Indochina Expeditionary Army

Indochina Expeditionary Army
active	September 7, 1940 to July 5, 1941
Country	Japanese Empire
Armed forces	Japanese armed forces
Armed forces	Japanese army
Branch of service	infantry
Type	corps
Strength	about 10,000
Insinuation	South China Regional Army
Location	French Indochina
Butcher	Japanese invasion of French Indochina
Supreme command
list of	Commander in chief

The Indochina Expeditionary Army ( Japanese 印度支那 派遣 軍 , Indoshina hakengun ) was from 1940 to 1941 a major unit of the Imperial Japanese Army , which was set up for the invasion and occupation of French Indochina .

history

The Daihon'ei (Japanese headquarters) had been aware since the late 1930s that an expansion of the Japanese Empire towards the south was inevitable. After the allied German Empire had defeated France in the western campaign , it was up to the Vichy government to administer the colonial overseas territories . The north of French Indochina, which bordered China, was a thorn in the side of the Japanese because supplies were delivered to the national Chinese from there .

When the armistice between the German Reich and France was concluded on June 22, 1940 , the Japanese sensed their chance. They asked the French to close the rail links to China, but they refused. The South China Regional Army then set up the Indochina Expeditionary Army on September 5, 1940, with the aim of occupying northern French Indochina. For this purpose, ships, aircraft and crews of the Imperial Japanese Navy from the base on the island of Hainan were provided to support her. Under pressure from the impending invasion, the Vichy government signed a limited agreement that allowed the Japanese Empire to maintain air bases in French Indochina territory and to deploy 6,000 soldiers in the country. A few hours after the signing of the agreement, parts of the 5th Division , coming from China , crossed the border with French Indochina and cut the rail link between the two countries, knowing that they were breaking the agreement. It came to the battle of Lạng Sn , in which a brigade of French colonial troops and foreign legionnaires fought for three days with the advancing Japanese. Ultimately, the Japanese gained the upper hand and were able to advance further into Hanoi .

On September 25, 1940, troops of the Indochina Expeditionary Army landed south of Haiphong and by early afternoon had landed 4,500 men and a dozen tanks. 900 soldiers remained to protect the port of Haiphong and 600 men were stationed in Hanoi. The Japanese’s primary goal of cutting off supplies to the Chinese coming via northern French Indochina had thus been successfully completed.

On July 5, 1941, the Indochina Expedition Army was disbanded.

Army command

	Surname	From	To
Commander in chief	Major General Nishimura Takuma	September 7, 1940	July 5, 1941
chief of staff	Major General Chō Isamu	September 7, 1940	July 5, 1941

Subordinate units

The structure of the Indochina Expeditionary Army is as follows:

• Indochina Expeditionary Army Staff
• 2nd Guards Regiment
• 21. Independent Mixed Brigade
• Indochina Expeditionary Army Panzer Unit (14th Panzer Regiment)
• Indochina Expeditionary Army anti-aircraft unit
• Indochina Expeditionary Army communications and signaling unit
• Indochina Expeditionary Army transport unit
• Indochina Expeditionary Army Field Hospital

Parts of the 5th Division , coming from China , invaded French Indochina and supported the Indochina Expedition Army.

literature

• Victor Madej: Japanese Armed Forces Order of Battle, 1937-1945. Game Publishing, 1981, OCLC 833591372 , OCLC 833591376 .
• Philip Jowett, "The Japanese Army 1931-45 (1)" Osprey Publishing, 2002, ISBN 978-1-8417-6353-8
• Gordon Rottman, "Japanese Army in World War II (The South Pacific and New Guinea, 1942-43)," Osprey Publishing, ISBN 978-1-8417-6870-0

Web links

• Japanese Occupation of Vichy French Indochina - 1940-1941. combinedfleet.com, accessed April 28, 2015 . 

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Yenne, p. 19
2. ↑ ^{a b c d} Japanese Occupation of Vichy French Indochina - 1940-1941. combinedfleet.com, accessed April 28, 2015 . 

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . Thus Nishimura is the family name, Takuma the first name.