YT YouTube2Text

YouTube2Text → Transcripts → LÝ THƯỜNG KIỆT & VÕ NGUYÊN GIÁP: [BÍ QUYẾT QUÂN SỰ] CHUNG SAU GẦN 900 NĂM?

LÝ THƯỜNG KIỆT & VÕ NGUYÊN GIÁP: [BÍ QUYẾT QUÂN SỰ] CHUNG SAU GẦN 900 NĂM? — Transcript

by Hồ Sơ Chiến Trận · 8,567 words · 1,431 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

Open in transcriber Summarize with AI Download SRT/VTT

Full transcript

0:03In 1075, a great army, one hundred
0:05thousand strong, thundered across the
0:07border, thrusting a bloodied spear
0:09straight into the throat of one of the
0:11world's most powerful northern empires.
0:13The commander of that army stood
0:15against the howling wind, deciding on
0:17an earth-shattering act—a move
0:18unprecedented in a thousand years of
0:20defending the nation: to preemptively
0:22strike directly into the den of the
0:24Northern Celestial Empire. Fast forward
0:27879 years. Amidst the treacherous
0:30mountains and bone-chilling mist of the
0:32Northwest, a legendary general issued
0:34an order that stunned the entire world.
0:36While tens of thousands of artillery
0:38barrels were loaded and the army’s
0:40morale surged like a volcanic eruption,
0:42he ordered all artillery to withdraw
0:43from the battlefield, postponing a
0:45lightning offensive that seemed certain
0:47to win. One man charged like a storm,
0:49brandishing a razor-sharp sword to
0:51claim the enemy's life right in their
0:53own lair. The other patiently stepped
0:55back, retreated into the shadows, and
0:57waited for the moment to deliver the
0:59decisive, life-or-death blow. Two
1:01historical moments, two military
1:03mindsets that seemed completely
1:04opposite. Yet, those were the golden
1:07keys that unlocked the doors of glory
1:09for world-shaking victories. What
1:12enabled Marshal Ly Thuong Kiet and
1:14General Vo Nguyen Giap, two great minds
1:16separated by nearly a millennium, to
1:17share such an exceptional strategic
1:19vision that transcended their
1:21respective eras? Let us turn back the
1:23pages of epic history. Returning to the
1:25middle of the 11th century. At that
1:28time, the Great Song Dynasty was
1:29entering a period of severe crisis,
1:31rotting from its very roots. In the
1:33north, they were threatened by the
1:35cavalry of the Liao and the Xia people.
1:37Forced to bow down and pay tribute,
1:39cowering behind cold city walls, the
1:41prestige of the Celestial Empire
1:42collapsed, and the imperial court was
1:44in disarray. In that desperate plight,
1:46Chancellor Wang Anshi introduced new
1:48laws that caused earth-shattering
1:50turmoil, meeting with extreme outrage
1:51from the veteran officials. To save his
1:53position of power and quell the wave of
1:55internal unrest, Wang Anshi proposed a
1:57highly sinister scheme to Emperor
1:59Shenzong of Song. He reported that Giao
2:01Chi is a small, weak nation, its
2:03soldiers feeble, and could be leveled
2:05with a mere wave of the hand. A
2:07brilliant victory in the south would
2:09not only silence the opposition but
2:11also make Liao and Xia in the north
2:13tremble. They viewed the land of Dai
2:16Viet as a succulent prey, a screen to
2:18hide their own inner weakness. The
2:20annexation plan was drawn up with a
2:22brutal, unjust ambition and filled with
2:25megalomania. The Song dynasty turned
2:27the border prefectures of Yong, Qin,
2:29Lian, and Jia into military fortresses
2:31and massive logistics hubs. Tens of
2:33thousands of laborers were forced to
2:35toil in rain and sun, straining to
2:37build warships, stockpile provisions,
2:38and forge weapons. The enemy's
2:40murderous intent cast a thick black
2:41shadow over the southern sky. Facing
2:43this treacherous and cunning scheme,
2:45Commander-in-Chief Ly Thuong Kiet
2:47remained as steady as a rock. The keen
2:49eyes of the supreme commander
2:50understood a brutal truth. If the Song
2:53were allowed to prepare at their
2:55leisure, Dai Viet would suffer the
2:57trampling of a giant war machine. The
2:59mind of a brilliant military strategist
3:01, a rare genius, was vividly revealed
3:03through a stirring statement that
3:05echoes through the ages: "To sit and
3:07wait for the enemy is not as good as
3:08striking first to break their spearhead
3:10." This was the ideology of preemption,
3:13a first strike, not passive defense,
3:15not resigning to be a victim, but
3:17actively crushing the enemy's life the
3:19moment they conceive the intent to
3:20invade. Yet, this was by no means the
3:23recklessness of someone acting
3:25impulsively. Under the command of Ly
3:28Thuong Kiet, an unprecedented combat
3:30plan, sharp to the smallest detail, was
3:32drawn up. He divided the thousands of
3:35Dai Viet troops into two wings. The
3:37infantry wing was led by the courageous
3:39minority generals Tong Dan. Than Canh
3:40Phuc commanded them through streams and
3:42rugged mountain trails, striking
3:44directly at the flank of the Yong
3:45Prefecture stronghold. The naval wing,
3:47led personally by the
3:48Commander-in-Chief, cleaved through the
3:50ocean waves, using the force of the
3:51gale to launch a lightning-fast, sudden
3:53assault on the Qin and Lian prefectures
3:55. Lightning strike; in just a few short
3:57weeks, the entire logistical system
3:59built with blood and sweat, and the
4:01stockpiles of provisions stacked as
4:03high as mountains by the Song dynasty
4:05to conquer Vietnam, were razed to ashes
4:07. Tens of thousands of Song naval
4:08troops were sent to the bottom of the
4:09sea, and thousands of warships were set
4:11ablaze, lighting up the entire northern
4:13horizon. That thunderous blow was not
4:14aimed at territorial conquest, but was
4:16a sword stroke that completely severed
4:18the enemy's throat of supply,
4:19neutralizing their core vital force.
4:21The Song imperial court was shaken to
4:23its core, the earth trembled, and the
4:24pride of the "Celestial Empire" was
4:26trampled in humiliation. Lý Thường
4:28Kiệt's preemptive strategic move had
4:29pushed the enemy into a corner. They
4:31were rendered completely passive,
4:32forced to launch their campaign in a
4:34state of fury, bitterness, and severe
4:36logistical paralysis. If Ly Thuong Kiet
4:37chose to swing his sword to sever the
4:39serpent's head and break the enemy's
4:41morale, then eight centuries later,
4:43General Vo Nguyen Giap stood before a
4:45strategic chessboard of a completely
4:46different, far more brutal, and
4:48sophisticated nature. In early 1954,
4:50the French colonialists, in their death
4:53throes in Indochina, launched the
4:55Navarre Plan. A final, desperate
4:58attempt to salvage the honor of a
4:59fading colonial empire. General Henry
5:02Navarre, with the blind arrogance of
5:04one wielding modern weaponry, dropped
5:06tens of thousands of paratroopers into
5:08the Dien Bien Phu valley. He
5:09transformed this place into a massive
5:11fortified complex, an armored hedgehog
5:13with a system of reinforced bunkers and
5:15pillboxes, surrounded by fences, barbed
5:18wire, and dense minefields. The French
5:20boasted loudly, challenging the whole
5:21world to witness this impregnable
5:23fortress, the greatest meat grinder of
5:25all. They arrogantly set the trap,
5:27waiting for the Viet Minh forces to
5:28charge in so they could use their
5:30firepower to crush and shatter the
5:31independence will of our people.
5:33Initially, following the counsel of the
5:34advisory group, our military outlined a
5:36strategy of "quick strike, quick
5:38victory." The spearhead was to
5:39concentrate all artillery and infantry
5:41firepower, launching a massive,
5:42storm-like assault to sweep Dien Bien
5:44Phu clean in just three days and two
5:46nights. The spirit of our troops at
5:47that time was as fierce as a rising
5:49tide and a raging storm. Tens of
5:50thousands of frontline civilian workers
5:52, disregarding blood and bone, carved
5:54through mountains and forests, using
5:56human strength to haul ton-heavy 105mm
5:57artillery pieces over abysses and
5:59cliffs into combat positions.
6:00Everything was set in formation, guns
6:02were loaded, waiting only for the
6:04command to shake the earth and heavens.
6:06Yet, in the midst of the battle's
6:08boiling intensity, the supreme
6:10commander of the campaign, General Vo
6:12Nguyen Giap, stayed awake for many
6:14nights, his brow heavy with deep
6:15reflection. With the sharp vision of a
6:18born military genius, he perceived the
6:20unpredictable shifts on the battlefield
6:22; the French position was no longer a
6:24mere temporary defensive outpost. They
6:26had continuously reinforced their
6:28paratroopers, artillery, tanks, and air
6:30support, weaving them into a lethal
6:32defensive web of fire. If the "quick
6:34fight, quick victory" tactic were
6:35applied, throwing infantry into a
6:37direct assault in the open valley, our
6:38troops would be exposed to the enemy's
6:40destructive firepower. The blood and
6:42bone of tens of thousands of officers
6:44and soldiers would be shed in vain, and
6:46the very life of the resistance would
6:47be seriously threatened. And then, the
6:50greatest historical decision in General
6:52Giap's military career was issued at
6:54dawn on January 26: withdraw the
6:56artillery, postpone the assault, and
6:58shift the motto entirely from "quick
7:00fight, quick victory" to "steady fight,
7:03steady advance." This was an extremely
7:05difficult decision, demanding
7:06extraordinary political courage and
7:08supreme military wisdom. Hauling the
7:10artillery in was already a feat soaked
7:11in blood and tears. Now, they had to
7:13haul the artillery back out while the
7:15army was surging with morale. It was a
7:16challenge that tested every limit of
7:18endurance. But it was a decision born
7:19of a thorough understanding of the
7:20enemy and a deep appreciation for the
7:22sacred value of every drop of our
7:23soldiers 'and countrymen's blood.
7:24Instead of rushing into the wall of
7:26fire and wasting troops as the enemy
7:27desired, the General chose to patiently
7:29step back, dig trenches to encircle,
7:31and tighten the noose to starve the
7:33enemy out. Long ago, Ly Thuong Kiet
7:34proactively extended his reach to
7:36strike a fatal blow at the enemy's
7:37heart, stripping them of their perfect
7:39opportunity to launch a war. Vo Nguyen
7:41Giap withdrew his hand, compressing the
7:43spring of patience, refusing the blind
7:44path of sacrificing troops to set the
7:46most perfect trap instead. One utilized
7:48lightning-fast preemption as a weapon
7:50of destruction. One utilized
7:52unparalleled patience as his ultimate
7:53strength. Yet, ultimately, both great
7:57strategic minds converged at a
7:58brilliant pinnacle of military art:
8:00never fighting the way the enemy
8:02desired. They forced the most arrogant
8:06invading armies, armed with the most
8:08advanced weapons, into a playing field
8:10set by the Vietnamese, bowing to bloody
8:12rules dictated by Vietnam's own
8:13brilliant generals. The Song army
8:15wanted Dai Viet to tremble and await
8:17death; the Commander-in-Chief struck
8:18them with a thunderous blow on their
8:20own soil. General Navarre wanted our
8:21troops to charge into the maws of his
8:23artillery in open battle. General Giap
8:25chose the method of siege and
8:27encroachment until the Dien Bien
8:28hedgehog shed all its quills and
8:30shamefully raised the white flag.
8:32However, the distance between grand
8:33moves on a map and the cruel reality of
8:35the battlefield is always filled with
8:37blood and corpses. How were 100,000
8:41remnants of the Song army forced to
8:43perish by the Nhu Nguyet River? How
8:47could infantry soldiers with humble
8:49shovels tighten the siege, turning an
8:51impregnable fortress into a giant grave
8:53burying the French colonial empire? The
8:57true secret is waiting to be revealed.
8:59The preemptive move struck a thunderous
9:01blow, shaking the very roots of the
9:03invasion plot. But the ambition of the
9:06hungry northern wolves was never
9:08extinguished. After a stinging defeat,
9:10putting aside deep humiliation, Emperor
9:12Shenzong of Song hurriedly ordered Guo
9:14Kui and Zhao Jie to lead a massive army
9:16. 300,000 troops and horses, radiating
9:18murderous intent, thundered south,
9:19determined to flatten the land of Dai
9:21Viet. 800 years later, faced with the
9:23resilient and indomitable resistance of
9:25our army and people, the French
9:27colonialists also poured all their
9:28final hopes into a do-or-die gamble. A
9:30giant fortress stood in the rugged
9:32mountains of the Northwest, aiming to
9:34draw in and crush our main forces with
9:36heavy firepower. Standing before
9:38formidable expeditionary forces armed
9:40to the teeth, both supreme commanders
9:42of the nation fully grasped one truth.
9:45If the enemy fights face-to-face on
9:46flat ground, it is no different than
9:48throwing eggs at rocks, falling
9:50straight into the trap set by the
9:51brutal. The invincible strength of the
9:54Vietnamese people lies not in showing
9:55off numbers or boasting about armaments
9:57. That strength resides in the profound
9:59, arcane art of blending human
10:00intellect with the contours of
10:02mountains and rivers. Using favorable
10:04terrain as a shield, and natural
10:05hazards as spears and blades. Both
10:07Commander Ly Thuong Kiet and General Vo
10:09Nguyen Giap mapped out the same
10:10masterpiece: turning geography into a
10:12death trap to lock down the enemy's
10:14claws. Let us look back at the map of
10:16Thang Long's sacred defense in the 11th
10:17century. After the preemptive strike,
10:19Ly Thuong Kiet rode his horse to scour
10:21the entire Kinh Bac region. His
10:23strategic vision sought a bottleneck, a
10:25steel shield to block the enemy's
10:27advance, and he chose the Nhu Nguyet
10:29River, the middle section of today's
10:31Cau River. This is by no means an
10:34ordinary river; it is a perfect,
10:35naturally created trench to protect the
10:37heart of Thang Long. The northern bank
10:40slopes gently, but the southern bank is
10:42steep and treacherous. A magnificent
10:43terrain arranged by nature like a
10:45natural fortress wall shielding the
10:47survival of the southern realm. But
10:49natural hazards alone were not enough.
10:53Military master Ly Thuong Kiet wanted
10:55to mold this river into a true death
10:57trap. Under his command, tens of
10:59thousands of our troops and citizens
11:01achieved an unprecedented feat of
11:03engineering. Spanning dozens of miles,
11:05following the winding southern bank.
11:07Towering walls of earth were built up
11:09solidly. Outside the ramparts, tens of
11:12thousands of sharpened bamboo and
11:13wooden stakes were driven deep into the
11:15mud, interlocking into a formidable
11:17defensive system. Beneath the rushing
11:20river, hidden stakes were placed in
11:22treacherous positions. They remained
11:24invisible under the murky water,
11:26patiently waiting for enemy boats to
11:28charge and commit suicide. The Nhu
11:30Nguyet River defensive line is not just
11:32an inanimate physical barrier; it is a
11:34masterpiece of the art of active
11:35defensive warfare. When Quach Quy’s
11:37armored cavalry and elite infantry
11:39flooded to the northern bank, they
11:41suddenly halted in utter astonishment.
11:44Before those bloodthirsty remnants
11:46stood not a fragile Dai Viet army ripe
11:47for slaughter. Instead, there was a
11:50surging river crashing against a
11:52majestic, overlapping line of defenses.
11:54The terrain completely neutralized the
11:56sweeping power of Northern cavalry
11:58accustomed to galloping across open
11:59steppes. Armored warhorses could now
12:02only let out desperate neighs along the
12:04muddy banks. They were unable to wade
12:06across the deep river. Facing tens of
12:08thousands of poison-tipped arrows
12:10waiting from the southern bank, Quach
12:12Quy marched aggressively with dreams of
12:14strangling Thang Long, but was
12:15ultimately pinned down, caught in a
12:17dilemma, and left to rot in humiliation
12:19along the north bank of the Cau River,
12:21shifting now to the fierce Dien Bien
12:23Phu battlefield of 1954. The mindset of
12:26turning terrain into a weapon was
12:28elevated by General Vo Nguyen Giap to a
12:30new, unprecedented level of grandeur
12:32and tragedy. The Dien Bien Phu basin is
12:34a vast, flat valley surrounded by layer
12:36upon layer of high, rugged mountains.
12:40General Navarre chose this place as a
12:41stronghold due to the arrogance of
12:43those clinging to an outdated colonial
12:45mentality. He firmly believed the
12:47French had secured an unparalleled
12:49geographical advantage, with flat
12:51ground for easy construction of
12:52trenches and bunkers, clearing the way
12:54for tanks to tear up the battlefield
12:55and aircraft to dominate the skies for
12:57supplies. And what of the surrounding
12:59hills and mountains? In the
13:00shortsighted eyes of the Western
13:02command, they were merely a natural
13:03wall blocking the Viet Minh forces.
13:06They arrogantly believed that peasant
13:08soldiers in rubber sandals eating rice
13:10balls could never cross those high
13:11peaks with heavy artillery. And if our
13:15infantry dared to risk their lives
13:16plunging from the mountains into the
13:18open valley, they would instantly
13:20become bloody meat for target practice,
13:22exposed to artillery fire and
13:23devastating napalm bomb raids from the
13:25French air force—a perfect trap by
13:27Western military theory. Yet, Navarre
13:30and his mercenaries were gravely
13:32mistaken. A mistake that would be paid
13:34for with the humiliating collapse of an
13:36entire colonial empire in Indochina.
13:39General Vo Nguyen Giap did not see the
13:41mountains around Dien Bien Phu as
13:42obstacles; he saw them as a great iron
13:44hoop to tighten around the enemy's
13:46throat. With the historic decision to "
13:50steady advance, steady attack," General
13:52Giap turned those towering peaks into
13:54grand observatories and deadly
13:55launchpads, raining down destructive
13:57force upon the invaders to solve a
13:59daunting puzzle. How could they advance
14:03under enemy fire without sacrificing so
14:04much blood? General Giap ordered the
14:06deployment of one of the greatest
14:08tactics in military history. The tactic
14:10of trench warfare and encirclement. As
14:11the order was given, tens of thousands
14:13of soldiers became tenacious burrowers,
14:15pickaxe and shovel in hand, carving
14:17into the mother earth. They submerged
14:19themselves in mud, freezing mist, and
14:21artillery fire day and night. The
14:23network of trenches was divided into
14:24two highly scientific types. Main
14:27trenches circled the entire base group
14:29like a lethal noose, while branch
14:31trenches snaked their way to the very
14:32feet of each enemy outpost and bunker.
14:35Looking down from above, the Muong
14:37Thanh valley seemed to be tightened by
14:39a giant spiderweb. Hundreds of
14:41kilometers of trenches, like
14:42subterranean veins, constantly surged
14:44forward, tightening their grip to
14:46silently strangle the stomach of the
14:47Dien Bien Phu hedgehog. The French
14:49expeditionary force was terrified,
14:51falling into total despair as they
14:52realized the cruel irony. The
14:54bowl-shaped terrain they had proudly
14:56boasted of as a "killing field" had now
14:58become a giant cage trapping them
14:59inside. They fired shells and dropped
15:02napalm frantically, churning up the
15:04earth. But our trenches kept stubbornly
15:06advancing, gaining meter by meter,
15:08soaked in blood after every dark night.
15:10Our troops used the earth itself to
15:12shield the infantry, squeezing the
15:14enemy to the point of suffocation,
15:16digging right under their barbed wire
15:17to thrust a spear into the throat of
15:19the arrogant colonizers. General Ly
15:22Thuong Kiet used the fluidity of water
15:24and the sharpness of bamboo stakes to
15:26build an insurmountable wall. To lock
15:29away the ambitions of Northern invaders
15:31, General Vo Nguyen Giap used the grit
15:33of the soil and the strength of
15:34thousands of small shovels to weave a
15:36bloody noose, strangling the Western
15:38forces. Both brilliant generals proved
15:41an immortal truth in the sacred wars of
15:43national defense. The terrain of our
15:45land is never inanimate or indifferent.
15:48If one knows how to harness the power
15:49of nature, weakness can be transformed
15:51into strength. The Vietnamese people do
15:53not rely on brute force, but use
15:55brilliant ingenuity to lay traps and
15:57capture bloodthirsty predators. But
16:00rugged terrain and solid defensive
16:02systems only serve to slow the enemy's
16:04advance. On the other side of the Cau
16:07River, Quach Quy still held massive,
16:09roaring catapults in his arsenal. Deep
16:12in the Dien Bien basin, French
16:13artillery commanders arrogantly boasted
16:15that they would silence any Viet Minh
16:17cannon. That senseless arrogance would
16:20soon be ground into dust by a
16:21terrifying secret about to descend from
16:23a storm of fire. The history of our
16:26nation's defensive wars has always
16:28proven one bloody truth. Foreign
16:31invaders, whether northern feudal
16:33empires or Western colonial cliques,
16:35all carry a fanatical religion. The
16:38religion of firepower. They arrogantly
16:41believed that the extraordinary power
16:43of steel and giant killing machines
16:45could crush all will to resist, that
16:46the roar of cannons could plow through
16:48all defenses and break the backbone of
16:50a resilient nation. But alas, that
16:54blind arrogance would become their own
16:56grave. When facing the superior
16:58military intellect of the Vietnamese,
17:00no matter how advanced the firepower,
17:02it is merely a pile of soulless scrap
17:04metal. If you are deprived of
17:05operational space and the element of
17:07surprise, cast a look of contempt at
17:09the Dien Bien Phu basin, where French
17:11colonial arrogance reached the pinnacle
17:13of absurdity. Lieutenant Colonel
17:14Charles Pirot, the notorious artillery
17:16commander of the stronghold, once
17:18boasted complacently before seven
17:19international journalists. He
17:21arrogantly declared that the French
17:23artillery at Muong Thanh was more than
17:24enough to crush the Viet Minh forces.
17:27He claimed that the long-range 155mm
17:29heavy guns with immense power would
17:31easily silence any of our cannons that
17:33foolishly dared to speak. In the
17:37dogmatic and stereotypical military
17:39mindset of Western staff officers,
17:40artillery had to be positioned at the
17:42rear, firing in a parabolic arc over
17:44the mountains to support advancing
17:46infantry. It was precisely because of
17:49this rigid theory that Piroth loudly
17:51challenged his opponent to open fire.
17:53He swore he would retaliate, crushing
17:55and turning our artillery positions
17:57into dust in less than 15 minutes. That
18:00was the arrogant curse of a man
18:02suffering from delusions about France's
18:04invincible power. Yet, Piroth and his
18:07command staff could never have
18:08anticipated a lightning strike
18:10descending from the heavens. The genius
18:14mind and unprecedented tactical vision
18:16of General Vo Nguyen Giap devised a
18:18unique artillery strategy never before
18:20seen in any military manual in world
18:22history. Instead of hiding the
18:24artillery on the reverse slopes, the
18:25General ordered the guns to be hauled
18:27all the way to the mountain peaks. As
18:29the order rang out, thousands of
18:30calloused, blood-stained hands of
18:32peasant soldiers carried the load. They
18:34hauled artillery pieces weighing over
18:36two tons, crossing steep slopes and
18:38jagged, sharp limestone rocks. Not
18:39stopping at that earth-shattering
18:41miracle, our army continued to do
18:43something that would terrify even the
18:44ghosts and gods. Our troops spent day
18:46and night carving into the mountains,
18:47building bunkers, and drilling a
18:49massive tunnel straight through the
18:50cliff face. All 105mm heavy artillery
18:52and anti-aircraft guns were hidden deep
18:54underground on the mountainside, aiming
18:56their cold, black barrels directly down
18:58at the Muong Thanh valley. No longer
19:00firing along uncertain curved
19:02trajectories, Vietnamese artillery
19:03fired with direct aim. Every bunker,
19:05every gun emplacement, and every enemy
19:07command post was squarely fixed in
19:09their lethal sights. On the afternoon
19:13of March 13, 1954, the sky over Dien
19:15Bien Phu was torn to pieces, and the
19:17earth shook. The thunderous roar of the
19:20Vietnam People's Army artillery
19:22officially began. Thousands of fiery
19:23artillery shells rained down from the
19:25heights, as accurate as if they had
19:26eyes, striking directly at the heart of
19:28the Him Lam resistance center and the
19:30central sector. Our barrage was so
19:31furious, sudden, and terrifying that
19:33the entire French firepower system was
19:35crushed and completely paralyzed from
19:37the very first minutes. The enemy's
19:39trenches and bunkers collapsed into
19:40ruins. The bodies of the Foreign Legion
19:42were scattered, and shells exploded
19:44right inside the hearts of the Western
19:45cannons. Charles Piroth. The
19:48once-arrogant commander now cowered in
19:50his bunker, his face drained of every
19:52drop of blood. He screamed frantically,
19:54demanding counter-battery fire. But
19:56alas, how could he return fire when the
19:58Viet Minh's shells struck like
19:59thunderbolts falling straight from the
20:01sky? How could he find targets when our
20:03artillery bunkers were perfectly
20:05camouflaged and shielded by meters of
20:06earth and rock? The utter helplessness
20:09and the pathetic collapse of colonial
20:11pride completely shattered Piroth's
20:13will. Just two days after the opening
20:15barrage, he ended his own life with a
20:17grenade in that dark bunker, taking the
20:19humiliating disgrace of an empire to
20:21his grave. An elite vision for
20:23positioning firepower. That devastating
20:25element of surprise was actually a
20:27grand inheritance from a tactical
20:28problem that General Ly Thuong Kiet had
20:30brilliantly solved nearly nine
20:32centuries earlier. On the swampy
20:33northern bank of the Nhu Nguyet River,
20:35the defeated general Guo Kui also clung
20:38stubbornly to a blind pride in his
20:39military might. The Song Dynasty at
20:42that time boasted that it possessed the
20:44most advanced defense industry in the
20:46world. In Guo Kui's hands were giant
20:48catapults and "wooden ox and flowing
20:50horse" carts with the terrifying power
20:52to hurl boulders weighing hundreds of
20:54kilos to smash through fortifications.
20:57Added to this were elite crossbow units
20:59equipped with the "Shenbi" bow, a
21:01powerful weapon that dominated the
21:02field, capable of firing iron arrows
21:04that pierced armor from hundreds of
21:06paces away. They were convinced of a
21:08reckless belief. They thought that by
21:09simply deploying on the northern bank
21:11and raining fire down on the southern
21:12bank, the army and people of Dai Viet
21:14would be crushed to pieces. The
21:15defensive lines would crumble, paving
21:16the way for the cavalry to trample and
21:18flatten the capital of Thang Long. But
21:20Ly Thuong Kiet, with the brilliance of
21:22a master strategist, turned all of the
21:24North's sophisticated weapons into
21:25useless toys. He chose the Nhu Nguyet
21:27River for his defensive line because of
21:29its critical strategic terrain. The
21:30southern bank is significantly higher
21:32than the northern bank. This difference
21:33in elevation inadvertently turned the
21:35southern army's entire bamboo stake
21:36defensive line into a grand observation
21:38deck. A lethal launchpad waiting to
21:40rain down destruction upon the enemy.
21:42As the Song troops laboriously dragged
21:43their catapults and repeating crossbows
21:45to the water's edge, they realized a
21:47bitter truth. They had to tilt their
21:49heads back to shoot from the low ground
21:50up toward the heights. Cruel laws of
21:52physics stripped away more than half
21:54the range and lethal power of the Song
21:56firepower. Giant boulders soared upward
21:58, losing momentum before reaching the
22:00southern ramparts, falling away in
22:01pieces. They sank helplessly into the
22:03churning, swift-flowing river. The
22:05proud arrows of the Divine Crossbow
22:06also fell weakly against the solid
22:08defensive walls of clay and bamboo
22:10stakes built by our troops. Just as the
22:12invaders' firepower became weary,
22:14useless, and pathetic, Ly Thuong Kiet
22:16coldly signaled the counterattack. From
22:18the heights of the southern bank, the
22:19Dai Viet soldiers began raining down
22:21storms of arrows and thunderous
22:22projectiles. The repeating crossbow, a
22:24fearsome defensive weapon and the
22:26pinnacle of Vietnamese craftsmanship,
22:28was unleashed to its full potential.
22:30With every trigger pull, dozens of
22:32poison-tipped arrows whistled through
22:34the wind, slamming into the tightly
22:36packed, chaotic enemy cavalry trampling
22:38each other in the mud. It did not stop
22:40there; the night on the Nhu Nguyet
22:42River suddenly blazed with a weapon of
22:44destruction known as fire arrows.
22:47Flaming arrows tore through the dark
22:48night like falling stars, incinerating
22:50all the Song troops 'desperate attempts
22:52to bridge the river. Whenever the enemy
22:55recklessly launched their rafts, they
22:57instantly became living targets from
22:59above. Tens of thousands of enemy
23:01corpses lay under the relentless rain
23:03of fire, their blood staining the great
23:05river red. Quach Quy roared in madness,
23:07swinging his sword to execute those
23:09fleeing to force his soldiers across
23:11the river. But in return, there were
23:13only miserable screams and lifeless
23:14bodies drifting aimlessly in the water.
23:17The most modern equipment, the pride of
23:19the North, was completely crushed and
23:21pulverized by the tactical vision and
23:23supreme firepower of a general carrying
23:25the blood of the Lac Hong. Both great
23:27commanders-in-chief, though separated
23:29by nearly a millennium, shared the same
23:30vision that pierced through heaven and
23:32earth. They did not use brute force to
23:34compete, nor did they use mindless
23:36steel to confront the enemy's steel.
23:38They used the cool heads of geniuses to
23:40calculate altitude, firing angles, and
23:42above all, to deliver a blow of
23:43absolute surprise. Hiding firepower in
23:45the shadows, compressing the fury of
23:47the nation to unleash a slash that
23:49dismembered the enemy at their most
23:50vulnerable pressure point. The enemy's
23:52physical bodies were mangled, their mad
23:54dreams of conquest were shattered. In
23:56the next step, the ultimate punishment
23:58would rain directly upon the trembling
24:00souls of the survivors. The darkness of
24:02war is not only dyed with red blood and
24:04blinding smoke; the most terrifying,
24:06most devastating weapon unleashed upon
24:08invading armies is an invisible weapon
24:10that cannot be touched or seen by the
24:12naked eye. Even if expeditionary armies
24:16are wrapped in the strongest armor and
24:18equipped with the most brutal,
24:20destructive firepower, deep within
24:22their souls always lies a vague fear.
24:26It is the constant obsession with
24:27unforeseen deaths in a foreign land.
24:30The greatest geniuses of our nation's
24:32military art. Not only did they know
24:34how to mangle the enemy’s bodies,
24:36they were also supreme masters at
24:37crushing their hearts, exposing their
24:39cowardice, and completely breaking the
24:41will of the invaders to fight. Ancient
24:43military tactics concluded that the
24:45highest strategy is to attack the
24:46enemy's plans, while the lowest
24:48strategy is to lay siege to cities. To
24:50subdue the enemy without fighting, that
24:51is the divine talent of a commander.
24:53Both Commander-in-Chief Ly Thuong Kiet
24:55and General Vo Nguyen Giap, with a
24:57vision far ahead of their time, used
24:59psychological warfare as a decisive
25:00blow, an invisible, razor-sharp blade
25:02plunged straight into the mental vitals
25:04of the most arrogant invading armies.
25:07Let us return to the marshlands on the
25:09northern bank of the Nhu Nguyet River
25:11during the bone-chilling spring nights
25:13of 1077, where the massive 300,000-
25:15strong army of the Song dynasty found
25:17itself in a desperate situation. Their
25:21inability to breach the defensive line
25:23of stakes, combined with the lethal,
25:25pestilent miasma of the southern
25:26tropics, left the Song forces drained
25:28of vitality, starving of supplies,
25:30ravaged by disease, and with nothing
25:32left to plunder. The enemy camp was
25:35filled with agonizing screams. Tens of
25:37thousands of Song soldier corpses lay
25:39unburied, swarmed by flies, emitting an
25:41overwhelming stench. From the
25:43conscripted soldiers forced to serve as
25:45cannon fodder to the commanding
25:47generals, a sense of depression,
25:48confusion, and absolute terror had
25:50engulfed the entire northern army. They
25:53curled up in damp, tattered tents,
25:55every night becoming a nightmare. They
25:59lived in constant fear of the
26:00poison-tipped arrows raining down from
26:02the southern bank, haunted by a death
26:03that stood ready to swallow their lives
26:05. It was precisely at the moment when
26:06the morale and spirit of the Song army
26:08were most fragile and shattered that
26:09Commander-in-Chief Ly Thuong Kiet
26:10launched the greatest psychological
26:12warfare strike in our thousand-year
26:13history of national defense. He
26:14understood down to the finest detail a
26:16fatal weakness of the northerners at
26:18that time. That was their fanaticism,
26:20superstition, and absolute belief in
26:22the power of mystical deities. Ly
26:24Thuong Kiet sent men to sneak into the
26:26temple of the two river gods, Truong
26:27Hong and Chuong Hat, which stood
26:29majestically right by the front lines,
26:31to chant a poem. Amidst the dark,
26:33silent gloom of the night. There was
26:35only the sound of the wind howling
26:36through the bamboo groves and the waves
26:38slapping against the wooden stakes.
26:39Suddenly, from the sacred temple, a
26:41deep and powerful voice resonated. The
26:44sound echoed like thunder, rolling over
26:46the water and spreading deep into the
26:48enemy camp. "The Southern country's
26:50mountains and rivers, the Southern
26:51Emperor resides; its fate is etched in
26:53the Heavenly book. Why then do you
26:54bandits dare to invade? You will surely
26:56suffer a crushing defeat." Those four
26:59lines of poetry carried a resonance
27:00that was both heroic and tragic,
27:02chillingly tearing through the night.
27:03It struck directly into the eardrums
27:05and pierced the minds of tens of
27:06thousands of Song soldiers who were
27:08staying awake all night in a state of
27:09panic. In the pitch-black darkness
27:12shrouded in mist, the Northern soldiers
27:14, already terrified, heard the echoes
27:16from the sacred temple and felt as if
27:17the gods of the Viet land were
27:19manifesting to judge their crimes. The
27:22poem asserts an eternal truth: the
27:23Southern rivers and mountains belong to
27:25the Southern Emperor, and these
27:26boundaries are clearly defined in the
27:28heavenly book. The Song army, who
27:30claimed to be the Celestial Empire,
27:31boasted of their greatness and declared
27:33they were on a heaven-sent mission to
27:35conquer. But that prophetic poem
27:36stripped away all of their delusional
27:38and fallacious justifications. The
27:40verdict was clear: why would the
27:41tyrannical invaders dare to commit such
27:43an intrusion? Launching an invasion to
27:45seize the Southern land was a crime
27:47against the will of heaven. Guilt and
27:49absolute terror, born from the belief
27:50that they were cursed and punished by
27:52the gods, tore the invaders' hearts
27:54apart. This invisible blow was so
27:56terrifying that it completely shattered
27:58any remaining will for the Song troops
28:00to wield their swords. They believed
28:01that their act of aggression had been
28:03abandoned by heaven and earth, and that
28:04spirits were filled with fury. Panic
28:06spread like a deadly plague throughout
28:08the enemy ranks. Those who survived
28:11disease and arrows now trembled,
28:13kneeling in the black mud, weapons
28:14slipping from their hands, wanting only
28:16to abandon their gear and flee back
28:18home, with no bloody assault required.
28:21With a masterful grasp of psychology,
28:23Ly Thuong Kiet’s "Nam Quoc Son Ha"
28:25disarmed tens of thousands of enemy
28:28troops. It crushed and trampled upon
28:30the morale of Quach Quy right on the
28:31battlefield. Nearly a millennium later,
28:33at the fiery battlefield of Dien Bien
28:35Phu, General Vo Nguyen Giap faced an
28:37equally arrogant invading force. But
28:39they, too, were sinking into despair
28:41each day, struggling in the quagmire of
28:43their inevitable defeat. As our
28:45soldiers 'tightening trenches closed in
28:47like relentless, suffocating nooses.
28:51When the legendary French artillery was
28:53silenced and humiliated by thunderous
28:55strikes from the mountains, the Dien
28:57Bien Phu stronghold officially became a
28:59giant mass grave, a living hell for the
29:01French Legionnaires. The most
29:04formidable French legions, once proud
29:05of their campaigns across Europe and
29:07North Africa, were now forced to burrow
29:09like sewer rats in trenches reeking of
29:11blood, mud, and excrement. The false
29:13light of civilization they boasted of
29:15bringing to Indochina was now laid bare
29:17and exposed. But General Giap, with his
29:19grand vision, understood that using
29:21only firepower to eliminate every
29:22single soldier would result in
29:24unnecessary and bloody sacrifices for
29:26our troops. Though cornered,
29:28Navarre’s army still possessed the
29:30frantic survival instinct of wounded
29:31beasts, capable of fighting back
29:33fiercely. Therefore, a second front was
29:36launched with great momentum. The front
29:38of the radio waves; to shatter the
29:40French forces' last delusional hope of
29:42survival, our troops wielded a
29:43razor-sharp blade to sever the enemy's
29:46aerial umbilical cord. The Viet Minh's
29:48anti-aircraft fire net spread out,
29:49weaving into fiery cyclones that tore
29:51through the sky. The terror-stricken
29:53French pilots were forced to fly to
29:55great altitudes, dropping supplies
29:57blindly. The disastrous result was that
29:58half of the enemy’s parachuted food,
30:00ammunition, and even medicine fell
30:02straight into our positions. French
30:03soldiers at the bottom of the trenches,
30:05starving and desperate, stood
30:06helplessly watching the crates of
30:08canned meat, cheese, and ammo they
30:09craved drift toward the opponent. A
30:11feeling of being abandoned, betrayed by
30:13the very sky. It was a lethal blow, a
30:15sledgehammer to the crumbling morale of
30:17the Expeditionary Corps. Combined with
30:19that absolute isolation were sonic
30:21attacks that pierced deep into the
30:23enemy's psyche. On the hills reeking of
30:25gunpowder just captured by our forces
30:27in blood, loudspeakers were aimed
30:29directly down into the Muong Thanh
30:30valley. These were not harsh insults,
30:33but rather precise, evocative French
30:35voices, coldly announcing the
30:36irreversible defeat of the French army.
30:41Those speakers broadcasted
30:42heartbreaking melodies from their
30:43French homeland and tearful letters
30:45from mothers and wives whose husbands
30:47and sons were trapped, waiting for
30:49death in Indochina. Those sounds evoked
30:52nostalgia for their lost youth and the
30:53senseless slaughterhouse of an unjust
30:55war in this land of lethal forests and
30:57rivers. It ate away at the enemy’s
30:59psyche, making every gunshot sound
31:01increasingly hollow and terrifying. At
31:03the same time, our artillery shells
31:05were packed not with explosives, but
31:07with psychological warfare leaflets.
31:09They fluttered down into the mud,
31:11threatening no violence, but simply
31:12revealing the only way out: surrender
31:14to live. Embrace a shameful death right
31:17here. Amidst the mud of Muong Thanh,
31:20under the battered shelling, hunger,
31:22and disease, the French forces 'will to
31:24fight completely collapsed. Rotting
31:27from within. World-renowned legions
31:29that had never tasted defeat. Now, they
31:31were merely soulless corpses trembling
31:33in dark bunkers. Counting down the days
31:36to the final judgment. From the misty
31:39Nhu Nguyet River to the smoke-filled
31:41basin of Dien Bien, both of the
31:42nation’s great strategists carved an
31:44eternal truth of Vietnamese military
31:46art. True omnipotence does not lie in
31:49mindless swords or soulless cannons. It
31:51lies in superior intellect,
31:53understanding, and controlling the
31:55human mind. Ly Thuong Kiet used
31:57spiritual judgment to shatter the
31:59invasion dreams of the Northern enemy.
32:01Vo Nguyen Giap used despair and
32:03isolation to dissolve the illusions of
32:05Western colonialism. When the soul has
32:07died, the will has crumbled. No matter
32:09how vast an army may be, it becomes
32:11nothing but rotting timber, waiting for
32:13a gust of wind to collapse into ruin.
32:16When the enemy's will to fight has
32:18shattered into pathetic fragments. When
32:21the world’s most arrogant invading
32:22armies are reduced to weary shadows,
32:24languishing as they await the
32:26reaper’s scythe. That is the most
32:29sacred and brilliant moment for the
32:30true character of a great general to be
32:32fully revealed. Human history has
32:35exposed countless bloody and brutal
32:37massacres. Where victors, blinded by
32:40glory and hatred, drove their enemies
32:42into a corner for total annihilation.
32:45The nature of the brutes of tyrannical
32:47empires is always to draw swords and
32:49kill to the last soul, hoping to
32:51satisfy their bloodlust and flaunt
32:53their savage power. But for the
32:58brilliant figures of the Vietnamese
32:59nation, the heroes burdened with the
33:01destiny of an entire people, their
33:03perspective resided in an entirely
33:04different realm. They fully grasped a
33:08fundamental truth. The absolute
33:10pinnacle of military art is not total
33:12destruction. That peak is knowing when
33:15to sheath the sword, the art of ending
33:17a war—a brilliant intersection of
33:19noble humanity and profound diplomatic
33:21vision shared by Commander Ly Thuong
33:23Kiet and General Vo Nguyen Giap. Let us
33:25cast our gaze toward the northern bank
33:27of the Nhu Nguyet River in the spring
33:29of 1077. Guo Kui, the infamous
33:32commander of the Song dynasty, had by
33:34then fallen into a state of utter
33:36despair, tragedy, and humiliation. The
33:38army of 300,000 men and horses that had
33:39once surged across the border with
33:41overwhelming murderous intent had now
33:43lost more than half its strength to the
33:44Southern army’s vengeance. Tens of
33:46thousands of Song soldiers' corpses
33:48drifted across the surface of the Cau
33:49River, staining the waters red. Tens of
33:51thousands of others fell forever in the
33:53marshes, victims of noxious vapors,
33:55starvation, and rampant disease. Their
33:57food supplies were depleted to the very
33:58last grain of rice. They could not
34:00advance, blocked by Ly Thuong Kiet's
34:02steel defensive line and volleys of
34:04poisoned arrows. They could not retreat
34:06, paralyzed by the fear of the Song
34:07court's wrath and the blade of
34:09punishment for their failure and
34:10arrogance. Guo Kui's army was now like
34:13a giant beast struggling in an iron
34:15cage, gasping for breath yet still
34:17baring its fangs. Standing before this
34:20cornered beast, Commander Ly Thuong
34:22Kiet held the power of life and death,
34:24with morale surging like a storm.
34:27Thousands of Dai Viet troops on the
34:28southern bank waited only for a flag
34:30signal to surge across. The seething
34:32strength of our army and people was
34:34more than enough to drown the remnants
34:36of the Song in a sea of blood, wiping
34:38out every last northern invader. Yet,
34:41the profound and cold intellect of a
34:43great statesman stayed the hand of
34:44vengeance. Ly Thuong Kiet saw through
34:48to a game far greater than a mere
34:49battle of slaughter. Though the Song
34:51Dynasty was weakening and had suffered
34:53a crushing defeat at Nhu Nguyet, it
34:55remained a vast empire with infinite
34:57potential. If Dai Viet pressed the
34:59attack to annihilate Guo Kui’s entire
35:01army, the Song Emperor would lose face
35:03before his court and surrounding
35:05nations. The blind pride and arrogance
35:07of the Northern imperial dynasty would
35:09surely ignite a fire of vengeance that
35:11could never be extinguished. They would
35:15then exhaust all resources to mobilize
35:17millions of troops for revenge,
35:18plunging Dai Viet into an endless cycle
35:21of brutal warfare. Bloodshed and death
35:23would continue for generation after
35:25generation without end. The lives of
35:27the people would be plunged into total
35:29misery. Therefore, Ly Thuong Kiet made
35:31a decision that has astonished history
35:32for a thousand years. At the height of
35:34his victory, he proactively sent an
35:36envoy to the enemy camp to propose
35:38peace. The act of "asking" here was not
35:41submission, but a brilliant diplomatic
35:43maneuver—a gesture that seemed humble
35:45on the surface but held the power to
35:47dictate terms in reality. Ly Thuong
35:50Kiet lowered a golden ladder, offering
35:52Guo Kui a way out. The defeated general
35:56could use it to escape his humiliation,
35:58save tens of thousands of Song lives,
35:59and preserve the face of the Northern
36:01court. Like a drowning man grasping at
36:04a straw, Guo Kui was overjoyed, quickly
36:06accepting the peace deal and
36:07immediately ordering his troops to
36:09break camp and retreat. The invading
36:11army slunk away in disgrace, abandoning
36:13their tainted dreams of conquest on
36:15Southern soil. Ly Thuong Kiet used
36:17diplomacy to settle the conflict,
36:18avoiding further bloodshed and securing
36:21the nation’s future forever. With a
36:23great humanitarian heart and a sharp,
36:24cold intellect, he permanently
36:26extinguished the Song’s ambition to
36:28invade, buying decades of peace and
36:29prosperity for the people of Dai Viet.
36:31That philosophy—defeating cruelty
36:33with righteousness and replacing
36:35violence with benevolence—shone
36:36brightly once again through the
36:38masterful decisions of General Vo
36:39Nguyen Giap. On the fiery battlefield
36:41of Dien Bien Phu eight and a half
36:43decades later, that truth roared once
36:44more in an immortal epic. On the
36:47afternoon of May 7, 1954, when the "
36:51Determined to Fight, Determined to Win"
36:53flag, bright red with glory, flew
36:54proudly atop General de Castries '
36:56bunker, the entire Dien Bien Phu
36:58entrenched camp—the arrogant pride of
37:00the French empire—officially
37:01collapsed in ruins. Over ten thousand
37:03French soldiers, from elite
37:04paratroopers to the notorious Foreign
37:06Legion, grit their teeth as they
37:08crawled out from bunkers submerged in
37:10mud, filth, and blood. They trembled,
37:12heads bowed, holding up shameful white
37:14rags to surrender. These were the very
37:16people who had sown so much pain and
37:18sorrow, bathing our compatriots in
37:19blood across every corner of the
37:21country. In that moment of ultimate
37:23glory, the Vietnam People’s Army,
37:25under the leadership of President Ho
37:27Chi Minh and General Vo Nguyen Giap,
37:29acted with a nobility that left the
37:31entire Western world stunned and
37:32ashamed. There was absolutely no bloody
37:36massacre or cowardly act of revenge
37:38inflicted upon the defeated. Instead of
37:41aiming their guns at those who had
37:43bombed and burned their villages, Uncle
37:45Ho’s soldiers shared their clear
37:47water and their last precious portions
37:49of rice with prisoners faint from
37:50hunger, thirst, and fear. Our military
37:53medical forces, despite severe
37:54shortages of supplies, worked day and
37:56night with dedication to bandage and
37:57perform surgeries to save thousands of
37:59French wounded soldiers. The hands of
38:01Vietnamese nurses gently reclaimed the
38:03lives of the very men who had once
38:04taken up arms to invade their country.
38:07The sight of tall Western expeditionary
38:09soldiers, now broken, being carried off
38:11the tragic battlefield by the very
38:13peasants in quilted vests and
38:14tire-rubber sandals they once despised
38:16is an immortal epic. It is the
38:19invincible power of tolerance and
38:21profound humanity. It is the eternal
38:23cultural essence of the Vietnamese
38:25people. General Vo Nguyen Giap, much
38:27like Commander-in-Chief Ly Thuong Kiet,
38:29waged wars of national defense not out
38:31of bloodlust or a desire for vengeance.
38:33The most sacred and ultimate goal of
38:34the Vietnamese military throughout
38:36history has always been to crush
38:38foreign aggression, regain independence
38:40and freedom, and establish a lasting
38:42peace. The strategic decisive battle at
38:44Dien Bien Phu was not designed to erase
38:45France or stain the soil with the blood
38:47of all Western expeditionary forces. It
38:49was a grand military lever that struck
38:51with the weight of a thousand tons upon
38:53the colonialists, shattering their
38:55stubborn will to cling to their colony
38:56and forcing them to bow their heads at
38:58the negotiating table from a position
39:00of defeat. The thunder at Muong Thanh
39:02paved the way for the signing pens. The
39:05Geneva Accords ended nearly a century
39:07of dark occupation, opening a new era
39:09of glorious radiance for the nation,
39:11fighting with overwhelming,
39:12lightning-fast military power, yet
39:14ending the war with the nobility of
39:16diplomacy and human heart. That is how
39:18great Vietnamese people subdue their
39:20enemies. The brightest point of
39:22intersection between the two
39:23illustrious generals lies not only in
39:25their cunning strategies or thunderous
39:27firepower, but in their profound love
39:28for humanity. They cherished every
39:30single drop of blood of their own
39:32soldiers and compatriots. Ready to
39:34postpone an assault, accepting a
39:35retreat to minimize casualties, and
39:37most significantly of all. They were
39:39magnanimous enough to open a path of
39:41life for the enemy once they had
39:42wearily laid down their arms. It is
39:44that invisible weapon of the human
39:46heart, that shining morality, which is
39:48the source that made the strength of
39:49the Dai Viet army under the Ly dynasty
39:51or the Vietnam People's Army in the Ho
39:53Chi Minh era invincible. Not only
39:55conquering enemies on the blood-soaked
39:56battlefield but also winning over the
39:58world with the nobility of the national
40:00spirit. The thick smoke and dust of the
40:02fierce battle on the banks of the Nhu
40:03Nguyet river or the towering flames of
40:05war in the valley. Dien Bien Phu has
40:07forever faded into the eternal flow of
40:09time. Invading empires that once
40:11boasted of their dominance now only
40:12leave behind disgraceful pages of
40:14history stained with blood and tears of
40:16defeat. But the great legacy left
40:18behind by the nation's two outstanding
40:20generals remains toweringly etched into
40:22the landscape, like brilliant
40:23lighthouses. Forever illuminating the
40:25path of survival and the unique
40:27military art of the Lac Hong
40:29descendants. To fully explain what
40:32forged those genius minds and those
40:33extraordinary strategic visions, we are
40:35compelled to look into a turning-point
40:37historical truth. A truth that once
40:40drove the arrogant enemy staff to
40:41madness, leaving them bitter to the
40:43point of vomiting blood when they
40:45finally realized it, far too late. Both
40:46Commander-in-Chief Ly Thuong Kiet and
40:49General Vo Nguyen Giap. Or why the
40:51brightest stars of Dai Viet's martial
40:53prowess never came from any dogmatic
40:55military academy. They were never
40:57molded or bound by the rigid, hollow
40:59classic military theories of the
41:01Northern invaders or the Western
41:02colonialists. The enemy committed a
41:05fatal, blindsiding mistake. The blind
41:07arrogance of those who considered
41:09themselves the center of the universe.
41:11Song Dynasty generals clung blindly to
41:13Sun Tzu’s art of war, dismissing a
41:15court official like Ly Thuong Kiet.
41:17French colonial officers, graduates of
41:19prestigious academies like Saint-Cyr,
41:21sneered at a history teacher and
41:22journalist with a burning revolutionary
41:24heart like Vo Nguyen Giap. But alas,
41:27that very foolish contempt dug their
41:29own graves. Not being constrained by
41:32academic or scholastic military
41:34curricula became the source of their
41:36strength, giving both commanders an
41:38operational vision that was
41:39exceptionally free, liberated, and
41:41deeply rooted in blood-soaked reality.
41:44The thinking of Ly Thuong Kiet and Vo
41:46Nguyen Giap was the thinking of men of
41:48action. They absorbed the essence of
41:49human military strategy but never
41:51copied it mechanically. They placed it
41:53into a crucible, refining it through
41:54the lens of Vietnamese culture and
41:55borrowing from the treacherous
41:57mountains and rivers of Vietnam’s
41:58terrain. And above all, they fully
42:00grasped the indomitable spirit of the
42:01Vietnamese people. The core, greatest
42:03principle throughout their glorious
42:05military careers was the ironclad rule:
42:07"retaining the unchanging, to respond
42:09to the infinitely changing." To deal
42:12with the multitude. Of unpredictable
42:14changes. The "infinitely changing" on
42:16the battlefield refers to tactics, the
42:18twists of fate, or the enemy's advanced
42:20firepower and overwhelming force. When
42:22the enemy relied on sheer numbers to
42:23press an attack, Ly Thuong Kiet chose
42:25to strike preemptively with rapid naval
42:26warfare, drawing his sword to crush
42:28their schemes in the cradle. When the
42:30colonialists relied on heavy artillery
42:31and tanks, Vo Nguyen Giap immediately
42:33pivoted and chose the strategy of
42:34tactical withdrawal. Digging trenches
42:36to surround and choke the enemy's
42:38throat. There is no fixed formula, no
42:40golden standard of foreign origin that
42:42the Vietnamese cannot break. Every
42:45tactic, no matter how unusual or
42:47contrary to conventional warfare, is
42:49deployed as long as it serves one
42:51single, sacred, and unchanging goal.
42:53That great, unchanging goal is the
42:55objective of defending the nation's
42:57independence and sovereignty, the
42:59desire to preserve every sacred inch of
43:01land reclaimed by our ancestors' blood.
43:03And above all, it is the spirit of
43:05maximizing the protection of the lives
43:07of our cadres, soldiers, and
43:08compatriots. This absolute flexibility
43:10and unpredictable nature have turned
43:12the Vietnamese army into an invisible
43:14force of water. When calm, it
43:15gracefully weaves through the deadly
43:17crevices of rocks, but when it
43:19accumulates enough potential energy, it
43:21surges with the fury of a great flood,
43:23sweeping away and crushing every
43:24obstacle of the invaders. However, no
43:26matter how superior one's intellect is,
43:28and no matter how great the operational
43:31plans may be, they remain merely
43:32delusional sketches on a map if they
43:34lack an omnipotent source of power. A
43:37destructive power that both the Song
43:39Dynasty and the French Empire could
43:41never measure or decipher. That is the
43:43mountain-moving and sea-filling power
43:45of people's war. Ly Thuong Kiet is
43:46great not just because he knew how to
43:48wield a sword and command generals; he
43:49became a legend in the hearts of the
43:51nation because he knew how to ignite
43:52the fire of patriotism in the veins of
43:54thousands of laborers and militia.
43:56Small people in coarse cloth
43:57voluntarily offered their strength,
43:59working day and night to build ramparts
44:01and fortresses along the south bank of
44:02the Cau River. The treacherous
44:04underwater stakes and the solid earthen
44:06walls soaked in sweat, which halted the
44:08northern armored cavalry, were built by
44:10the very unity of the most humble
44:12peasants. They fought not for salary,
44:14but for the fields, the thatched roofs,
44:16and the ancestral graves that were
44:18being eyed by the enemy. Eight
44:21centuries later, General Vo Nguyen Giap
44:22once again inherited and propelled the
44:24art of people's war to a brilliant new
44:26height, completely shattering the
44:28industrial war machine of the French
44:30empire. General Navarre was arrogant
44:33and smug, possessing sky-darkening
44:35bombers, mud-wading tanks, and massive
44:37arms supplies from the U.S., but he
44:39still lost. He suffered a bitter and
44:41humiliating defeat at the hands of
44:43frail, paint-chipped bicycles. He
44:44collapsed before the bare feet of
44:46hundreds of thousands of frontline
44:47civilian workers. Mothers, sisters, and
44:49young volunteers spent long, grueling
44:51months carrying artillery shells on
44:53their backs. They carved through
44:54mountains, cleared forests, and used
44:56their own blood and flesh to pave the
44:57way for artillery to reach the
44:59battlefield. The Dien Bien Phu valley
45:00was tightened and suffocated, not only
45:02by steel-willed main divisions but by
45:04an entire nation rising up in force.
45:06The strength of Ly Thuong Kiet and Vo
45:08Nguyen Giap is the crystallization and
45:10convergence of the indomitable will of
45:11a race that refuses to bow down as
45:13slaves. When a general understands the
45:15people's heart, knows how to rely on
45:17them, and gathers their strength, every
45:19mountain, river, tree, and blade of
45:21grass in this land instantly becomes a
45:23weapon. Every village becomes an
45:26impregnable fortress, burying the
45:28ambitions of every enemy. Two great
45:31battles, two separate eras, facing two
45:33different brutal enemies, yet sharing
45:35the same heartbeat of pride and the
45:37same epic song of triumph. Grand
45:40Commander Ly Thuong Kiet and General Vo
45:42Nguyen Giap. Two brilliant stars in the
45:45galaxy of Vietnamese history have
45:47carved into the world a steel-hard
45:49truth: a nation, however small in size
45:51and equipped with cruder, inferior
45:53weapons than the enemy, can never be
45:55conquered by any foreign power if it
45:57possesses a brilliant strategic mind,
45:59soaring national pride, and a
46:01diamond-solid unity of all its people.
46:05Every dark ambition, every blind
46:07arrogance of foreign powers when
46:09touching this sacred land will pay the
46:11price in blood, in tragic failure, and
46:13be forever nailed to the pillar of
46:14shame in human history. Yeah.

About this transcript

This page contains the full transcript of LÝ THƯỜNG KIỆT & VÕ NGUYÊN GIÁP: [BÍ QUYẾT QUÂN SỰ] CHUNG SAU GẦN 900 NĂM? by Hồ Sơ Chiến Trận, generated from the public captions YouTube serves with the video. The transcript has 8,567 words across 1,431 segments, with the original timestamps preserved so you can click any line to jump to that moment in the embedded player.

What you can do with it

Use the transcript to take notes, quote the speaker, build a study guide, generate a summary with ChatGPT or Claude via the YouTube Summary tool, or export it as a timed subtitle file with YouTube to SRT. You can also re-open it in the transcriber to translate the transcript into 100+ languages.

Free YouTube transcript tool

YouTube2Text is a free YouTube transcript generator — no signup, no daily limit. Paste any YouTube link and get the full transcript instantly, with timestamps, click-to-jump, translation to 100+ languages, AI prompts for ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, and exports to TXT, SRT, VTT, or Markdown.