Demographics For centuries before the
Lê dynasty, the Vietnamese and Lao polities existed side by side and frequently interacted. The Vietnamese chronicles records growing clashes between various Tai polities with the Viet court in the 1320s and 1330s, specifically the
Ngưu Hống of
Sip Song Chau Tai and the Ailao of
Houaphanh and
Vientiane. A Vietnamese inscription in Laos, dated 1336, discovered in 1960s by Emile Gaspardone, concerns the defeat of Vietnamese army led by Emperor
Trần Minh Tông in a battle against the Ailao chief Souvanna Khamphong, the grandfather of
Fa Ngum, in the previous year. In the 15th century, the number of Tai speaking people around Đại Việt was close in number to those speaking Viet. The Ming census of 1417 showed that there were 162,559 households, while Muang Phuan had 90,000 households, according to the Vietnamese chronicle. Adding the population of Lan Xang, a larger polity of the same period would have made the Viet-speaking people a minority in the region. In fact, contemporary records from Lao, Vietnamese and Chinese sources suggest that the central Lao and
central Vietnam area during the 14th and 15th century would have been relatively densely populated, more so than the coastal areas of the time. During the
Ming occupation of Vietnam (1406–1427), the Chinese subdued some principalities around the established Đại Việt territory. Early Lê dynasty expeditions to the northwest border of Đại Việt further sought to extend control of the area.
Lê Lợi led two “punitive expeditions” (
chinh) in the
Black river area in 1423 and 1433. His successors led similar expeditions in 1434, 1437, 1439, 1440 and 1441, and another two in 1440 and 1448 against the tribes of the
Tuyen Quang area. The Vietnamese-Yunnan border was clearly the main focus of the Lê dynasty strategic and territorial efforts in the region. The most likely intention was to subdue local Tai-speaking groups and safeguard the transport of copper for the purpose of making firearms. By the end of the 1440s the northeast and northwest borders of Đại Việt were basically settled and under firm Vietnamese control. By 1475, Yunnan became a preferred
tribute route to China.
Territory The terrain of the territory in which the conflict took place was mountainous, ranging from the
Annamese Cordillera to the western frontier of Đại Việt. The western areas were characterized by river valleys controlled by diverse ethnic groups. First was the Black river, running parallel to the
Red river on its south-west, and Sipsong Chu Tai. To the south were the valleys of the
Hua Phan and the Ai-Lao, reaching into the upper valleys of streams that ran east through the Vietnamese lowlands to the sea. Further south were other valleys of the Cam peoples, and the
Phuan (
Bon-man) of Xiang Khuoang. West of these highland valleys were more valleys that reached towards the great valley of the
Mekong river, where Lan Xang (
Lao-qua) was located with its capital in Luang Prabang. Vietnamese expeditions in the 1430s and 1440s were characteristically attempts to hold down active groups of Tai in the scattered valleys west of Vietnamese territory. By the 1460s, the Lê dynasty, in connection with nearby Tai chieftains, had been able to establish a series of stable positions from north to south, from the Black river down to Xieng Khouang along the western frontier of Đại Việt. By the time
Lê Thánh Tông invaded, there would have been a vague sense of a maze of mountain valleys, with the major threat of Lan Xang beyond them. Vietnamese maps were of little help as they did not extend far into the mountains. Tactically, Đại Việt had veteran generals from fringe areas of the Tai world and had fought in various nearby valleys over decades. Their knowledge of the nearby terrain, as well as of the general ecological pattern, would have been of significant use in battlefield decisions throughout Tai territory. The
Xiang Khouang plateau is a western extension of the Annamese Cordillera, drained principally by the Ngum and Ngiap rivers to the south and the Khan river to the north, all of which are Mekong river tributaries. The area is also referred to as “Muang Phuan” or “country of the Phuan” since the majority population of the area is Tai Phuan a subgroup of
Lao Loum. The principal city of the region was Xiang Khouang, which together with Luang Prabang (
Xiang Dong Xiang Thong or
Muang Sua),
Vientiane (
Viang Chan Viang Kham), and
Sikhottabong constituted the major power centers of Lan Xang. Throughout its history, the region has been of significant military and commercial importance. In the 15th century, the Phuan region most likely served as one of the main sources of cattle for Vietnamese peasants on the coast. The capital, Xieng Khuang, and surrounding plain were well suited for rice cultivation with excellent forage for cattle and dependable water supplies from mountain streams.
Gunpowder in 15th century Mainland Southeast Asia dated from late 15th century. As early as the 1390s,
Ming Chinese gunpowder technology had started to spread to upper and mainland Southeast Asia, including the Tai
Shan regions and Vietnam. Relying upon its gunpowder technology, Ming China conquered Vietnam and made it into a province in 1407. Although Vietnam gained independence with Lê Lợi in 1428, the Vietnamese were greatly influenced by the Ming as evident by their adoption of the
neo-confucian model and military technology. During the Ming occupation of Đại Việt (1407–1427), Chinese firearms were a key element in the Ming defeat of Vietnamese resistance; they were particularly effective in defeating
war elephants, a force which had been a formidable obstacle to the Chinese over the centuries in their Southeast Asian campaigns. Over the course of the occupation, the Ming troops gradually lost their technological superiority over the Viet. Under the leadership of Lê Lợi, increasing numbers of Chinese weapons and other military supplies were captured in major battles between 1418 and 1425. In addition, Ming captives and defectors also provided military technology which the Vietnamese were able to copy. The use of gunpowder technology permanently shifted the balance between the Đại Việt and their principal rivals, the
Cham. In March 1471, the Cham capital
Vijaya collapsed after four days of siege. The Vietnamese annexed about four-fifths of Champa's total territory, and the Cham never fully recovered. There is no evidence that the Cham ever acquired firearms; a Chinese source reported in 1441 that their army was ‘weak’ and that the guards on the city walls were armed only with bamboo spears. By the time of the “long-march” west to the Tai regions, some scholars estimate that as much as one-third of the Vietnamese army was equipped with either hand guns, hand cannons, or cannons. During the same period, early rockets and rocket arrows spread overland from Ming China to Sipsong Panna, Lan Na, Lan Xang,
Burma,
India, and Đại Việt. The Lao chronicles do not make extensive mention of firearms during the conflict with the Đại Việt as a greater emphasis was placed on the military use of elephants. Although gunpowder weapons were not unknown in Lan Xang during the period, they were incorporated less effectively in both quantity and quality than by the Đại Việt. The first recorded use of firearms by Lan Na was around 1411. In 1443 cannons helped Lan Na subdue
Phrae. In 1457/8 Lan Na was using firearms against the kingdom of
Ayutthaya in chronicles that record a battle where an Ayutthayan prince was killed by a bullet to the forehead. In 1462/3, the king of Lan Na provided two cannon and 200 matchlocks to each of the Shan chiefs of Muang Nai, Muang Tuk Tu, and Muang Chiang Thong. Cannon also played a role in Lan Na's capture of
Nan in 1476, where “they set up cannon and bombarded the city gate, and then took the city.” == Forces ==