Inspired by OKH_1946's thread about Wehrmacht equipment ending up in the hands of South-East Asian Militaries after WWII.
The idea of German Wehrmacht Personnel in the FFL and in Indochina is a matter of considerable debate.
I plan to do this in a Dry-Timeline/Story style.
Comments and Critique welcome.
POD: Early 1944.
1946.
The French receive German Soldiers from the British and the Americans (740,000 from America alone) who have enough on their plate as it is without dealing with the Prisoners and putting the War Criminals on trial.
The French select every able bodied man who was a combat veteran and offer them a choice they can continue to work in the prison camps for the rest of their lives or they can ship out and fight for France be pardoned and granted citizenships and land.
Most of them agree and sign the Contract and then escorted outside to waiting Planes and Sea-Lift Ships and sent to Indochina.
Upon reaching southern Indochina the German troops are escorted to a Facility in Saigon and begin training.
These captured Germans will make up the bulk of French Troop presence in Indochina as they are numerous, are veterans and French mothers won't care if a German Soldier dies.
1946.
Besides standard Legionnaire training the German troops of the Legion are issued with their old Artillery, Panthers, Panzer IVs, APC's, Trucks, Weapons and even a handful of Tigers that survived the War. The handful of captured Luftwaffe Pilots are issued with captured Stuka's, Transport Planes and Heinkel Bombers and the French add a few captured U-Boats, Minesweepers and Patrol Boats to support the Legion.
The Panzers and APCs are upgraded and their suspension is improved so that they won't jam their tracks as often as they did during the War in thick mud and rocky terrain.
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March 19th 1946.
Lieutenant Gerhard Falkenberg, formerly of the Fallschirmjagers sat back against the hard side of the roaring Cargo Plane and wondered where they were going.
He'd asked once and the French Officer had glared at him and told not to ask if he wanted to live to see Home again.
Falkenberg smiled wryly, what was left of Home. Most of his small Family had perished at Dresden. Father and Paul had been killed at Leningrad while little Michael had fled with Oppa to Switzerland, the last he'd heard of Erich he'd gone missing somewhere near the Foothills of the Caucasas.
"Cigarette?"
Gerhard turned to see large man in a lend-lease US Army Uniform with deep scars down and across his blunt features. Falkenberg frowned as he accepted the Cigarette and tried to place the man.
He'd seen him before but he wasn't sure-
The man saw him looking and grunted. "In the flesh."
"How'd you end up here?"
The man grinned cheerfully and lit his Cigarette and Gerhard's.
"In short? I got hit, made a stupid mistake and got captured and I answer to Reinhard Bergmann."
Falkenberg shook Bergmann's hand. "Lieutenant Gerhard Von Falkenberg."
Otto Skorzeny nodded. "Pleasure to meet you, Lieutenant Falkenberg."
Bergmann leaned back and closed his eyes and after a minutes of smoking the cheap Cigarette so did Falkenberg.