Father of France

Chapter 176 Bartering
In every respect, the Japanese army was only equivalent to the European army during World War I, not to mention that the Viet Minh were far inferior to Japan in terms of industrial strength.

The only concern for France now is the dense jungle environment in northern French Indochina. Coman is worried because the French army is not suited to the combat style of the Southeast Asian jungle.

We must not assume that the French army had extensive combat experience in the Indochina Peninsula simply because French Indochina was a French colony; we must take into account the factors of the times.

Before World War I, the outcome of battles between European countries was often determined by one or at most a few major battles.

The same was true during colonial wars; before the outbreak of World War I, the entire world had already been divided up.

In the process of colonization, colonizers typically annihilate the resistance forces through several battles, thereby colonizing a piece of land. However, this approach clearly no longer works in this era.

The French army certainly didn't have the ability to play hide-and-seek with the Viet Minh guerrillas in the rainforest. The newly formed Vietnamese National Army, on the other hand, was well-suited to local warfare. When General Dassanliu asked if this was possible, Coman still gave a sound suggestion.

The French army needed to buy time for the Vietnamese National Army to reorganize. If they were to bring the National Army into the battlefield now, they risked becoming the transport commanders.

If the Vietnamese National Army were to become an enemy without strong weapons or artillery, and if Tong Changgong were to become a hidden dragon and phoenix in the logistics industry, Koman would feel that he would have been better off not coming to French Indochina and staying in North Africa.

At this moment, amidst the fighting in the north, the French army was still carrying out the clearing orders issued by headquarters, making it a difficult time for the Viet Minh.

The shameful French imperialism went back on its word and tore up the previous consensus. The French army suddenly attacked the Viet Minh, catching the Viet Minh armed forces who were waiting for the outcome of the Paris peace talks off guard.

While it wouldn't be entirely accurate to say they were caught off guard, the negotiations at Fontainebleau Palace did indeed instill revolutionary optimism in some Viet Minh members, leaving them unprepared for the sudden French attack. Now, all that optimism has been burned away by the French artillery fire.

According to the headquarters' plan, the French army adopted a "quick war, quick victory" strategy, attempting to annihilate the main force of the Vietnamese army in one fell swoop. They launched a major offensive from major cities such as Hanoi and Haiphong to the surrounding towns and villages, seized important transportation lines, and controlled the Red River Delta region.

Meanwhile, the French troops that landed in Da Nang launched a major offensive against Quang Tri and Hue, cutting off the passage between the north and south of Vietnam and completing the division of the south and north, preventing the Vietnamese troops deployed in the south and north from supporting each other.

Influenced by this ideology, the French army naturally adopted a proactive offensive strategy, and its troops committed terrible crimes along the way.

The Viet Minh forces, who were withdrawing from Hue, were overtaken by French armored units. The group, which included Viet Minh supporters, suffered a terrible attack as soon as they made contact. The scorching bullets from the 20mm autocannons and coaxial machine guns on the German armored vehicles instantly knocked down an entire rank of soldiers in the skirmish line. The exploding 20mm shells and machine gun bullets turned an entire battalion of Viet Minh forces into a pile of mangled flesh, with broken limbs and shattered heads scattered all over the ground.

The Viet Minh members, startled by the sudden and fierce firepower, spontaneously lay down and took cover on the spot before even hearing the officer's orders.

"These bastards." A soldier lay on the ground cursing under his breath. His eyes turned red when he saw the corpses of his comrades lying in pools of blood, but he could only hide.

The armored vehicles driven by the French were clearly not targets that could be taken down by mere brute force. The soldiers were all flesh and blood; what they needed now was heavy firepower.

The ensuing battle turned into a long-range target practice session. The French forces took advantage of their superior firepower, continuously firing at the Viet Minh forces to halt their further actions.

They were waiting for heavy firepower support from the rear to arrive so they could take down this stubborn target in one fell swoop.

The armored vehicle that had distinguished itself was now riddled with bullet holes. Although there was no actual penetrating damage, the armor plates were cratered and the paint and coating were worn and faded, demonstrating the technological superiority of German armored vehicles on the Asian battlefield.

This scene is happening in many parts of Vietnam, but the difference is in Hanoi, where the Viet Minh had been operating for some time before the French took over the city.

The French army fought street battles with the Viet Minh for two months before finally capturing Hanoi.

In this world, Coman brought about some small changes. Just as Chang Gong's troops withdrew, the French army successfully entered Hanoi. So, at the first moment of the falling out, the French army in Hanoi quickly launched a surprise attack on the Viet Minh stronghold in Hanoi.

The results were definitely much better than in another world. Haiphong was cleared out in two days, while Hanoi took longer. By the seventh day of the battle, the Viet Minh had already evacuated the largest city in the north.

In Saigon, the largest city in French Indochina, Corman was furiously writing a report to his country on the current war situation: the Viet Minh regular forces numbered 75,000, while auxiliary forces, including guerrillas, exceeded one million; the French forces were at a significant disadvantage. Since it was a report, he naturally wanted to emphasize the enemy's strength while portraying his own weakness.

Lefevere came in to take the report and was deeply shocked when he sent it to Paris by telegram. "Sir, isn't this an exaggeration? Although the Viet Minh have deep roots in the north, many of their so-called auxiliary forces still use cold weapons, and only the regular troops use Japanese equipment."

"You don't understand, this is called expectation management," Koeman replied indifferently. "Don't you know how the military behaves when suppressing riots? By talking more about the militants, it's easier to account for the heavy casualties."

The heavy casualties that Coman referred to were not French military casualties, but rather Vietnamese civilian casualties. Too many civilian casualties might surprise friendly nations, but if they were attributed to the Viet Minh militants, at least the Americans wouldn't cause trouble for France.

Coleman knew perfectly well what the French army was like when fighting in the colonies; they didn't care about civilians at all, nor did they bother to identify whether someone was a Viet Minh member. Not actively killing civilians was considered a sign of conscience.

During the colonial era, European imperialist countries did not treat the people of their colonies as human beings. It is hard to say who was more merciful. But now, at least the British army would not dare to do so. However, the French army was not the British army. The French army still acted in the manner of the imperial era.

Publicizing the Viet Minh's million-strong armed force was also a way of covering up the French army's atrocities; since they were Viet Minh members, they were no longer considered civilians.

Whether other countries believe this explanation or not is irrelevant; it's a matter of perspective. As long as France believes it, that's fine.

"I don't know if Martin is still in the country. Have him keep an eye on public opinion. The reason for the French military operation in French Indochina is to protect the independence of Laos and Cambodia. There are quite a few troops fighting here in French Africa, and news of them cannot be completely blocked. We also need to pay attention to controlling public opinion."

Koeman blew on the freshly completed report and handed it to Lefevere, saying, "It'll be able to handle the public opinion in a short time, but I don't know if it will work."

He can fool many things, but there's one thing he can't fool: with the start of French military operations, military spending is bound to increase.

Fiscal issues are not as simple as deceiving the people. The people can be deceived by public opinion, but money cannot. When the Paris government finally sets out its budget, everything will be exposed.

Given the political climate of the Fourth Republic, whether Georges Pitoure could survive, or whether another new government would emerge, was anyone's guess. The telegram was sent out; let the bigwigs in Paris decide.

It cannot be said that Coman's trip to French Indochina was in vain. In fact, his actions in integrating the two major rice trading centers have already brought benefits to France, even though he is unaware of it now.

Georges Pitour used the rice shipped to France to do something very important: he visited Moscow and signed a trade agreement on behalf of the de Gaulle government.

Now that France had surplus grain, facing the financial pressure that had persisted since the postwar era, Georges Pitoull's first choice was to cut energy spending. The oil wells discovered off the coast of Saigon were not a solution to the immediate problem, but Soviet oil exports could.

George Pidul's solution to the dollar shortage was nothing more than cutting spending, and the energy substitution among the three major expenditures ultimately fell to Moscow.

France hoped to exchange its rice for Soviet oil exports, thus resolving its dollar expenditure problem caused by oil imports.

This was exactly what they wanted, because the Soviet Union was experiencing a food crisis, with drought and severe crop failures in its European part.

However, the Soviet Union had very strict control over public opinion, and some Western European countries such as the Netherlands and Italy also had food problems. These countries were focused on their own issues, so other countries were unaware of the Soviet Union's food crisis.

George Pidul's rice-for-oil trade was merely a trial, but he never expected to receive a positive response from the Soviet Union.

Coman and Louis Fyda invested approximately $50 million worth of rice in exchange for 15 million tons of oil and minerals, timber, and other raw materials exported from the Soviet Union. This amounted to almost France's annual oil consumption, and the timber exports also filled the gap in France's reconstruction needs. On the day the agreement was reached, both France and the Soviet Union breathed a sigh of relief.

France resolved its energy export and reconstruction needs for timber and industrial raw materials, while the Soviet Union received 1.5 million tons of rice, greatly alleviating its food shortage. Although rice did not suit the tastes of most Soviet citizens, this problem could be solved through rationing, as it wasn't a nation without rice.

(End of this chapter)