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The Tay Son’s warships in the Rach Gam – Xoai Mut battle |
Nguyen Hue, the spearhead of the Tay Son Uprising, was born in the mountainous area; thus, he was very good at fighting on land. He was, however, also an outstanding leader in sea battles.
To strengthen his army, Nguyen Hue had thousands of cargo ships and warships built during the wartime.
At that time, the shipbuilding technology was advanced to some extent. In late 18th century, John Barraw, a member of British Royal Society, visited Dang Trong, which included Vietnam’s central and south regions, and witnessed the development of shipbuilding technology. He wrote: “Their ships often having a length of 50-80 pied (1 pied = 0.3 meter) are very beautiful. Such a ship is sometimes made of five planks fixed by tenons. The ships don’t go fast but they are very safe. Below the deck there are many separate holds that prevent a ship from being wrecked if it rushed into rocks in the water…”
Most of the battleships were equipped with guns. In a Jeaptiste Chaigneau’s letter, he said the Tay Son army had 54 ships, 93 boats, 300 warships, and 100 sailing ships in Quy Nhon city.
In 1782, Nguyen Hue led his army to attack Gia Dinh. Nguyen Anh’s troops were disposed on the Can Gio River to fight against Hue’s army. The Tay Son’s warships defeated the Nguyen’s troops. A ship was set on fire and a French captain was killed during the battle.
The Tay Son army then attacked Nguyen Anh’s ships in Xoai Rap’s Nga ba river and moved to Ben Nghe. Nguyen Anh and his entourage had to run to Phu Quoc island.
In 1783, Tay Son rebel soldiers marched on Gia Dinh again and defeated Nguyen’s troops on Ben Nghe River. Once, Nguyen Anh had to escape to Phu Quoc island.
In 1786, the rebel forces attacked Phu Xuan. The Tay Son’s warships stopped on the Huong river and fired into the citadel when the tide was rising. Taking advantage of victory, 1,400 warships travelled to Bac Ha. Trinh’s troops defended against the Tay Son army in Nghe An but their defense was in vain.
According to history books, when Tay Son’s warships arrived at Hoi An and Vi Hoang, Trinh’s troops had to run away. The Trinh Lord then assigned Dinh Tich Nhuong to protect Nam Son. When the Tay Son army came here, two sides fiercely attacked each other, but guns from Tay Son’s warships were more powerful, defeating the Trinh’s troops.
From Luc Mon River, the Tay Son’s soldiers marched on Thang Long, attacking Trinh’s troops on the Thuy Ai River. After defeating Trinh’s warships, Tay Son’s insurgent army landed in Tay Luong wharf and again defeated Trinh’s troops.
Trinh Tong Lord had to run away from Thang Long but he was arrested then. The Trinh’s rule was ended.
After dominating Thang Long, Nguyen Hue gave power to Le Hien Tong. After the King Le Hien Tong’s death, Le Chieu Thong succeeded him to the throne, putting Bac Ha in chaos. Thong was manipulated by the remnants of the Trinh family. He had to be dependent on Nguyen Huu Chinh to destroy the Trinh troops.
Chinh was then against the Tay Son, taking power for himself in the north. Nguyen Hue assigned Ngo Van So and Vu Van Nham to take the army to Thanh Long to kill Chinh; meanwhile, Le Chieu Thong fled to China.
However, Vu Van Nham also exceeded his authority after Nguyen Hue had moved back the south. Hue had to move north again to kill Nham and place Ngo Van So in charge in his place.
At that time, Le Chieu Thong appealed to the Chinese Qing Emperor for assistance and the Chinese army led by Sun Shi Yi crossed into Vietnam and occupied Thang Long in December 17, 1788.
In December 22, 1788, Nguyen Hue was enthroned on Ngu Binh Mountain, taking the title Quang Trung and prepared to fight against the Chinese invader.
The Tay Son forces then timed their attack on Thang Long on midnight of the 5th day of the Tet (lunar New Year) celebration, catching the Chinese totally by surprise and the Chinese forces were easily destroyed as they fled in complete disarray.
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