Time Slip Reiwa Japan

067 - The French Colonial Empire's Upheaval - 1

Victory belongs to the most persevering.

Napoleon

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In China, the exclusion of Japan and Europe-America, which began as the Anti-Japan-Anglo movement, was thwarted by the US-China 1940 Peace Treaty. The Chinese government began to crack down on violence against overt foreign powers (Japan-Anglo). It was a very reasonable action by the Chinese government to suppress violence. However, the Chinese people, influenced by the Confucian ideology fueled by the Chinese Communist Party, criticized it as an action resembling the behavior of inferior and barbaric groups (Japan-Anglo). Protests against the government erupted in urban areas, and uprisings occurred frequently in rural areas where simple-minded people lived.

Nevertheless, the Chinese government did not turn a blind eye to these actions and went all out to suppress them. Nearly 60.000 casualties occurred throughout China, later referred to as the Guangyin Suppression. The severity of this suppression was a reflection of the Chinese government's fear of a war against America.

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Greater Asian Solidarity

In order to escape the oppression by the Chinese government, some Chinese intellectuals who advocated anti-imperialism (Japan-Anglo) would disguise themselves as volunteers in French Indochina to flee the country. During that time, these intellectuals claimed to be martyrs who aimed to liberate Asia as a whole from Western colonial powers. Their reason for being in French Indochina was to assist the Vietnamese people in resisting France, a corner of the Western superpowers, as a starting point for liberating Asia and China from the dominance of colonial powers. In a sense, the concept of Greater Asianism was a belief advocated by these exiled intellectuals to gloss over their own predicament.

However, the Vietnamese people aspiring for independence did not feel any sense of solidarity with the idea of Greater Asianism. Historically, Vietnam and China have been engaged in numerous conflicts and wars. The idea of solidarity between Vietnam and China was a bad joke. Alternatively, it seemed to reveal China's new form of expansionism.

However, at the same time, the leaders of the pragmatic Vietnamese independence movement were willing to turn a blind eye to Chinese ideology if it meant participating as a military force. Moreover, the allure of receiving weapons flowing from China was also attractive. Even if they were surplus outdated equipment that China had replaced with new German-made weapons, they were still valuable arms. The Vietnamese people played the card of future cooperation, while the Chinese government pretended to believe in the card and deepened the cooperative relationship.

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Vietnam

The deteriorating security situation in French Indochina was temporarily restored in urban areas such as Hanoi through the ruthless suppression carried out by the newly established Indochinese Federation Army.

It was not just oppression but a bloody purge. Both the French garrison troops and the members of the Indochinese Federation Army did not feel any guilt in suppressing the Vietnamese people due to their different ethnic backgrounds, which led to widespread resentment among the Vietnamese population towards France and the Indochinese Federation. However, the Vietnamese independence movement, composed of amateur groups who rose up due to the convenience of China and Germany behind China, was unable to effectively fight against the French army. They sporadically launched armed uprisings in rural areas, only to be crushed repeatedly. The Chinese intellectuals who boasted grand ideas were of no practical use on the actual battlefield.

It was the Japanese who changed this situation.

They were former Imperial Army officers who had received training in the Japan Self-Defense Forces and hailed from North Japan. Influenced by the Pan-Asianism ideology advocated by Chinese intellectuals, they deserted their military posts and abandoned their homeland to join Vietnam. However, they also had their own desires.

Although they had undergone retraining in the JSDF and were thoroughly educated in modern laws and discipline, they still possessed the desires of pre-war Imperial Army officers—they were intoxicated by the grand ideology of Hakkō Ichiu and driven by the desire for honor in establishing a nation. *1 There may also have been a rebellion against the various neglects by the Japanese government towards the former Imperial Army officers, which originated from the Kwantung Purge. This group of Japanese officers transformed the disorganized masses of Vietnamese and Chinese into disciplined military forces.

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France

As the Vietnamese independence movement transformed from a mob into an organized army, the security situation in French Indochina began to deteriorate once again. Particularly in the northern regions, where the guerrilla warfare intensified, even urban areas with sizable French and Indochinese Federation military garrisons were no longer safe. In particular, the casualties suffered by the poorly trained Indochinese Federation Army were significant. Naturally, economic activities also stagnated, and the northern regions transformed into unproductive land for France.

In response to this situation, the French government hastened the relocation of their troops stationed in Africa. The reinforcement of the air force was also given priority. This was done to strengthen the maritime blockade by the naval forces with the aim of preventing the Vietnamese independence movement from obtaining supplies. Thanks to these measures, a considerable number of ships were inspected, leading to successful seizures of weapons and ammunition.

As many of the smuggled weapons and ammunition were found on Chinese-flagged vessels, the French government concluded that the Chinese government or warlords in China were present behind the Vietnamese independence movement. Due to the possibility of support for the Vietnamese independence movement from China, the French requested Chinese authorities to crack down on it. The French believed that if they applied pressure, the Chinese government would obediently comply. They believed that China, which had yielded to the United States, lacked the spirit of a nation.

However, internally, China was furious, thinking that it had no reason to be regarded inferior to France, even if the United States and Japan were considered superior among the G4 powers. Naturally, the Chinese government only promised to strengthen domestic crackdown measures against the Vietnamese independence movement. Furthermore, as a result of this humiliation, China started to provide even more favorable treatment to the Vietnamese independence movement. They began supporting the training of the Vietnamese independence army within China and even supplying outdated tanks and fighter aircraft. France had only increased its enemies through its own actions.

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French Africa

As the French military, which served as the security enforcement force, was rapidly withdrawn, the security situation in various regions of French colonial Africa gradually deteriorated. As a result, France mobilized not only the police force but also various state institutions to maintain security, leading to neglect of their original duties. This situation contributed to the activation of German activities.

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Notes

*1: The Japanese government became aware of the existence of the group of Japanese officers known as the "Japan Army Officers" much later. One reason was that North Japan's military concealed the presence of the officers who had left out of a sense of camaraderie. However, more importantly, the Japanese government had shown little interest in French Indochina.

As a result, when France, which had grasped the existence of the Japanese officers, began to associate it with the possibility of a conspiracy against Japan, it became an unavoidable situation. This led to a deterioration in the relationship between Japan and France, and Japan found itself struggling to improve the relationship.