Le Lai

Le Lai (Vietnamese: Lê Lai) is a hero in Age of Empires II. He appeared in Le Loi campaign.

He is based on a Vietnamese hero with the same name who was a subordinate commander of Lê Lợi's army during the Lam Sơn uprising against Ming Rule in Vietnam from 1418-1427. He is one of Le Loi's most trusted men.

In April 1418, Le Loi sacrificed himself to saved Le Loi by wearing Le Loi's armor and led an assault with some of the remaining Vietnamese troops against the Ming army, giving time for Le Loi and his army to escape and himself be executed with the troops were crushed in the assault. Due to Lê Lai's sacrifice, Lê Lợi would live to fight the Ming army for nine more years until finally achieving victory and independence for Vietnam in 1427. After defeating the Ming army and becoming emperor of Vietnam, Lê Lợi declared that if a memorial was ever to be held for him after his death, a memorial for Lê Lai must be held one day before his own as a means of honoring Lai's heroism and sacrifice during the uprising.