Battle of Bạch Đằng River and Vietnamese Independence

Timeline

1. 937–938Jiaozhi · VietnamKhuc Thua Vu, military commissioner of Jiaozhi appointed by Southern Han, was killed by his subordinate Jiao Gongxian, and local warlordism intensified. Ngo Quyen rose in arms against Jiao Gongxian and gradually took control of Jiaozhi's military and civil affairs, laying the foundation for resisting Southern Han intervention.
2. 938Bạch Đằng River · VietnamSouthern Han general Liu Hongcao led a fleet upriver, but Ngô Quyền had planted sharpened wooden stakes across the Bạch Đằng River, using the rising tide to lure the enemy deep and the ebb tide to cut off their retreat, crushing the Southern Han fleet; Liu Hongcao was killed in battle.
3. 939Cổ Loa · VietnamAfter the great victory at Bạch Đằng, Ngô Quyền declared himself king in 939, founding the Ngô dynasty, and Jiaozhi broke free from direct Chinese rule. Vietnam began its existence as an independent political entity; though it maintained tributary relations with China thereafter, native dynasties succeeded one another.