If the Lam Son army had 10 years of hard fighting to win, then General Le Thanh had more than 9 years of being close to the wise leader Le Loi. He was one of the 94 people who were granted national nationality by King Binh Dinh Le Loi.
Joining the Lam Son uprising in 1418, Le Thanh (whose family name was Do) soon showed himself to be a loyal subject. Le Thanh's contribution to the Lam Son uprising began with the event when Le Lai sacrificed himself to save the leader at Pu Rinh mountain (today's Lang Chanh) - Le Thanh took advantage of the opportunity when the enemy's siege was loosened, and together with his generals and soldiers, brought Le Loi to Muong Khao cave, then attacked Muong Yen (west of Chi Linh mountain) and Muong Mot (Thuong Xuan). Thanks to that, the uprising not only preserved its forces and protected Le Loi's safety, but also killed many enemies. After this event, Le Loi personally wrote 6 vermilion characters and bestowed on general Le Thanh the title "Lung Nhai Khai Quoc Cong Than".
In the year of Ky Hoi (1419), King Binh Dinh Le Loi and his generals, including Le Thanh, attacked the Ming army at Nga Lac fort (near Lam Son commune, in present-day Bai Thuong), captured the commanding officer, General Nguyen Sao, and beheaded more than three hundred of his men. General Le Thanh was rewarded and appointed as "Trung Nghi Dai Phu, Thiem Tuoc Ba".
In the year of Canh Ty (1420), Le Loi and his generals and soldiers ambushed at Bong wharf (upstream of Chu river), killing many enemies. Afterwards, Le Loi ordered his troops to retreat to Muong Nanh (in Lang Chanh), then moved his troops to Muong Thoi (bordering Laos) to preserve and supplement the Lam Son insurgents.
In the winter of Tan Suu year (1421), the enemy general Tran Tri led more than 100,000 Ming troops to attack Kinh Long pass (now Co Lung pass, in Cam Thuy district) and Ba Lam book (in Chieng Lam area, Dien Lu commune, Ba Thuoc district). Le Loi personally led the troops. General Le Thanh obeyed the king's order and led the troops to block the enemy at Deo Ong (Ba Thuoc district). The enemy was defeated and Tran Tri fled. When his achievements were reviewed, Le Thanh continued to be rewarded and promoted to the position of "Representative General".
In December 1422, our army was attacked by the enemy general Ma Ky and the Ai Lao army. Le Loi had to retreat to Khoi town, Thien Quan town (the area between Nho Quan, Ninh Binh and Thach Thanh, Thanh Hoa today). Seven days later, the Ming army attacked again. Le Loi directly commanded the vanguard army led by generals Le Linh, Le Van, Le Trien, Le Hao, Le No... and general Le Thanh fought hard, beheaded the enemy general Phung Quy, killed more than a thousand heads, and captured several hundred horses. After winning the battle, Le Loi brought his army back to Chi Linh mountain and issued a decree to Le Thanh: "General of the Guard".
In September of the year Giap Thin (1424), Binh Dinh King divided his troops to attack Da Cang citadel (on the right bank of Chu River, Tho Xuan), and destroyed the citadel. Over a thousand enemy soldiers were beheaded and drowned. Taking advantage of the victory, Le Loi sent troops to attack Tra Long - Tra Lan (in Con Cuong and Tuong Duong, Nghe An province today), and arrived at Bo Lap mountain (Quy Chau) to meet local officers and soldiers led by Su Huu, Cam Bang, and Ming generals led by Tran Trung, Tran Tri, Ly An, Phuong Chinh, Thai Phuc, Chu Kiet... The two sides fought fiercely, our troops beheaded enemy generals Tran Trung, Hoang Thanh..., captured Chu Kiet alive, and killed over two thousand enemy soldiers. When his achievements were evaluated, Le Thanh was rewarded and promoted to the position of "Tham Doc Thiem Loc Hau".
In January of the year At Ty (1425), King Binh Dinh Le Loi brought his army to Da Loi village, Tho Du district (Thanh Chuong, Nghe An), and divided his army to different places to attack and defend the provinces and districts. In July 1425, Le Loi ordered generals Le Le, Le Sat, Le Bi, Le Trien, Le Nhan Chu... to attack Tay Do citadel (Thanh Hoa). Lam Son army beheaded more than five hundred Ming soldiers and captured many alive. At the same time, he ordered generals Tran Nguyen Han, Le No, Le Da Bo and Le Thanh... to bring 1,000 soldiers and 1 elephant to attack the Ming soldiers in Tan Binh citadel (Thuan Hoa). When they reached Bo Chinh river (Gianh river, Quang Binh today), they met the Ming soldiers led by Nhan Nang. Le Thanh divided his troops to lie in ambush, waited for the enemy to rush in and attack, and beheaded thousands of enemy soldiers. When his achievements were evaluated, General Le Thanh was rewarded and promoted to the rank of "General Commander of the Guard".
Having fought and fought all his life, Le Thanh was one of the few generals of the Lam Son insurgents who participated in all the important battles. However, like many other talented generals, he did not see the sweet fruit, did not witness the king ascending to the throne. In the year of Binh Ngo (1426), the Lam Son insurgents attacked the citadels in Tan Binh and Thuan Hoa. The king ordered the generals to split into many directions to fight and resist the enemy. Le Thanh alone was ordered by Le Loi to guard Long Chau citadel. Although he was determined to fight to the end, because the enemy was too strong, Long Chau citadel fell, and General Le Thanh died in battle on December 20 of the same year.
After Le Thanh and some generals sacrificed, with seething hatred, the Lam Son insurgents grew stronger and stronger, driving the Ming invaders out of the country. In the year of Mau Than 1428, King Le Loi of Binh Dinh ascended the throne and awarded merits to 221 meritorious people from Lung Nhai, and granted the national surname to 94 people. Le Thanh was one of them, and was awarded the third rank of “Trung Vu Dai Phu, Cau Kiem Ve Tuong Quan, Tuoc Tri Tu”. In addition, he was posthumously awarded the titles of “Suy Trung Dong Duc, Hiep Muu, Bao Chinh Cong Than, Thien Loc Hau, and the additional titles of Thai Uy, Loc Quan Cong”.
During the reign of King Le Thanh Tong, General Le Thanh was posthumously awarded the title "Binh Ngo Khai Quoc Cong Than, Thai Uy Trang Quoc Cong, Thuong Dang Than" and an edict was issued for the people of Dinh Huong (Dinh Hoa) to build a temple to worship him in a solemn manner and take the 20th of December every year as the anniversary of his death.
Le Thanh's life was both glorious with his achievements recorded in history and he maintained a peaceful atmosphere in his home. His two wives and four children were all people who contributed to the king and the country.
Today, when we visited Dinh Hoa (Dong Cuong ward, Thanh Hoa city) to visit the Le Thanh temple complex, the temple keeper Le Van Tac told us many stories related to the general. Especially the story of 2014, when 5 royal decrees conferred on General Le Thanh were taken away. “I have felt regretful for many years and always thought that I was guilty towards the community. The decrees were like the “treasures” of the village, but I could not keep them. Currently, in the temple there are only 3 large wooden inlays, painted red and gilded, in which the throne and the memorial tablet are placed.”
According to Mr. Le Do Toan, Vice Chairman of Dong Cuong Ward People's Committee: "People in Dinh Hoa area including 3 residential groups 4, 5, 6 have mobilized social contributions to repair some degraded items of the temple. However, according to regulations of ranked relics, especially national relics, urgent repair and renovation of items in the relic must establish a dossier and must be approved by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism before being able to carry out repair and renovation. The current problem is that in addition to a part of the people's contribution to repair the temple, we really hope for the attention of the province and all levels in supporting the funding for making the dossier and the funding for repair".
In reality, the temple has a history of about 550 years, now most of the walls are cracked, many wooden pillars are damaged by termites and need to be roughly secured, the tiled roof is broken and damaged. The national relic of the temple of General Le Thanh is in need of attention from all levels and sectors to be protected, restored and embellished.
Kieu Huyen
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