Order of battle for the Japanese invasion of French Indochina

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The Indochina Expedition order of battle in World War II Southeast Asia, Vichy Indochina versus Japan, 1940 and the Sino-Japanese Air War, from 1937–1945:

Japan

5th Division - Lt. Gen. Akihito Nakamura [1]

  • 9th Infantry Brigade
    • 11th Infantry Regiment
    • 41st Infantry Regiment
  • 21st Infantry Brigade
    • 21st Infantry Regiment
    • 42nd Infantry Regiment
  • 5th Mountain Artillery Regiment
  • 5th Cavalry Regiment
  • 5th Engineer Regiment
  • 5th Transport Regiment

Indochina Expeditionary Army - Major Gen. Takuma Nishimura [1]

  • Indochina Expeditionary Infantry Group - Major Gen. Takeshi Sakurada
  • 2nd Imperial Guards Infantry Regiment - Col. Kunio Osonoe
  • Indochina Expeditionary Tank Unit (14th Tank Regiment)
  • Indochina Expeditionary AA Gun Unit
  • Signal Unit and others

IJAAF[4]

  • 1st Hikodan Headquarters
    • 59th Sentai, the
    • 90th Sentai and some
    • ground service units
  • 3rd Hikoshidan Headquarters
    • 18th I F Chutai
    • 60th Sentai
    • ground service units

Imperial Japanese Navy

2nd Fleet

IJN airforce: [4]

  • Carrier Hiryū
    • Fighter daitai - Mitsubishi A5M
    • Bomber daitai - Aichi D1A2
    • Attack daitai - Yokosuka B4Y1
  • Seaplane tender Kamikawa Maru
    • 4 Type 94 Kawanishi E7K2 “Alf” reconnaissance float biplanes
    • 8 Type 95 Nakajima E8N2 “Dave” reconnaissance float biplanes

Japanese warships and transports carrying Expeditionary Force lying off Haiphong in the Gulf of Tonkin.

Vichy France[3]

Hanoi - Lt. Gen. Maurice Martin

Haiphong

  • shore defenses

Lang Son sector

  • 2nd Brigade - General Mennerat
    • five battalions of infantry:
      • I/3rd Regiment Tirailleurs Tonkinois (RTT
      • II/5th Regiment Etrangere d'Infanterie (REI)
      • I/9th Regiment d'Infanterie Coloniale (RIC)
      •  ?
      •  ?
    • a group of tanks,
    • a group of 75 mm artillery
    • a battery of 155 mm artillery

That Khe - 1 company of II/3rd Regiment Tirailleurs Tonkinois (RTT)

Nam Quam - 2 companies of II/3rd Regiment d'Infanterie Coloniale (RIC)

Chima - 1 Platoon of a company of II/3rd Regiment Tirailleurs Tonkinois (RTT)

Loc Binh - bulk of a company of II/3rd Regiment Tirailleurs Tonkinois (RTT)

Na Dzuong - elements of 9th Regiment d'Infanterie Coloniale (RIC)

All told, about 5000 troops representing elements of 3rd Regiment Tirailleurs Tonkinois, 9th Regiment d'Infanterie Coloniale, and 5th Regiment Etrangere d'Infanterie.

Reserves:

  • IV/3rd Regiment Tirailleurs Tonkinois (RTT) - to counterattack toward Dong Dang
  • "fresh battalions" - Lang Giai and Lang Nac barring the route from Lang Son to Hanoi

Sources

  • Vichy Indo-China vs Japan, 1940 [1]
  • Sino-Japanese Air War 1937 – 1945 [2]