4. Lý Thường Kiệt Was an Accomplished Vietnamese General
Born 11th century Vietnam, Ly Thuong Kiet was the son of a military officer. He grew up showing his loyalty for the Vietnamese armed forces, and he was considered to be very intelligent and skilled at a young age. When he was 23 years old, Kiet was promoted to become a general, and he was allowed to take a title that would bring him into the upper class of society. Anyone who wanted to rise to the ranks of the Head of the Royal Guard had to be castrated, because they had access to the palace both day and night.
In the year 1076, Kiet lead over 100,000 troops through China in order to protect their country from the Song Dynasty invasion. The battle lasted for 40 days. Kiet had brilliant ideas, like planting sharp spikes hidden in a river, which killed over 1,000 Chinese troops very quickly. This made the Chinese retreat out of pure terror. He eventually wrote the document that is now considered to be Vietnam’s Declaration of Independence. Even to this day, he is still considered to be one of the national heroes of Vietnam.