Battle of Bạch Đằng (981)

The Battle of Bạch Đằng (981) was an important battle in the history of Vietnam's struggle against the domination of China to their north. It took place at the Bach Dang River, near Halong Bay in northern Vietnam.

For centuries China had treated Vietnam as a province of China In a preceding battle, the Battle of Bạch Đằng River (938), China had attacked Vietnam The Vietnamese forces were led by Ngô Quyền He embedded spikes in the river with iron tips that sank the enemy's boats, thus defeating China and first ending China's domination of Vietnam.

In the Battle of Bạch Đằng in 981 CE, the invasion troops of China's newly founded ruling dynasty, the Song Dynasty, attacked Đại Cồ Việt with both a navy at Bạch Đằng River's mouth and an infantry force at Chi Lang (Lạng Sơn). Lê Hoàn arranged two ambushes at these sites. The first ambush in Bạch Đằng destroyed most of the Song navy and the second wiped out the remaining Song army and ended the invasion.