Royal Vietnamese army

Royal Vietnamese Army
Active938–1789
CountryKingdoms of Jinghai and Đại Việt
BranchRoyal Guards
Siege
Elephant
Cavalry
Infantry
Navy
TypeArmy, Navy
RoleMilitary force
Size250,000 men at its height in 1471
EngagementsBattle of Bạch Đằng (938)
Sino-Vietnamese Wars (981, 1059, 1075-1076, 1406-1427, 1789)
Cham–Vietnamese wars
Khmer–Vietnamese War
Mongol invasions
Laotian–Vietnamese War
Dutch–Nguyen war (1637–1643)
Commanders
Colonel of
the Regiment		Vietnamese Emperor
Notable
commanders		Ngô Quyền, Đinh Bộ Lĩnh, Lê Hoàn, Lý Thái Tông, Trần Quốc Tuấn, Lê Lợi, Lê Thánh Tông
This article contains Vietnamese text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of chữ Nôm, chữ Hán and chữ Quốc ngữ.

The Royal Vietnamese army was the primary military body of the Vietnamese states of Jinghai and Đại Việt and the armed forces of the Vietnamese monarchy from 938 to 1789. It was disbanded and succeeded by the Imperial Vietnamese army of the Nguyễn dynasty in early 19th century.

Organisation

Military branches

Strength

Military organisation during the reign of Lê Thánh Tông (1460-1497)

Conscription was firstly introduced and used in Vietnam by king Lý Thái Tông in 1042. For a detachment of 50 men, 30 were sent back to their native villages for rice cultivation.[1] The soldiers did receive some largesse at the same time as they were expected to do some farming of their own.[2] The Royal Vietnamese army at wars grew from 30,000 in 967[3] to about 80,000 in 1075;[4] 100,000 in 1285;[5] 120,000 in 1377[6] and 250,000 in 1471.[7]

Military equipment

939–1407

Siege techniques

Firearm

  • 13th century Viet military officers holding gươm (saber)
    13th century Viet military officers holding gươm (saber)
  • Vietnamese war elephant
    Vietnamese war elephant
  • Stone projectile for catapult
    Stone projectile for catapult
  • Illustration for Hu dun pao from Chinese book Wujing Zongyao
    Illustration for Hu dun pao from Chinese book Wujing Zongyao

1427–1789

Firearm

  • War elephant and soldiers
    War elephant and soldiers
  • War elephants and soldiers carrying muskets
    War elephants and soldiers carrying muskets
  • 15-18th centuries sabers
    15-18th centuries sabers
  • Armored soldier statue in Van Mieu
    Armored soldier statue in Van Mieu
  • Vietnamese matchlocks circa 1650-1679
    Vietnamese matchlocks circa 1650-1679
  • Vietnamese handguns circa 15-17th centuries
    Vietnamese handguns circa 15-17th centuries
  • 18th century cannon
    18th century cannon

See also

References

Citation

  1. ^ Kiernan 2019, p. 156.
  2. ^ Whitmore 1986, p. 129.
  3. ^ Taylor 1983, p. 267.
  4. ^ Anderson 2008, p. 209.
  5. ^ Lo 2012, p. 292.
  6. ^ Kiernan 2019, p. 183.
  7. ^ Sun 2006, p. 100.
  8. ^ Chapuis 1995, p. 76.
  9. ^ a b Sun 2006, p. 85.
  10. ^ Needham 1987, p. 311.
  11. ^ Needham 1987, p. 313.
  12. ^ Sun 2006, p. 76.
  13. ^ Baldanza 2016, p. 65.
  14. ^ Sun 2006, p. 105.
  15. ^ Sun 2006, p. 107.
  16. ^ Sun 2006, p. 96.

Sources

  • Kohn, George Childs (2013). Dictionary of Wars. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-13-595494-9.
  • Taylor, K.W. (2013), A History of the Vietnamese, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-520-07417-0
  • Chapuis, Oscar (1995). A history of Vietnam: from Hong Bang to Tu Duc. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 0-313-29622-7.
  • Needham, Joseph (1987), Science & Civilisation in China, vol. V:5 pt. 7: The Gunpowder Epic, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-30358-3
  • Whitmore, John K. (1986), ""Elephants Can Actually Swim": Contemporary Chinese Views of Late Ly Dai Viet", in Milner, Anthony Crothers; Marr, David G. (eds.), Southeast Asia in the 9th to 14th Centuries, Cambridge: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, pp. 117–137
  • Baldanza, Kathlene (2016). Ming China and Vietnam: Negotiating Borders in Early Modern Asia. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781316531310.
  • Taylor, K. W. (1983), The Birth of the Vietnam, University of California Press, ISBN 978-0-520-07417-0
  • Lo, Jung-pang (2012). Elleman, Bruce A. (ed.). China as a Sea Power, 1127-1368: A Preliminary Survey of the Maritime Expansion and Naval Exploits of the Chinese People During the Southern Song and Yuan Periods. Singapore: NUS Press.
  • Anderson, James A. (2008), Battlefronts Real and Imagined: War, Border, and Identity in the Chinese Middle Period, Palgrave macMillan
  • Sun, Laichen (2006), "Chinese Gunpowder Technology and Đại Việt, ca. 1390–1497", in Reid, Anthony; Tran, Nhung Tuyet (eds.), Viet Nam: Borderless Histories, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 72–120, ISBN 978-1-316-44504-4
  • Tarling, Nicholas (1999). The Cambridge History of Southeast Asia: Volume 1, From Early Times to c.1800. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-66372-4.
  • Turnbull, Stephen (2001), Siege Weapons of the Far East (1) AD 612-1300, Osprey Publishing
  • Miksic, John Norman; Yian, Go Geok (2016). Ancient Southeast Asia. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-317-27903-7.
  • Kiernan, Ben (2019). Việt Nam: a history from earliest time to the present. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780190053796.