Editor’s note: Throughout the thousands of years of our heroic and illustrious history of building and safeguarding the nation, our people have created an extraordinarily unique and remarkable military art, which is a great source of pride. To assist readers in exploring, researching, and discussing Vietnam’s military art, the National Defence Journal would like to present a series of articles entitled “Vietnam’s military art and the requirements for its development in the new situation”.

I. The formation and development of Vietnam’s traditional military art

To conduct a systematic study, it is necessary to understand what military art is. There are several concepts of military art, and the understanding of it also varies depending on each nation’s military perspective and schools of thought. According to the Vietnamese Military Encyclopedia, “Military art is the theory and practice of preparing for and conducting war, primarily armed struggle. It includes military strategy, operational art, and tactics. The theory of military art is a principal component of military science, studying the laws, characteristics, and features of wars and determining the principles and methods of armed struggle. The practice of military art involves directing and conducting armed struggle at all scales”.

From the abovementioned definition, it can be seen that the scope of military art is very broad, encompassing various issues and manifested at different levels, thus making it challenging to address this topic comprehensively in just a few articles. Therefore, this discussion will be limited to its practice in warfare, excluding war preparation despite its significance. The focus will be on the major, general aspects of Vietnam’s military art from the past to the present, especially during the Ho Chi Minh era.

It must be affirmed that Vietnam’s military art is the one of the Vietnamese people’s war, combining traditional and modern elements. Vietnam’s military art emerged and gradually developed through the thousands of years of the nation’s struggle to build and safeguard the country. Notably, during the struggle for national liberation (1945 - 1975), under the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Vietnam’s military art saw new developments, becoming diverse and reaching its heyday in the final stage of the resistance war against the American Imperialists. In the subsequent wars to protect the Southwestern and Northern borders, Vietnam’s military art continued to be applied and developed to varying degrees.

Command of Dien Bien Phu Campaign discuss operational method (A file photo)

Looking back at history, it is evident that our nation’s military art emerged at an early stage in struggling against much stronger invaders. Initially, it was the art of the entire populace fighting the enemy through medium and small-scale guerilla warfare with rudimentary weapons, as seen in the resistance against the Qin invaders in the 3^rd century BC or the defensive strategy using fortifications by An Duong Vuong in the 2^nd century BC.  Following this, guerilla tactics combined with armed uprisings were employed in the revolts led by the Trung Sisters, Ly Bi, Trieu Quang Phuc, and others. In general, during the period of Northern domination, the national military art was still rudimentary and developed slowly, primarily characterised by the military art of armed uprising rather than the military art of the people’s war. From the 10^th century, after Ngo Quyen defeated the Southern Han army, Vietnam became an independent and sovereign nation, with an organised military force equipped with weapons numbering in the tens of thousands. It was during this time that the national military art gradually developed in both theory and practice, truly becoming the military art of the people’s war.

Along with the prosperity of the Dai Viet feudal dynasties, the military continuously developed in terms of organisation, personnel, weapons, equipment, combat means, and mobility. Notably, this period was also marked by our nation's ongoing national defence and liberation wars against the powerful northern feudal invaders, leading to rapid development in various aspects of the national military art. This was the military art of the people's war, where the entire populace fought the enemy, with the army (the imperial army) serving as the core. Particularly, since the Ly - Tran period, the court implemented the strategy of “farmers in peacetime and soldiers in wartime”. In peacetime, soldiers were civilians, however, they would be mobilised into the military during wartime. This system ensured a strong reserve force alongside the regular army. In addition to the regular army, which included both standing and reserve forces, there were also local militias and village defence forces. This structure formed a three-tiered armed force capable of flexible combat at all scales, leveraging the strengths of each tier and serving as the backbone of the people's war.

Consequently, the content of the national military art became rich and diverse, continuously applied and effectively inherited through different wars. In wartime practice, strict adherence to the laws of war was maintained, emphasising principles such as securing and maintaining the initiative, "avoiding the strong, striking the weak", concentrating forces, choosing the right time, target, and battlefield, especially in organising decisive strategic battles. These principles distinctly reflect the unique characteristics of Vietnamese military art and demonstrate the exceptional military strategies of our ancestors throughout history.

With the continuous development of military art, military thought, with its main doctrine being offensive, gradually became affirmed and concretised in combat, with principles like "preemptive strike," "rapid manoeuvering," "using small forces to counter long formations", and "the weak overcoming the strong, the few against the many." The direction of military thought towards military art created its distinctive and unique nature in actual combat, primarily in offensive operations. Our ancestors wisely chose offensive thinking as the main doctrine, as it not only suited the country's particularities and the nature of war that only offensive operations can achieve thorough victory, expelling the enemy from our homeland but also maximised the strength of the people's war against foreign invasion.

The historical reality affirms that few nations in the world have had to confront as many invaders for such extended periods and endure as much suffering and loss as the Vietnamese people. To gain and maintain independence and sovereignty, our people have continuously fought against invaders throughout history. This is not something we desired but we had no other choice. Nevertheless, from this harsh reality, our nation has written a glorious history, achieving immortal feats that earned admiration from other nations and instilled fear in our enemies, creating a distinctive and traditionally rich military art.

As it is difficult to fully and thoroughly address the national military art, we only highlight some exemplary battles with different combat forms to demonstrate this unique and proud military tradition. First, in the battles of Ung Chau, Kham Chau, and Liem Chau, Ly Thuong Kiet destroyed the enemy's war preparation bases on their own territory in the 11th century. This serves as a prime example of the art of seizing the initiative in war, setting the stage for the strategic, decisive battle at the Nhu Nguyet River defence line, defeating the Song invaders. This battle is also an exemplar of proactive defensive-counteroffensive art. Another example is the Xuong Giang - Chi Lang battle in the 15th century against the Ming invaders, which showcases the large-scale art of "encirclement and reinforcement ambush" with many unique and creative features. The Tot Dong - Chuc Dong battle from the same war is also noteworthy, clearly demonstrating the distinctive strategy and art of "the weak overcoming the strong, the few against the many." This battle, employing a relatively small force, achieved high combat efficiency through ambush tactics. Especially notable is the Ngoc Hoi - Dong Da battle, where Quang Trung defeated 280,000 Qing soldiers in 1789. This battle exemplifies the excellence of national military art in many respects, particularly the rapid manoeuvering (swift marches, swift combat) and the art of mobilising, organising, and deploying offensive forces, choosing the right moment to strike, and delivering decisive blows to end the war quickly. The national military art, with its core elements of "advantage, strength, timing, strategy", was applied with great flexibility in combat practice.

It is also noteworthy that this military art was applied in both land battles across various terrains and river and sea battles. Notable among these are the three strategic, decisive battles on the Bach Dang River, which are remarkable for taking place at the same location (the Bach Dang River) and employing the same tactic (the battlefield of stakes, utilising tidal movements), yet in different periods (from the 10th to the 13th century), consistently achieving surprising and resounding victories. The first was the Bach Dang battle in 938, where Ngo Quyen defeated the Southern Han, ending over a thousand years of Northern domination and gaining independence and sovereignty for the nation. The second was the Bach Dang battle in 981, led by Le Dai Hanh, defeating the Song invaders. The final was the Bach Dang battle in 1288, commanded by Tran Quoc Tuan during the third invasion by the Yuan-Mongol. Additionally, there was the Rach Ngam - Xoai Mut battle in 1785, where Nguyen Hue decisively defeated 50,000 Siamese troops using a skillful combination of naval and ground forces.

Those illustrious victories are forever an epic of the nation's history, a symbol of patriotism, the aspiration for peace, and the resolute will to fight and win of the entire populace. Simultaneously, they represent the quintessence of the distinctive military art deeply rooted in the traditions of the Vietnamese people. This military art has been continuously inherited and appropriately applied to new circumstances in the struggle for national liberation by our military and people under the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam and President Ho Chi Minh.

MANH HA - QUANG HOP - CAO CUONG

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(Next issue: II. Vietnam’s military art in the resistance wars against French Colonialists and American Imperialists)