Ngo Quyen was a Vietnamese general and the son-in-law of Duong Dinh Nghe, a regional leader who had briefly expelled the Southern Han forces. Following Duong's assassination by the traitor Kieu Cong Tien, Ngo Quyen mobilized his forces to avenge his father-in-law and protect the land from the returning Southern Han army.
His greatest achievement was the Battle of Bach Dang in 938. Knowing the Southern Han fleet would enter the river, he ordered iron-tipped wooden stakes to be driven into the riverbed. At high tide, he lured the enemy ships into the trap, and as the tide receded, the ships were impaled and destroyed. This brilliant tactical victory ended 1,000 years of Chinese domination.
In 939, Ngo Quyen declared himself King and established his capital at Co Loa, marking the start of a new era of sovereignty for Vietnam.