The Two Great Campaigns of the Hongduc Era (1470–97) in Dai Viet

Abstract

This paper is concerned with the ways in which different terrains affect separate campaigns by the same army. It explores the major campaigns led by the Vietnamese ruler Le Thanh-tong (1460–97), the first south to control the Chams, the second west to attack the Tai muang. The campaigns took place in very different environments – the first lowland and coastal, the second mountainous – and had different objectives: the first to conquer and destroy, the second to weaken and warn. The Cham campaign was strategically clear throughout – to move through a known environment and capture a capital that was well known. In contrast, the Tai campaign was played out in a vague strategic setting, since the territory was only vaguely known and the objectives were left open.