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In 1883, the French had been trying to gain alliance with the Japanese against China to help their war in Vietnam, but at that time the Japanese were averse to the idea of jumping into a conflict with China. As time went on though the Japanese attitude began to shift, especially after the failed Gapsin Coup in December of 1884. It was President Ferry's hope that Japan could be brought into the war with this latest event, however Henryk Sienkiewicz didn't communicate President Ferry's renewed offer of a military alliance with Japan to the Japanese and in just a few months the Tonkin Affair would bring the war to a close. What if Sienkiewicz had done as he'd been instructed and managed to secure a military alliance with the Japanese? We're still a decade out from the OTL Sino-Japanese War, can Japan's involvement so late in the game really turn the tide of the conflict? What would be the main theater for the Japanese, North Vietnam or Korea?
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