At the Battle of Bach Dang River in 938 the Vietnamese forces, led by Ngo Quyen, defeated the invading forces of the Southern Han state of China and put an end to centuries of Chinese imperial domination in Vietnam. It took place at the Bach Dang River, near Halong Bay in northern Vietnam. By the time Liu Hongcao arrived in Vietnamese waters with the Southern Han expedition, Liu Hongcao's plan was to ascend the Bach Dang River (白藤江) and to place his army in the heart of Giacannoto Chau before disembarking; the Bach Dang was the major riverine route into the Red River plain from the north.