Order of battle for the Japanese invasion of French Indochina

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

• DesRon 3
  • CL Sendai
  • DesDivs 12 and 20 with DD Nenohi

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
• Sino-Japanese Air War 1937 – 1945