The Laotians soon turn against Vietnamese resistance fighter Le Loi and his guerillas, electing to aid the Chinese instead.
Le Loi retreats, then seeks and secures a two-year armistice in 1422.
The death of Ming emperor Yongle in 1424 and the consequent weakening of Chinese imperial power affords Le Loi an opportunity to take the offensive in 1426.
Employing attack elephants, the Vietnamese guerillas seize Nghe An province south of the Red River delta, then march north against the Chinese, who by 1427 control only the city of Hanoi.
Le Loi, after agreeing to a Chinese offer of withdrawal if he permits a member of the deposed Tran dynasty to assume the throne of Dai Viet (or Annam, “Pacified South”), intercepts a Chinese general’s message asking for reinforcements, and resumes the war.
In the ensuing campaign against the one hundred thousand-man occupying force, Le Loi manages to capture or kill most of its generals and, after a lengthy siege, takes Hanoi and forces the Chinese surrender.
