Asia · War

1426

Le Loi's Rebels Ambush Ming Army at Tot Dong

1426

After years of hit-and-run fighting, Le Loi's Lam Son insurgents lured a Chinese relief force into marshland near the Red River and destroyed it. The Ming occupation began its retreat. Vietnam's founding myth of resistance against northern invaders gained its most usable hero. The victory forced Ming China to negotiate, and within two years the Chinese garrison withdrew entirely, ending twenty years of occupation.