It was during this time that he befriended an influential intellectual and journalist, Trần Huy Liệu, who introduced him into the Vietnamese Nationalist Party (Việt Nam Quốc Dân Đảng, VNQDD) in 1928.

[1] During World War II, he reappeared in Haiphong, organizing anti-Japanese and then anti-French activities in cooperation with communists working in the Red River Delta, including his long time friend Trần Huy Liệu.

With the emergence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) in September 1945, Ho Chi Minh and other communist leaders were impressed by Nguyễn Bình's initiative in these areas.

[1] In early 1947, as the French began to break off the Cao Dai and Hoa Hao from Nguyễn Bình's united front, he took a hard line towards the defecting religious leaders.

The result was civil war between Nguyễn Bình's army and the forces of the Hoa Hao and Cao Dai, leading to the Viet Minh's assassination of Huỳnh Phú Sổ.

Nonetheless, Nguyễn Bình had demonstrated that not only could southerners fight an urban war, but they could also move towards creating a modern army as in the north, and this without a Chinese rear-guard and large-scale foreign aid.

While crossing through northeastern Cambodia, Nguyễn Bình perished in an ambush in September 1951 laid by the 4th Bataillon de Chasseurs Cambodgiens under Jacques Hogard.