Who they were
Born Prince Tran Quoc Tuan and titled Hung Dao Vuong, he served as supreme commander of Dai Viet’s armies during the second and third Mongol-Yuan invasions (1285 and 1287-88).
What they did
His method was strategic retreat and scorched earth, guerrilla harassment, then the annihilating stroke — above all at Bach Dang in 1288, where the Yuan fleet was impaled on hidden stakes and its admiral Omar captured. His “Proclamation to the Officers” (Hich tuong si) is a classic of Vietnamese literature. The chronicles emphasize that he set aside a family grudge — his father had charged him to seek the throne — out of loyalty to the king. Asked on his deathbed how to defend the realm, he counseled relying on the people (an attributed account).
Legacy
He is deified in folk religion as Duc Thanh Tran; statues of him stand across Vietnam, and he remains a national symbol of strategy and unity.