Qualla: Battle of Nhu Nguyet River (1077) https://qualla.com/battle-of-nhu-nguyet-river-1077 en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:37 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/w/7/g/2/battle-of-nhu-nguyet-river-1077-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Battle of Nhu Nguyet River (1077) https://qualla.com/battle-of-nhu-nguyet-river-1077 Battle of Nhu Nguyet River (1077): Introduction https://qualla.com/battle-of-nhu-nguyet-river-1077/ Photo credit Daderot, CC0. A poem turned the tide. In February 1077, with 300,000 Song Chinese soldiers massed on the north bank of the Cau River and his defensive lines buckling, Vietnamese general Ly Thuong Kiet recited 'Nam Quoc Son Ha' -- 'The rivers and mountains of the Southern Country' -- before his battered troops. Vietnamese tradition holds that the words electrified the army. They counterattacked, drove the Song forces back across the river, and held. The poem would endure for nearly a thousand years as Vietnam's founding declaration of sovereignty, and the battle itself -- fought along what was then called the Nhu Nguyet River, in modern Bac Ninh Province -- would mark the moment Dai Viet proved it could face the Song Empire and survive.

Read more: Battle of Nhu Nguyet River (1077) on Qualla

Image: Daderot | CC0

]]> Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/7/g/2/battle-of-nhu-nguyet-river-1077-wp/w7g2-battle-of-nhu-nguyet-river-1077-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Battle of Nhu Nguyet River (1077): The Raid That Started a War https://qualla.com/battle-of-nhu-nguyet-river-1077/ Photo credit NDS at Vietnamese Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0. The roots of the battle ran two decades deep. By the 1050s, the Vietnamese kingdom of Dai Viet under the Ly dynasty had been aggressively expanding northward, absorbing Nung and Tay peoples into its sphere of influence and alarming the Song court. Border clashes intensified throu...

Read more: Battle of Nhu Nguyet River (1077) on Qualla

Image: NDS at Vietnamese Wikipedia | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/7/g/2/battle-of-nhu-nguyet-river-1077-wp/w7g2-battle-of-nhu-nguyet-river-1077-the-raid-that-started-a-war.mp3 0:06 2 full Battle of Nhu Nguyet River (1077): Bamboo, Oil, and Spikes https://qualla.com/battle-of-nhu-nguyet-river-1077/ Photo credit NDS at Vietnamese Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0. Ly Thuong Kiet chose his ground carefully. The Cau River -- the Nhu Nguyet in older Vietnamese -- was the last major natural barrier between the Song army and the Red River Delta, the political and spiritual core of Dai Viet. The tombs of former rulers lay beyond it, along with t...

Read more: Battle of Nhu Nguyet River (1077) on Qualla

Image: NDS at Vietnamese Wikipedia | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/7/g/2/battle-of-nhu-nguyet-river-1077-wp/w7g2-battle-of-nhu-nguyet-river-1077-bamboo-oil-and-spikes.mp3 0:06 3 full Battle of Nhu Nguyet River (1077): The River Holds https://qualla.com/battle-of-nhu-nguyet-river-1077/ Photo credit NDS at Vietnamese Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0. In early 1077, Guo Kui and Zhao Jie's combined forces gathered on the north bank. Zhao Jie ordered catapults built to bombard the Vietnamese fleet, and floating bridges to span the river. The catapult barrage succeeded in clearing Viet boats from the crossing zone, and several hu...

Read more: Battle of Nhu Nguyet River (1077) on Qualla

Image: NDS at Vietnamese Wikipedia | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/7/g/2/battle-of-nhu-nguyet-river-1077-wp/w7g2-battle-of-nhu-nguyet-river-1077-the-river-holds.mp3 0:06 4 full Battle of Nhu Nguyet River (1077): A Night Too Far https://qualla.com/battle-of-nhu-nguyet-river-1077/ Photo credit NDS at Vietnamese Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0. Flushed with weeks of successful defense, Thuong Kiet overreached. He led a nighttime assault across the river to scatter the Song army for good. The attack initially buckled the Song front line, but reinforcements stabilized the position and drove the Vietnamese back. A Viet gen...

Read more: Battle of Nhu Nguyet River (1077) on Qualla

Image: NDS at Vietnamese Wikipedia | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/7/g/2/battle-of-nhu-nguyet-river-1077-wp/w7g2-battle-of-nhu-nguyet-river-1077-a-night-too-far.mp3 0:06 5 full Battle of Nhu Nguyet River (1077): The Border Takes Shape https://qualla.com/battle-of-nhu-nguyet-river-1077/ Photo credit NDS at Vietnamese Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0. Thuong Kiet opened peace negotiations. Guo Kui agreed to withdraw, but Song forces retained five disputed border prefectures encompassing much of what is now Cao Bang and Lang Son provinces. Dai Viet kept its hold on three Chinese prefectures. The territorial exchanges took years...

Read more: Battle of Nhu Nguyet River (1077) on Qualla

Image: NDS at Vietnamese Wikipedia | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/7/g/2/battle-of-nhu-nguyet-river-1077-wp/w7g2-battle-of-nhu-nguyet-river-1077-the-border-takes-shape.mp3 0:06 6 full