National Animal Of Yanbad
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The national animal of the People's Republic of Yanbad is the Leatherback Sea Turtle due in part to the Hong family's victory over the Tay at the Soupi Bend during the Wars of the Rivers. The Wars of the Rivers were a series of conflicts between supporters of the Hong and supporters of the Tay over control of Yanbad. During the initial phase of the conflict Hong forces were steadily pushed from their homeland in the interior to the coast by Tay forces. The reason for the Tay's success was in large part due to their superior naval forces which dominated the rivers throughout Yanbad. After a long retreat to the coast the leader of the Hong forces, Hong Anh Son, could not help but notice the Leatherback Sea Turtles along the shore. According to historian Qui Phuc the "unique shape of the turtles" inspired Hong Anh Son to issue orders for the creation of what he called the Turtle Boat and with it a daring attack plan to seize back the initiative.
Fortunately for Hong Anh Son, the Tay forces had over extended their supply lines and had to rest. The location they decided to rest at was the Soupi Bend, which was easily defensible from land attacks but was surrounded by water on three sides. To remedy this weakness to waterborne attacks, the Tay anchored their river boats off the coast of the bend. The Tay forces decided to rest for a few weeks in order to prepare for the final battle to push the Hong into the sea. The Tay decision to rest gave the Hong a much needed respite and more importantly time to craft the turtle boats. Hong Anh Son's scouts reported the Tay location to him and decided to divide his forces into two parts. The first group would utilize the new turtle boats and attack the Tay boats. The second group was ordered to attack the Tay positions defending the Soupi Bend. According to Qui Phuc, Hong issued the order to attack "when the moon was absent from the sky."
Phuc's described the battle as a "tremendous route of the Tay forces, they were completely surprised by the dual attack led by Hong Anh Son on land and the turtle boats on the river." The initial plan called for the land forces to attack first then have the turtle boats attack the Tay boats when the battle started. Fortunately the turtle boats reached the Tay ships before the land forces,completely unknown to Hong Anh Son. Phuc claimed "that the Tay boat crews mistook the turtle boats for actual turtles," as a result they ignored them until the fires started. The blaze that broke out throughout the Tay boats caused panic throughout their camp but more importantly was a sign for Hong Anh Son to change his tactics and attack the camp with the remainder of his forces.
The battle was a complete victory for the Hong who were able to seize the initiative from the battle to defeat the Tay forces and consolidate their rule over Yanbad. When Hong Anh Son took the throne of Yanbad after the war, he was called the Turtle King by his admirers. As a way to honor the animal that inspired his success, Hong Anh Son decreed that any harm done to animal was "punishable by death." Even after the revolution that overthrew the royal family Hong Anh Son's decree stayed in effect due in part to Communist officials seeing the Hong family as "proto - proletariat" who were being abused by the bourgeoisie Tay.