Lê Trọng Tấn (; 1 October 1914 – 5 December 1986) was an officer of the

People's Army of Vietnam The People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN), officially the Vietnam People's Army (VPA; , , ), also recognized as the Vietnamese Army (), the People's Army () or colloquially the Troops ( ), is the national Military, military force of the Vietnam, S ...

(PAVN) during 1945 to 1986. During this period of his military career, Lê Trọng Tấn held several senior positions of the Army. Lê Trọng Tấn participated in the

Viet Minh The Việt Minh (, ) is the common and abbreviated name of the League for Independence of Vietnam ( or , ; ), which was a Communist Party of Vietnam, communist-led national independence coalition formed at Pác Bó by Hồ Chí Minh on 19 May 1 ...

movement before the

August Revolution The August Revolution (), also known as the August General Uprising (), was a revolution led by the Việt Minh against the Empire of Vietnam from 16 August to 2 September 1945. The Empire of Vietnam was led by the Nguyễn dynasty and was ...

in 1945 and gradually became one of the most important figures of the Vietnam People's Army during the Second Indochina War. Being one of the key figures of the North Vietnam armed forces in

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

, Lê Trọng Tấn was Deputy Commander of the Viet Cong (VC) and second commander of the

1975 Spring Offensive The 1975 spring offensive (), officially known as the general offensive and uprising of spring 1975 (), was the final North Vietnamese campaign in the Vietnam War that led to the capitulation of the Republic of Vietnam. After the initial succ ...

that effectively ended the war. Afterwards, he became Chief of the

General Staff A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, Enlisted rank, enlisted, and civilian staff who serve the commanding officer, commander of a ...

and Deputy Minister of Defence of Vietnam until his death in December 1986. Lê Trọng Tấn was widely appreciated by his comrades, whom of which include general

Võ Nguyên Giáp Võ Nguyên Giáp ( vi-hantu, , ; 25 August 1911 – 4 October 2013) was a Vietnamese general, communist revolutionary and politician. Highly regarded as a military strategist, Giáp led Vietnamese communist forces to victories in wars agains ...

, as one of the finest commanders of the Vietnam People's Army.

Early life

Lê Trọng Tấn was born on 1 October 1914 as Lê Trọng Tố (), his father was a scholar who once participated in the

Tonkin Free School The Tonkin Free School (, ) was a short-lived but historically significant educational institution in Hanoi that aimed to reform Vietnamese society under the French protectorate during the beginning of the 20th century. History The school was fou ...

movement before retiring in the village Yên Nghĩa, Hoài Đức and died when Lê Trọng Tố was 7 years old. In his youth, Lê Trọng Tố studied at Bưởi High School and was known for his

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

skill that gained him a position in the Eclair football club in Hanoi. Lê Trọng Tố was admitted to the

in late 1943 and became the military deputy of the revolution committee in his hometown Hà Đông during the

(1945). After Viet Minh took over the authorities, Lê Trọng Tố enlisted in the PAVN (''Cứu quốc quân'') and changed his name to Lê Trọng Tấn.

Military career

At the beginning of the

First Indochina War The First Indochina War (generally known as the Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in Vietnam, and alternatively internationally as the French-Indochina War) was fought between French Fourth Republic, France and Việ ...

, Lê Trọng Tấn acted as commander of the E206 Regiment ( Sông Lô Regiment). In the Biên giới Campaign (1950), Lê Trọng Tấn was the deputy commander of the PAVN at Đông Khê front, later he became the first commander of the 312th Brigade and led his brigade engaging in the Battle of Dien Bien Phu. From 1954 to 1960, Lê Trọng Tấn was appointed Director of the Vietnam Academy for Infantry Officers and Deputy Chief of the

(''Phó Tổng tham mưu trưởng'') from March 1961 to 1962. Lê Trọng Tấn began to directly involve himself in the

from 1962 when he was chosen as Deputy Commander of the Viet Cong. During two years 1970 and 1971, Lê Trọng Tấn was the special envoy of the PAVN at the

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

front where he commanded troops in the Campaign Z. In 1972 he was appointed commander of PAVN in the First Battle of Quảng Trị, one year later he returned to the position of Deputy Chief of the General Staff and held at the same time the position of commander of the 1st Corps (''Quân đoàn 1'') and Director of the Military Science Academy. In 1975, Lê Trọng Tấn was commander of the Hue-Da Nang Campaign in March 1975 and second commander (''Phó tư lệnh'') of the

. During the last days of the 1975 Spring Offensive, Lê Trọng Tấn was responsible for the east wing of the PAVN attacking

Saigon Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025. The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...

. It was the 4th Company of 1st Regiment, 2nd Corps under his command that arrived first at the Independence Palace, the workplace of the President of the South Vietnam, and arrested the president Duong Van Minh coincidentally it was also a unit of the 312th Brigade commanding by Lê Trọng Tấn which was first came to the French headquarters and captured general Christian de Castries marking the end of the Battle of Dien Bien Phu. After the war, Lê Trọng Tấn continued to hold the position of Deputy Chief of the General Staff and Director of the Advanced Military Academy (''Học viện Quân sự cấp cao''). At the beginning of the

Cambodian–Vietnamese War The Cambodian–Vietnamese War was an armed conflict between Democratic Kampuchea, controlled by Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge, and the Vietnam, Socialist Republic of Vietnam. It began in December 1978, with a Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia which to ...

, Lê Trọng Tấn was commander of Vietnamese armed forces in the southern border of Vietnam from December 1978 to February 1979. From June 1978 to his death in 1986, Lê Trọng Tấn was Deputy Minister of Defence of Vietnam and Chief of the General Staff of the PAVN, succeeding general Văn Tiến Dũng. He died on 5 December 1986 at the age of 72.

Awards, decorations and legacy

During his military career, Lê Trọng Tấn was awarded various titles, medals and decorations including the Ho Chi Minh Order (''Huân chương Hồ Chí Minh'', posthumously), the Gold Star Order (''Huân chương Sao vàng''), the 1st and 3rd grade Military Order (''Huân chương Quân công'') and the 1st grade Victory Medal (''Huân chương Chiến thắng''). Several streets and places in Vietnam are named in honour of Lê Trọng Tấn. Among his comrades in the PAVN, Lê Trọng Tấn was highly appreciated for his skill in commanding and military knowledge. The general

considered Lê Trọng Tấn one of the finest military commanders of Vietnam,

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...

once called him "the best general of Vietnam" and in Vietnam he was sometimes dubbed the "Vietnamese Zhukov".

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Le, Trong Tan North Vietnamese military personnel of the Vietnam War 1914 births 1986 deaths Politicians from Hanoi Viet Minh members Military personnel from Hanoi Generals of the People's Army of Vietnam Members of the 4th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam Members of the 5th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam Government ministers of Vietnam Vietnamese military personnel of the Sino-Vietnamese War