Japanese coup d'état in French Indochina
| Japanese coup d'état in French Indochina | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of French Indochina in World War II, the South-East Asian theatre of World War II and the Pacific Theater of World War II | |||||||||
French colonial troops retreating to the Sino-Tonkinese frontier during the Japanese Coup of March 1945. | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
|
Empire of Japan Empire of Vietnam List
Kingdom of Luang Prabang |
Viet Minh Air support: United States | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
Yuitsu Tsuchihashi Saburo Kawamura |
Jean Decoux Gabriel Sabattier Marcel Alessandri Eugène Mordant (POW) | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 55,000 |
65,000 25 light tanks 100 aircraft | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| ~ 1,000 killed or wounded |
4,200 killed 15,000 captured or interned | ||||||||
The Japanese coup d'état in French Indochina, known as Meigō Sakusen (明号作戦, Operation Bright Moon; Chiến dịch Giăng Sáng), was a Japanese operation that took place on 9 March 1945, towards the end of World War II. With Japanese forces losing the war and the threat of an Allied invasion of Indochina imminent, the Japanese were concerned about an uprising against them by French colonial forces.
Despite the French having anticipated an attack, the Japanese struck in a military campaign attacking garrisons all over the colony. The French were caught off guard and all of the garrisons were overrun, with some then having to escape to Nationalist China, where they were harshly interned. The Japanese replaced French officials, and effectively dismantled their control of Indochina. The Japanese were then able to install and create a new Empire of Vietnam, Kingdom of Kampouchea and Kingdom of Luang Prabang which under their direction would acquiesce with their military presence and forestall a potential invasion by the Allies.