Invasion of French Indochina - Background

Background

See also: Order of Battle for Indochina Expedition

In early 1940, troops of the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) moved to seize Longzhou in south Guangxi, where the eastern branch of the railroad from Hanoi reaches the border, and also tried to move west to cut the rail line to Kunming. Chinese resistance, supplied from Indochina, was tough.

Then on 22 June 1940, France signed an armistice with Germany, Japan's Axis ally. This established the neutral but pro-Axis Vichy France government in the unoccupied part of France. Vichy France also controlled most French overseas possessions, including Indochina.

The IJA captured Longzhou, closing one route, but the rail line to Yunnan was still open. Japanese aerial bombing did not close it.

Japan pressured the Vichy government to close the railway, but the French did not agree.

On 5 September the South China Front Army of the IJA organized the amphibious Indochina Expeditionary Army to move into Indochina. Led by Major-General Takuma Nishimura, it was supported by a flotilla of ships, and planes from aircraft carriers and air bases on Hainan Island.

Faced with this invasion threat, Vichy France yielded. On 22 September, Japan and Vichy Indochina signed an accord which granted Japan the rights to station troops in Indochina, and to move troops and supplies through Indochina. The accord allowed up to 6,000 Japanese troops to be stationed in Indochina, with no more than 25,000 troops stationed or in transit at any given time. In addition, all Japanese land, air, and naval forces were barred from Indochinese territory except as authorized in the accord.

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