French fight Japanese occupation of Indochina

[Melvin Loh]

Could the Vichy French garrison, including the Foreign Legion, in Indochina have become more pro-Gaullist and tried to fight the Japanese forces either during the occupation phase in mid-1941 or after June 1944, instead of being OTL being caught unawares and slaughtered unsuspecting at places like Thuyen Quang thruout 1945, as the Japs turned on these collaborationist European erstwhile former allies ? What would've been the result of any French attempt to resist Japanese arms either prior to 1942 or from 1944 ? How would the British, US and other Allied powers react in either scenario ?

 

[Bulldawg85]

Protest

The problem is that if they resist the Japanese occupation by 1942 or 1944 they are cut off from the any and all assistance. I don't think that it would have made a whole lot of difference because until 1945 the allies were not in any shape to give anything more than moral support to the French in Indochina.

 

[Redbeard]

If the French Government had decided to continue the war from overseas in 1940 the Japanese would have had to fight to get the bases in Indochina, that were so crucial for any SEA campaign.

The addition of the French Fleet and overseas bases and forces would have meant a tremendous reinforcement of the British positions outside the European continent. The Axis is unlikely to keep a foothold in N.Africa beyond 1940 and that frees big British resources.

The Japanese problem is that their nearest main base is Taiwan/Formosa and that is twice the distance from Vietnam compared to Vietnam to Singapore, where the British will hinge their operations. If focussing all forces on Vietnam I guess the Japanese can eventually gain a foothold andif lucky even get to Saigon, but they are still far from taking Singpore and now the surprise element is lost - to put it mildly.

An important factor in this TL is that French North Africa on allied hands will mean that aircraft can be flown from factories in UK to the Far East. In OTL they until 42 had to be packed in boxes and sailed around the Cape.

Regards

Steffen Redbeard

 

[Bulldawg85]

True

But don't forget that the original postulate was that resistance to the Japanese occupation doesn't happen until at least a year after the occupation had begun.

 

[Ward]

But don't forget that the original postulate was that resistance to the Japanese occupation doesn't happen until at least a year after the occupation had begun.

The French Didnot have the stength to Fight the Japanese most of the aircraft were old and falling apart .

 

[Jason]

The big problem is the condition of the local French forces, as others have mentioned.

How about if the French Government did fight on, like the Dutch Norwegians etc, and established itself in its colonies. Could the aircraft etc they had ordered from the USA that otherwise got delivered to the Brits have gone to them in IndoChina?

The lack of allied support is still the issue and at the risk of making too many changes, how about saying the RAF plans to have 300+ modern combat aircraft in the Far East work (including a good number of Spitfires and Wellington bombers and I think radar stations at key places such as Singapore, Hong Kong, etc), rather than less than 200 largely obselte ones? This might have meant that any French resistance could get some proper support? A couple of sqaudrons of Wellingtons alone opertaing out of suitable bases could have done a lot of damage to the Jap invasion fleets