Mongol Invasions of Vietnam | Past to Future
This video presents The Mongol invasions of Vietnam, also known as MongolVietnamese Wars.

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
00:40 Historical Background
02:59 The First Mongolian Invasion in 12571258
04:51 The Second Mongolian Invasion in 12841285
08:19 The Third Mongolian Invasion in 1287–1288
10:33 Aftermath

The Mongol invasions of Vietnam were military campaigns launched by the Mongol Empire and its chief khanate the Yuan Dynasty against the kingdom of Dai Viet ruled by the Tran Dynasty and the kingdom of Champa.

In the thirteenth century, Vietnam was divided into two states: Dai Viet in the north and Champa in the south. In 1225, the Ly dynasty which ruled the kingdom of Dai Viet for over 200 years was replaced by the Tran dynasty when the eightyearold queen Ly Chieu Hoang was forced to abdicate the throne in favor of her husband, Tran Canh, later known as king Tran Thai Tong.

Meanwhile, in the North, China has long been divided. By the early 13th century, the Mongols in the northern part of the reunified Jin empire gained strength under Genghis Khan, and started invading the south. By the 1250s, the Mongol Empire had spread over large parts of Eurasia, and was eyeing the Song dynasty in Southern China.

In an effort to open a southern front against the Song Dynasty, Möngke Khan, the fourth khagan of the Mongol Empire, sent prince Kublai to conquer the Dali Kingdom. In the southwest, Uriyangkhadai, son of Subutai Genghis Khan's greatest strategist, turned east towards Dai Viet by 1257.

In early 1258, Uriyangkhadai and his son Aju, along with 40,000 Mongols and 10,000 Yi troops from the Dali Kingdom advanced toward Dai Viet. On January 17, Tran Thai Tong led the army and 200 elephants and met Uriyangkhadai's army on the field of Binh Le Nguyen. In this battle, the Mongols proved to dominate, forcing the Dai Viet army to retreat to Thang Long where they carried out the scorchedearth policy before evacuating to Thien Mac. On January 29, from Thien Mac, King Tran Thai Tong counterattacked and defeated the Mongols, forcing them to retreat from Thang Long to Yunnan along the Red River, marking the ending of the first attack against Dai Viet.
In 1278, Tran Thai Tong died, the king Tran Thanh Tong retired and made crown prince Tran Kham (known as Tran Nhan Tong) as the successor.

In 1279, the Mongols annexed the Song dynasty; Kublai Khan ascended the throne and established the Yuan. In February 1283, the Yuan army led by General Sogetu landed near the Cham capital of Vijaya. Although Vijaya soon fell to Sogetu, the Cham resistance decimated the Yuan army, forcing Sogetu to withdraw his troops to the northern part of Champa near the Vietnamese frontier.
In 1284, Toghan was appointed to lead a force overland to Champa and ordered Dai Viet to help supply the army, but Grand Prince Tran Hung Dao refused, leading to the Yuan conquest of Dai Viet.

At the end of January 1285, more than 50,000 Yuan troops attacked Dai Viet from Yunnan, and gained continuous victories over the Viet force. In the North, on February 18, Dai Viet troops withdrew from Thang Long to Thien Truong and Truong Yen, suffering the continuous attacks of the Yuan troops.

From the South, although successfully capturing Thang Long, the Yuan army once again suffered difficulty in food supply due to the scorched earth policy of the Tran army.
Two months after the retreat, Tran Hung Dao and his army counterattacked and gained several victories and finally liberated Thang Long capital.

Despite being defeated twice, Kublai and the Yuan army had yet given up their intention of invasion of Dai Viet. In October 1287, the Yuan land forces commanded by Toghon moved southwards from Guangxi and Yunnan in three divisions led by general Abachi and Changyu, while the naval expedition through Bach Dang River led by generals Omar, Zhang Wenhu, and Aoluchi.

In January 1288, Zhang Wenhu's supply fleet was attacked and destroyed by the Vietnamese navy under Prince Tran Khanh Du. Due to lack of food supplies, Toghon decided to return to China on a safety large warship. Under the frenzied attack of the Dai Viet army, Toghon was forced to abandon his ship in Lang Son, and was escorted back to China by his few remaining troops through the forests. Meanwhile, in the early morning of 9 April, the Yuan naval fleet led by Omar fled home along the Bach Dang river where they were attacked and killed or drowned while Omar himself was taken as a prisoner by the Vietnamese.

Do you think who actually won the wars, the Mongols or the Vietnamese?
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