Chapter 47: Asian Strongholds – Part I: The Rising Sun’s Fury (Indochina, January – April 1942)
Chapter 47
Indochinese Front
January-April 1942
Indochinese Front
January-April 1942
A relative calm had settled over Indochina in the early days of January, with the Empire of Japan licking their wounds before going back on the offensive. Only the push towards Phnom Penh continued, with the Thais now helping the Japanese try to break the locks on the Tonle Sap.
Easier said than done, especially since air support had to be split between several fronts, and Malaya seemed to be hoarding resources more than any other. So much, in fact, that the remaining aircraft in southern Indochina managed to hold their own for some time, trading evenly with Japanese fighters until January 4th and a large IJAAF raid against Phnom Penh, which did not have much to envy to the Rotterdam raid of 1940.
With renewed air support on this front, the area became untenable for the French forces. Kompong Chnang fell on the 5th, and Kompong Thom shared the same fate two days later. The last locks towards the city of Phnom Penh had been blown open. King Sisowath Monivong had already left the city for the relative safety of Paksé, from where he would later join the Luang Prabang redoubt in company of his fellow monarch, the King of Luang Prabang (and future King of Laos) Sisavangvong.
On January 6th, a general assault was given for all Japanese forces in Indochina, though once again, the famous “colonialists on the verge of surrender”, were clearly far from it. The assault on Thai Nguyen was repulsed with heavy losses on both sides, while the assault on Phnom Penh was similarly stopped short of the city. Only the southern front showed some progress, as the Ninh Hoa lock burst open with little resistance.
It must be said that all French forces in southern Indochina had been sent towards the defence of Saigon, where the general mobilization had already raised two makeshift infantry regiments. Catroux did not expect to hold the area much longer, and had prepared contingencies to evacuate the administration to Luang Prabang or Dien-Bien-Phu. The soldiers would hold as long as possible before disengaging in turn towards the redoubt.
Catroux himself left on January 8th, after the Japanese led another massive assault on Thai Nguyen, finally breaking the defenders. With the road to Hanoi wide open, Catroux did not insist and left for the Highlands.
However, this did not mean that the French resistance collapsed. With the reinforcement of elements of the 12th RTS, Kita’s forces were delayed at Ba Hang and Tu Son, with the Hanoi-Haiphong Road only being cut on January 11th. With this link broken, Hanoi was now left almost toothless. Despite the brave resistance of the Vietnamese volunteers, Legionnaires and Tunisian Spahis, Catroux ordered to evacuate the city on January 17th, declaring it an open city in the hopes that the occupier would spare it, like the Germans had done with Paris. He was wrong.
On January 19th, Japanese troops entered Haiphong. Seeing that the French had completely laid waste to the port, they passed their nerves on the population instead. The Vietnamese port city was subjected to a brutal sack, with no mercy being given by the soldiers of the Rising Sun, who killed, raped and pillaged their way through the town. Though this was nothing compared to the fate of Hanoi.
The ”rape of Hanoi” as it became known, was the equivalent of the “rape of Nanking” for the Vietnamese. After about a month of continued fighting, Japanese troops entered Hanoi exhausted and angry on January 23rd. Immediately, the Japanese went straight for the French High Command building…which had been completely evacuated and totally empty. Expecting to have been able to force Catroux to sign the surrender of all French forces in Indochina, the Japanese were furious. In an act of rage, the soldiers killed everything that came within their reach: men, women, children, babies, animals…nothing escaped their wrath. For four days, Hanoi would burn, as mass executions and rapes followed one another, each more horrific than the other. It is estimated that about 30,000 civilians were slaughtered, though the number could be higher, as Japanese exactions continued throughout the occupation [1].
In Cambodia, the siege of Phnom Penh did not go well at all for the Japanese. Assaults on January 8th and 11th failed miserably, with the French managing to counter-attack on one of the bridgeheads on the Mekong, annihilating it entirely. However, with continued pressure and a determined attack by the Thai 1st Infantry Division (which was sent in as cannon fodder by the Japanese), the defence system broke on January 13th, forcing the French forces to abandon Phnom Penh. King Sisowath Monivong, then Prince Norodom Sihanouk, from Luang Prabang, would call for the population to resist the occupier and wait for the eventual liberation of Cambodia [2]. It must be said that with the Cambodian capital being put to the torch, and masses of civilians being happily strafed by Japanese aircraft, the local population would only be too happy to oblige.
The entire goal of the French strategy was now fixed on two points: to defend Saigon and cover the withdrawal of troops to the Highlands. The key withdrawal points of Pleiku, Buon Ma Thuot, Pakse and Song La were reinforced with Mountaineer brigades and Legionnaires, while the remaining troops would just delay the Japanese. The Vietnamese, furious after the rape of Hanoi and Haiphong, were eager to take up arms, whatever their prior political motivations.
Having encountered little resistance along the coast, the Japanese expected to not have to face much more resistance towards the south. However, they got a rude awakening when they came back into contact with Touzet du Vigier’s armoured vehicles protecting the bridges over the Soai Rap River. On January 26th, the Japanese were ambushed, with the forward elements completely annihilated, around Long Khanh [3]. Supported by the Vietnamese, but also the Chinese, who knew what would happen to them if captured, the French held on doggedly, forcing the Japanese to stop.
This was only a small delay, as the Japanese also struck from the Cambodian border, heading for Tay Ninh, but here too progress was slow, thanks to the armoured elements of General Touzet du Vigier. The Siege of Saigon would be a brutal affair for the Imperial Japanese forces. Even with air superiority, the stubborn resistance of the French, combined with a population that fought tooth and nail against the Japanese, made so that the advance was extremely slow.
It would take until February 16th to see Saigon finally fall into the hands of the Japanese. In the meantime, Emperor Bao Dai had managed to rally Dien-Bien-Phu, in the company of General Touzet du Vigier. The Indochinese Armoured Brigade had lived, losing all of its vehicles during this campaign, but having managed to repel and delay the Japanese for almost two long months. Its men were evacuated as top priority to the Highlands, then to Burma to which they were repatriated to Algeria, where they would form the basis of the formation of the French 5th DB, which Touzet du Vigier would eventually go on to lead [4].
The Japanese for their part did not make Saigon suffer the fate of Hanoi. Partly because they still had to clean up resistance in many parts of the city, and partly because they were so exhausted that even massacres were beyond them. The city was looted and pillaged, with excesses occurring as often as one expected for the Army of the Rising Sun. However, the Chinese population, greatly present in Saigon, would suffer much more.
The Japanese would then try to force their way into the Highlands, but this was a gruelling task. Although Indochina’s coasts had been conquered, their logistics were strained, only allowing them to make small incursions inland. Surviving French aircraft had already redeployed to the Dien-Bien-Phu and Luang Prabang airfields, covering the remainder of French forces withdrawing to the “Highlands redoubt” [5]. This one had been reinforced thanks to the two “Singapore convoys”, allowing the transfer of the rest of the 191st Infantry along with much-needed equipment and even aircraft.
Thus, Vietnamese cities fell, but they fell at a high price for the Japanese, and they fell only very late. Buon Ma Thuot was captured only on March 20th, after a dogged resistance by the 1st Vietnamese Mountain Brigade, helped by the French 12th RTS and the 1st Laotian Infantry Battalion. Pleiku would fall similarly a few days later, along with Pakse, which was left vulnerable after the Japanese incursion into Thai territory.
Japan had thus ended victorious in Indochina, but it came at a steep price. And while they did conquer much of Indochina, some of it remained out of reach, and actually holding the ground would prove just as deadly. The Vietnamese resistance spread, while the leaders of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam had rallied alongside the French colonial forces. And with the Rising Sun’s offensives stalling everywhere and the start of fuel shortages, it was not going to get any better for the Japanese, though that did not stop them from trying their luck… [6]
[1] The usual MO for Japanese forces whenever they came across a city that resisted them, unfortunately...
[2] This was pretty much Sisowath Monivong's last act as King of Cambodia. He would die on April 23rd in Luang Prabang. King Norodom Sihanouk would succeed him. His ITTL reign will go a lot smoother than the OTL (excluding the war, for obvious reasons).
[3] As usual the Ha-Go tanks do NOT fare well against the S-50 and this isn't bound to change, the tank was designed to counter German Panzers...
[4] The infusion of experienced officers will be a good boost for French forces ahead of campaigns against the Germans in the Mediterranean. France is slowly building itself a very respectable armoured force.
[5] More or less an arc covering Xanamkhan - Kasi - Phonsavan - Ban Na Keng - Pa Hang - Black River - Yen Bai - Lao Cai. The mountainous terrain means that it's hell for the Japanese to get through, and there's a supply line to Burma and China.
[6] Pulling offensives while overstretched, with no logistical support, without knowing where you're going or where your enemy is, and with major petrol shortages. What could go wrong?
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