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Near Sisophon, Battambang Province, Cambodia 1941-01-16 (8 others)

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Overview:

Where threats and posturing fail, brute force might succeed. Siam, recently renamed “Thailand”, wanted the border provinces in Cambodia that were part of Vichy Indochina. The British wished to preserve the Thais, or Siamese, as a buffer against the Japanese. The Japanese, by no means all-powerful, wanted both to keep the status quo agreed with the beaten Vichy French in Indochina, and to bring Siam into a world war it did not want. However, reckless Siamese nationalism and irredentism caused an outbreak of hostilities all along the border. Alarmed, the French attempted to reinforce their position with troops from Djibouti, but this was quietly stopped by the Royal Navy. Meanwhile the Indochina garrison, whose morale had been devastated by rapid defeats at the hands of both the Japanese and Germans, deployed to defend the threatened border. On the 10th of January nine Siamese battalions crossed into Indochina at Poipet and turned to advance on Battambang. On the night of the 15th, the Vichy masse de manoeuvre, comprising four battalions with supporting armour and artillery, moved into position to launch an attack against the Siamese left flank.

Defender: Vichy French (Vichy Indo-China Garrison)  

Errata (source)