History Recap / AgeOfEmpiresIILeLoi

When Dai Viet is plunged into chaos due to a civil war, the mighty Ming Empire takes advantage of the situation and soon they've conquered the land, crushing the locals under an iron fist. The Chinese seem invincible, but then, when hope seem lost, a man appears: Le Loi, a minor noble, is motivated to fight for his country and fight off the Ming's yoke. Will his skill and determinations be enough to triumph against this overwhelming opponent and make the Dai Viet a great empire?

A nobleman who refuses to accept the rule of the Chinese, Le Loi is disgusted by his compatriots who bowed to them. With a small army he goes north, making allies among the Trinh and Nguyen families, who, far from the complacent Hanoi, still dare to oppose the Ming. Knowing very well that a direct confrontation won't bear any fruit, Le Loi decides to make use of guerrilla tactics among the jungle of Vietnam, in order to slowly take down the invaders bit by bit. In order for this plan to work, Le Loi must keep his forces and allies safe.

Le Loi's guerrilla tactics come to an abrupt end when the Ming manage to defeat the Vietnamese in battle, and force him to flee to the mountain fortress of Chi Linh. However, the Vietnamese soon find themselves in a trap, surrounded by all sides by Chinese camps and with thousands of soldiers and hundreds of siege weapons bearing down on them. With the help of his faithful commander Le Lai, Le Loi must find a way to escape to safety, along with the bulk of his troops.

One year have passed since the defeat of Chi Linh and Le Lai's sacrifice. However, Le Loi isn't done yet, and has gathered more troops for a daring plan: take on the city of Hanoi itself. While well defended and fortified, many deserters and villagers are willing to lend a hand, and in case of success, the Ming's influence in the area will be disrupted and the Southern lands will be free.

Hanoi fell, and soon Le Loi finds himself looking for a new target: the Ming-appointed capital of Nghe An. However, things don't look easy, as not only the traitorous general Cam Banh is protecting the place, but there's also the threat of Wang Tong, the greatest general Ming has to offer, marching towards the frontlines to take care of the rebellious Le Loi once and for all.

Le Loi's army moves south, with Nghe An finally in sight. However, the army of Wang Tong is right behind them, which forces the Vietnamese to split their forces in three: the brave Dhin Le will stall Wang Tong's forces in the city of Dong Do, the skillful swordsman Le Trien will instead take care of the Ming reinforcements lead by Liu Sheng and keep them from joining forces with Dong Do. In the meantime, the bulk of the Vietnamese army lead by Luu Nhan Chu and the wise Bui Bi is making preparations to cross the lands occupied by the hostile Ai Lao and march on Nghe An. A complicate siege is about to take place...

While Nghe An hasn't fallen, the forces of the Ming were put in a most difficult spot, and now the Chinese rule in Dai Viet is fading. Determined to resist to the very end, Wang Tong has locked himself in the fortified Dong Do and prepares to fight the Vietnamese army. If the independence of Dai Viet and the rule of Le Loi are to be secured, then the stronghold of Dong Do must fall.

* AnachronismStew: The third scenario is named "The Battle of Hanoi". The city only became known as Hanoi during the French colonial era, some four hundred years later. It should be called Dong Quan at the time, which was its official name under Ming rule by then, before being renamed into Dong Kinh after Le Loi had established the Le dynasty.

* BittersweetEnding: Le Loi ultimately wins the war, but still has to recognize the power of the Ming Empire and submit to them to prevent future invasions. At least, the empire he forged will prosper for centuries.

* CoolSword: The icon for the campaign is a turtle holding Le Loi's legendary sword in his mouth. You can actually obtain the sword during the third scenario, making Le Loi's attack stronger for the rest of the scenario.

* DavidVersusGoliath: Le Loi acknowledges that the Ming is a very powerful kingdom and his rebellion will be a difficult fight for independence. This is also reflected in many scenarios where the player's army are located in small isolated areas while the Ming start off with well fortified cities and fortresses.
* DecadentCourt: Le Loi was forced to look for help north because he was disgusted by the servile nobles of Hanoi. It's worth considering that the same nobles, according to the intro of the sixth mission, oppose negotiations between Le Loi and the Ming, and the court is described in bad terms in the final cutscene, implying that several of Le Loi's lieutenants were slain treacherously for political reasons.

* HeroicSacrifice: Le Lai disguises himself as Le Loi and charges the Ming army in order to buy time for the real one.

* PerspectiveFlip: ''DE'' does one by changing the narrator to an un-named historian/ storyteller who tells Le Loi's story in a more literary and flattering manner. Contrast with Wang Tong, whose narration was more factual (citing dates and figures more frequently) and gave a WartsAndAll appraisal of Le Loi.

* WorthyOpponent: Both Le Loi and Wang Tong end up showing respect for each other and after the final siege, Le Loi even invites all Ming generals to a banquet before allowing them to leave with their lives.

* AdaptationDeviation: In ''DE'', ''Reaching South'' 's objective is no longer to destroy and rebuild a Wonder, but just to conquer the Ming's gunpowder reserves by destroying the keeps around them and keeping them from being destroyed.

* HoldTheLine: ''The Mountain Siege'' has you trying to keep the Ming at bay while you open a path east. Unfortunately, even if you're in a rather large fortress, the enemy attacks from multiple gates and your allies' efforts are subpar.
* NarratorAllAlong: Only in the ''HD'' version[[note]]''Definitive Edition'' replaces the narrator with a presumably modern-day Vietnamese man.[[/note]], [[spoiler:despite his defeat, Wang Tong]] still narrates the Lê Lợi campaign to children.

** ''The Mountain Siege'' has you on the wrong end of one, forcing you to fight a way out.
** ''The Siege of Hanoi'' and ''Reaching South'' have a large Ming city as your final destination and objective. In the former, you start with a handful of troops and must gather soldiers and villagers on the way.
** ''A Three-Pronged Attack'' features you dealing with a city to besiege while at the same time you must keep the two enemy camps from joining forces.
** ''The Final Fortress'' has you besieging the last, extremely well-defended Ming stronghold while surviving the neverending number of soldiers pouring out of it.

!!Scenarios

!!!The Dai Viet Uprising

!!!The Mountain Siege

!!!The Battle of Hanoi

!!!Reaching South

!!!A Three-Pronged Attack

!!!The Final Fortress

!!This Campaign contains examples of:

* WorthyOpponent: Both Le Loi and Wang Tong end up showing respect for each other and after the final siege, Le Loi even invites all Ming generals to a banquet before allowing them to leave with their lives.

* DeadlyDecadentCourt: Le Loi was forced to look for help north because he was disgusted by the servile nobles of Hanoi. It's worth considering that the same nobles, according to the intro of the sixth mission, oppose negotiations between Le Loi and the Ming, and the court is described in bad terms in the final cutscene, implying that several of Le Loi's lieutenants were slain treacherously for political reasons.

While Nghe An hasn't fallen, the forces of the Ming were put in a most difficult spot, and now the Chinese rule in Dai Viet is fading. Determinated to resist to the very end, Wang Tong has locked himself in the fortified Dong Do and prepares to fight the Vietnamese army. If the independence of Dai Viet and the rule of Le Loi are to be secured, then the stronghold of Dong Do must fall.

* BittersweetEnding: Le Loi ultimately wins the war, but still has to recognize the power of the Ming Empire and submit to them to prevent future invasions. At least, the empire he made will prosper for centuries.

* AndThatLittleGirlWasMe: The narrator is revealed to be a retired Wang Tong narrating his story to some children.

* CoolSword: The icon for the campaign is a turtle holding Le Loi's legendary sword in his mouth. You can actually obtain the sword during the third scenario, making Le Loi's attack stronger for the remainer of the scenario.

* WorthyOpponent: Both Le Loi and Wang Tong end up showing respect for each other and after the final siege Le Loi even invites the entire Ming generals to a banquet before allowing them to leave with their lives.