Newly found stakes prompt fresh look at Vietnam’s defeat of the Mongols

via VNExpress, 22 December 2019: Newly-discovered stakes add more insight into the famous battle of Bach Dang, when Vietnamese forces successfully repelled the invading Mongol fleet by diverting them into a booby-trapped river.

The wooden stakes used in the legendary ‘Battle of Bach Dang’ in 1288, found in northern Hai Phong City last Wednesday, have opened a new direction for research into the battle.

Excavations on a 950-square-meter site uncovered several ironwood poles in the Cao Quy rice field, Lien Khe Commune, Thuy Nguyen District.

Archeologists said this is a large-scale, important finding relating to the Tran Dynasty’s famous Bach Dang Battle against an invasion by Mongolia’s Yuan Dynasty.

Well-known historian Le Van Lan noted the discovery might show that the 1288 battle was actually a three-phase operation instead of an isolated river battle as previously thought. “The first phase was the launch of soldiers to exhaust the enemies’ resources and strength. Phase two involved Vietnamese soldiers blocking the Mongolian fleet from taking a shortcut via creeks, forcing them to go to the Bach Dang River. Phase three was the historic Bang Dang Battle.”

Source: Newly found stakes prompt fresh look at Vietnam’s defeat of the Mongols – VnExpress International