The Fox of Vietnam

Le Loi crouched in the bushes, his fox-symbolled bronze armlet fastened to his hand. He was behind the enemy camp and had waited for this moment for a long time. He spent eleven years battling with the Ming dynasty, starting in 1407. For 1100 years Chinese tried to rule over Vietnam, and each time they entered Vietnam, they faced defeat. This time it was Le Loi's chance to realise this dream. His army men were alert for his signal, ready to ambush the Ming patrol column built beside the Chu River in Vietnam. In front of him are wooden barricades and some guards standing with Chinese muskets and swords hanging to their waists. They are wearing red hats – part of their uniform. The full moonlight illuminates the area, gently glistening on the blades of the grass and the clear sky showing no sign of rain. Being drained in the rain was the last problem Le Loi's had on his mind. The moon was directly on them, and it was midnight; the Ming guards stood a few feet away from Le Loi and switched positions to another side of the camp due to their shift change. Le Loi hand signalled his troops to gather around the encampment. Le Loi clutched his musket, moved forward in the crouched position, and went over the barricades hiding inside the encampment under a cart. He signalled his general to fire the bomb as a distraction who was standing on his left. 

'SSSHKDDHAM' 

went the explosive, and all guards moved to the other corner of the base. Le Loi snuck behind the new guard and choked his neck with his musket. Le Loi put him down and moved towards logs kept for further camp expansion. He signalled his men to move inside and shoot the snipers with superior rifles on the towers. 

TAKK, TAKK, TAKK went three bullets into the heads of the snipers on three towers, and two of them fell from the towers, and one fell right on the tower floor.

Le Loi yelled, "ATTACKK,"

and his men moved in, shooting with their muskets; the Ming soldiers were bamboozled and kept falling on the ground with each bullet coming out of rebel muskets. Finally, Le Loi surged forward and kept on attacking. They swiped clean off each Ming soldier until only one remained. The soldier put his hands in the air and was trembling with fear. Le Loi strode towards the Ming soldier, and all Le Loi's army men still had their guns aimed at the soldier. 

Le Loi asked the soldier, almost pissing himself, "Where is emperor Yongle attacking next?"

"If I tell you they will kill my family, just kill me right now," the soldier started to whimper. 

TAAK went a bullet inside the Ming soldier's head. 

Everyone looked around to see who made the shot; Le Loi looked past his men to see a tall figure covered in the best armour the Chinese army could offer, riding a black horse with a tall Chinese musket standing on the edge of the forest. It was Chinese General Marquis Li Bin, and they were ambushed. Within an instant, all of Le Loi's soldiers covered him. Two of Le Loi’s men started to escort him out of the way. They hid being the wooden logs and pushed him aside. The soldiers pulled Le Loi away from the battle and pushed him into the forest. Marquis didn't pursue him, but his colossal army swarmed Le Loi's soldiers. Le Loi could feel Marquis's contempt from a distance. But he ran as getting captured meant all soldiers died in vain. Thunder cracked, and it started to rain. Le Loi ran, panting, breathing heavily, stepping into puddles, and losing balance. He saw nothing but darkness, with only slivers of moonlight entering from the tree foliage. He followed the slivers and, after a point, reached a place. A strong whiff of smell enters his nostrils, almost smelling like the lotus flower planted in his private gardens. The scent was ephemeral, making him think he was hallucinating. He heard some soldiers nearing him and hid behind some bushes. The soldiers passed him, and Le Loi heard a cry from a distance.

"Please help me," he went towards the sound and saw a small area in the forest where a girl lay hurt on her legs. He went towards her and wanted to leave her at first, but he felt ashamed he even had the thought and decided to pray to the gods.

He said, "All mighty gods and forest spirits I urge you to save this child and I promise to repay you," 

A gust of wind blew on his face, and he again smelled the fragrance, only a bit stronger this time, making it clear he wasn't dreaming. He bandaged the girl and hid her in the bushes while a gang of Ming soldiers circled him. He picked his musket in his hands and saw a white fox with his back to him standing before the Ming soldiers. The soldiers were petrified at the sight of the idle white fox. The soldiers started to back away, but one of them said, "What is this freak," 

And aimed at the fox standing at least eight feet away. Le Loi saw as the soldier was about to pull the trigger, and in a blink of an eye, he saw the fox strangling the soldier's neck. The soldier was dead. Petrified, the remaining soldiers ran away, and the fox looked back at the Prince. The Prince was shocked to see the face of a human on the fox, but he quickly gathered his composure and bent down on his knees, bowing down to the fox spirit that saved him. He swiftly escaped with the girl down west near Nui Do mountain peak, where he hid in the caves systems. 

Le Loi knew he needed to hide and communicate discretely with his family. He provided the little girl with medications and asked her about her parents. She told him that the Ming army had killed them, and she wanted revenge. The little girl of 11 had nowhere to return, so Le Loi protected her and asked her if she wanted to train with him. He taught me how to be a warrior and the art of disguise. He does this because looking at her, she reminds him of the daughter the Ming Soldier had taken away from him. 

Le loi asked her, "What's your name,"

She replies, "Ly Trin."

After a few days, Le loi sends a raven in the morning to his house, telling them he is safe and is now protecting Ly Trin, a girl he found wounded in battle. The raven flew to his home and came back the following evening with the message, 

"We have been betrayed by our neighbours the Tram family, they leaked our position and sensitive information, stay put and devise your following steps carefully. May the armlet provide you strength," replied his father. Le loi wiped his tears as he read the letter.

They both found a place at the Nui do mountain base on the outskirts of Lam son village and built a house there. The serene skyline of Vietnam could be seen from here, with the beautiful red pagoda built on a height of twelve steps now being used as a city council office. A few workers were sweeping the areas. They felt a cool breeze, and Le Loi's clothes waggled in the wind. 

Ly Trin said, looking at the city, "the city looks beautiful."

They both started to move up the mountain to gather fruits and exercise. Le Loi taught her how to be strong and efficient. One evening, both sat under the purple, orange sky as they ate food by the campfire. Ly Trin asked Le Loi why he always wears the bronze armlet.

Le loi replied, "Around 500 years ago, my ancestors supported the cities damaged and destroyed by the floods in the Nama River and gave land, shelter and food to the people residing with the villagers. The villagers worshipped the fox spirit or Ho Lyn Tinh, a god of disguise and protector of caves. The villagers asked their gods to protect and look upon my family in a ceremony where rigorous prayers took place after the floods. The ceremony ended with a religious guru providing an armlet to my great-great grandfather Zhu loi and telling him that it would protect my family and that he should wear it to battle and pass it to future generations. Zhu loi accepted it with great pride but did not believe it for the longest time until he marched in a battle against the Chinese armies and won the battle even though the troops outnumbered him by a long margin. After that, he said a long gust of wind carried an earth floral smell like the lotus flowers in the battlefield. Since then, whenever a new king is anointed, the armlet is passed down to them on coronation day.” 

Ly Trin was excited to listen to this fable and said,

"So all of your ancestors can sense the fox spirit?"

"Not everyone, none of my ancestors felt anything until now, it's just a matter of tradition," replied Le Loi.

Ly Trin said, "If anyone could unlock these sense it must be you, because you did save me by calling upon the gods back in the battle, dint you?"

Le loi dint answer and went back to eating his food. They resumed training the following day, and he started teaching her the art of disguise. Every Prince must learn to manipulate their face, demeanour and attire to thoroughly mix in the crowd or impersonate someone. They both impersonated Chinese soldiers to trespass in their villages and learn more about Lam son village, gathering Intel on patrol. Week after week, Le loi gathered all information about the town, such as the area maps; secrete passageways, amount of people in the citadel guarding the palace. He learnt there are fewer guards here, around 350 men, of which 30-35 people are doctors and treasurers. Only 300 men are actual fighters. He realises that Lam son is the best place to attack next as it is a city centre and keeps many resources to feed his army and recruit more soldiers. Every day they would do menial jobs like sweeping or polishing boots on the street near army camps to gather information on Chinese soldiers. 

One evening when Ly Trin was sweeping the ground of the city council, she saw two Chinese soldiers talking and moved towards them. She kept looking at them, and one of the solider noticed. She got nervous and started to leave the premises. The soldiers found it suspicious and followed her down to the city area with all the residential homes. She exited the city boundaries heading towards her home; the sun was setting on the fields where she stood. Right then, the soldiers appeared in front of Ly Trin, and they asked her who she was and accused her of spying on her. 

"We will chain you for days leaving you hungry if you don't confess what were you doing on the grounds of city council," demanded the soldier. 

DHISSS, SPLAT

Before she could say anything, Le loi jumped on the soldier rendering him unconscious. He high-kicked the other soldier in his face, smacking him so hard he winded out. Le Loi told her to be careful as they were about to leave. A giant tall figure he saw earlier appeared. It was general Marquis. Ly Trin snuck behind le loi, and le loi drew his sword. Their eye met, and Marquis dropped his gun and challenged Le loi by drawing his katana. Le loi yelled and charged towards Marquis, which he deflected. Le loi was filled with emotions and recalled his soldiers dying because of what the Marquis had done. They both broke into a sword fight. Steel slashed steel, and Ly Trin saw two trained killers fight the battle to the death. On one side stood quick and maddened Le loi, while on the other was the towering and powerful Marquis. Marquis's attacks were slow but powerful; he hit only one out of five attacks, but le loi seemed to get hurt when he did. Although le loi seemed more precise, his single hit wasn't causing much damage.  Marquis hit across twice and missed; he raised his sword and brought it slanting down on le Loi's chest. Le loi froze, and a stream of blood dripped on his vest. Marquis punched him a couple of times, almost smirking and enjoying himself. He was going to make the killing blow when Ly Trin drove a dagger into Marquis's back so hard it almost felt like she would pierce his skin and enter the dagger right to his heart. She held on to the dagger, and the beast-like man tried to fling her aside. She put Marquis in a choke hold and pulled an anaesthetic-like medicine from her pocket. She held it hard and left him unconscious. Marquis was flat on his back, and a tiny part of his vest tore, revealing an unhealed scar on his back from a recent battle, and her dagger just opened it back. Le loi touched the armlet on his right arm as Ly Trin picked him up, and they left the fields. After a quick patch-up of Le Loi's wounds, they headed to their Le Loi’s Home. 

Le loi rasped, "Send a raven home telling them we are coming back on the decided route."

Ly Trin quickly did as told, and they saddled on horseback. They rode for three days straight, arriving near their home. Just then, a group of ten men with their faces covered rode on horses and circled them. 

Le loi said, "We are just passing by we don't want to hurt anyone." 

An armed man hopped down the horse and revealed his face; it was his older brother Hugh Loi. They hugged, and Hugh escorted Le Loi and Ly Trin back home. There Le Loi and Ly Trin rested for a few days until Le Loi regained his strength. He gathered his committee and his two brothers to devise a plan to attack Lam son. They decided to march around 370 men to the city council, providing a quick and sneaky attack on lam son. Le Loi, his two brothers, Ly Trin and 370 men started to ride the horses towards Lam son setting into the night.

The crescent moon was over their head, providing no light to the area, but after staying here for the past couple of months, Le loi knew the area like the back of his hand and disguised as a Chinese solider to infiltrate into the halls of the council. He instructed his men to wait for a signal he would provide once he was inside. He took six men with him and snuck into the city council building from the back door. Its beautifully designed eaves looked terrific in the light from the torches. He crept inside the building through the rear doors through the unmanned kitchens moving into the first courtyard where two soldiers patrolled. He killed one soldier and took his gun, still in the Ming captain attire, not raising any suspicion. When he strolled by the other soldier, he didn't even realise it wasn't a Ming soldier. And he killed him as well. All seven men, including le loi, covered more areas, killing 20-30 men in the city council building. They went to the tower connected to the council building and planted dynamite. Le loi detonated the charges, signalling all his men to charge through the front doors. Soon the control of the building was in the hands of le loi, and all of Ming's soldiers were captured that night, marking a successful night and essential night in Vietnamese history.