Historically, the French colonial government adopted a policy of compromise, which led to the invasion of wolves, the so-called military monitoring team of the Japanese government was stationed in Haiphong Port, the starting point of the Yunnan-Burma Highway, and the observation teams of the Japanese army were also dispatched to Zhennanguan and Tongdeng, which led to the French military facilities and units in these areas all falling into the hands of the Japanese military. It was precisely because they had thoroughly understood the reality of the French colonial government and army that the Japanese military had enough confidence to make the decision to enter northern Indochina by force.

But now the situation is different from history, and the Petain government, which was supported by the German Führer, has become extremely tough, not only rejecting the Japanese army's request to cut off the railway traffic between Yunnan and Vietnam, but also refusing the entry of the Japanese inspection team, and then arresting Karut, who made a compromise decision, and imprisoning the five-star general in a gunboat on the Mekong River.

The Japanese army failed to obtain military intelligence from French Indochina as it did historically, and although the Japanese intelligence services at all levels increased their intelligence collection efforts, the French also increased their vigilance. It was impossible for the French not to detect the unusual movement of the 5th Division and the Detachment in late August, and the new Governor and his staff had already seen in this evidence the malice and ambition of the Japanese.

Let. Degu was never an indecisive man, his first job after taking office was to increase the number of troops to the north of French Indochina, this time he brought a full infantry division of the French army, all of them elite veterans who had participated in actual combat, and also brought a batch of new army equipment and air force fighters, as a result, only one infantry battalion was left in the south as a training unit, and the rest were sent by train to Beiqi.

The French army has been busy redeploying forces in the north during this time. In particular, the defenses of Haiphong, Hanoi and Lang Son areas were strengthened. These transfers were carried out in secret under the strict secrecy of the colonial government, and the Japanese military and government remained in the dark until this moment, ignorant of the military changes on the French Indochina border. The Morimoto Brigade was supported only by extremely crude intelligence. This reckless raid was launched.

By the time Okubo's squadron encountered the A3 stronghold, the operation was actually showing signs of failure, but the gambler mentality that prevailed in the Japanese Army led them to continue their attacks. Maybe he will win if he rushes again, and he will become the hero of the empire who conquered Tongdeng, these thoughts are like irresistible bait hovering in the minds of Japanese officers and soldiers, the desire for honor and victory. Swept away the minds of most of the Japanese officers and soldiers within Morimoto's brigade at this time.

The A3 stronghold of the French army was actually a garrison camp with a strong perimeter and a small area. However, there were internal ammunition depots, munitions depots, granaries, barracks, medical clinics, and various facilities, and a tall lookout tower was built on the side wall near the road, and machine gun nests with steel plate shields and rifle holes were set up on the walls. From a purely defensive point of view, this stronghold could cope with the attack of ordinary small arms infantry. The French were not going to build any land forts in the first place. Just to deal with the bandits in the mountains and the independence guerrillas along the border.

The main task of this stronghold on weekdays is to provide support and support to the garrisons of the surrounding bunkers and outposts. In addition to stockpiling a large amount of supplies and ammunition supplies in peacetime, an army garrison unit of a company-sized unit is also stationed. Lieutenant Dominiel had two full infantry platoons left in his hands at this time, and he had just received his full salary for the month, the morale of the soldiers was now high, the weapons and ammunition were well stocked, and the food in the warehouse was enough for the soldiers to eat for half a year, and as long as the enemy did not use heavy equipment, he was fully confident that he could hold this line of defense.

The Okubo squadron was fired back into the Artemisia bushes by a flurry of gunfire, and their view was obscured by the artemisia grass around them. Officials at all levels could only shout loudly to regroup their subordinates. The chaotic Japanese shouts became a proof to the ears of the French that the Japanese had collapsed, and the French soldiers on the walls of the stronghold shot harder at the artemisia grass. Rifle and machine-gun bullets swept across the verdant hillsides, sending up dust, broken branches, and broken leaves and grass foam in their path.

A French stronghold appeared on the road, which was not marked on the map, and the Okubo squadron was blocked by heavy fire from the opposing side, and the troops were in confusion and were regrouping, calling for reinforcements from the group. The herald panted and reported the bad news to Morimoto, and afterwards, the ordinary soldier who was lucky to survive the bloody battle recalled that when Morimoto Osa heard the news, his face turned red, as if he had drunk too much laurel.

Morimoto Otaji had already sensed that the development of events was somewhat different from what he expected, and he may have underestimated the will of the French colonial army to resist, and also underestimated the strength of the other party's armament, which was the last mistake that a commander should make, but he not only made it, but had already let his troops get into it.

However, with Morimoto Nakasa's character, he will never admit that he made a mistake. He told himself that this must be because the commander's will to attack was not firm, Okubo usually acted like a tough guy, he didn't expect to behave so badly at the critical moment, he should have seen that this guy turned out to be a scrap.

"Captain Hasegawa, immediately take your squadron to support Okubo, and the second machine gun squad and infantry artillery squad are under your command, we must break through the French defense line as soon as possible." Morimoto gave the order to Hasegawa, who had just returned from the mountain.

Morimoto's brigade must break through the French army at this time, so that no matter what the outcome of this incident will be, at least he can explain it to his superiors in the military department. If in the end, the brigade could not even defeat a single stronghold of the French army and damaged the military prestige of the Japanese Imperial Army, Morimoto would have to apologize to His Majesty the Emperor for his crimes, and perhaps he would be stripped of his military status and honor, leaving a lifetime of infamy, and all his efforts in the first half of his life would be in vain.

What made the Japanese army feel incomprehensible afterwards was that Morimoto was clearly aware of the stakes, but still stubbornly refused to launch a desperate all-out assault, and some people thought that maybe Morimoto Nakasa still had illusions about breaking through the French defense line and taking Tongdeng, so at this time, he still retained a complete 12th Squadron as a reserve for a follow-up attack. But it's also this arrangement of Nakasa Morimoto. In the end, the destruction of the Morimoto Brigade was delayed for a long time.

The artillery squad attached to the Morimoto Brigade had just set up the firing position and assembled the two infantry guns. Preparing to support Kato's squadron in launching an artillery bombardment of Machine Gun Fort No. 1, but while the artillerymen were still counting the firing elements, Captain Morimoto suddenly received an order to transfer the position. They were carrying two famous 92 infantry guns, all of which were carried by soldiers because they had abandoned their pack horses and relied on soldiers' manpower to carry them, and the two infantry artillery squads were already on the verge of exhaustion when they came here. But the military order was like a mountain, and the artillerymen could only bite the bullet. Disassembled the assembled artillery, and then carrying these heavy components with the Hasegawa brigade to the other side of the mountain,

The ammunition detachment attached to the artillery squad was no better. Pity the twenty ammunition men, each carrying a 30-kilogram iron ammunition box, each containing five shells. In total, this infantry artillery squad carried a hundred rounds of 70-millimeter shells, of which seventy percent were ordinary grenades. The rest were some incendiary bombs and smoke grenades.

Morimoto ordered the infantry artillery squad to move. Another reason for this is that the machine gun fort No. 1 is obviously no longer able to hold up, and there is no need to waste precious shells on this target that will soon fall. Kato's squadron finally made significant progress at this time, the machine gun position on the commanding heights suppressed the fire from the second floor of the pillbox, and three squads of the brigade attached to the machine gun squadron joined the attack on the No. 1 machine gun fort, and the accurate fire of six Type 92 heavy machine guns put great pressure on the French shooters in the pillbox.

After all, the number of defenders in a pillbox is limited, plus a squad of Nguyen Phuc Huu. There were only 28 soldiers, more than half of whom were of Vietnamese descent. Thanks to the education and training of the French, as well as the abundance of benefits and salaries, the will to fight was as strong as that of the French soldiers.

When the Japanese adjusted their tactics and began to suppress the pillboxes, the casualties of the defenders in the No. 1 machine gun fort began to rise in a straight line, and soon all the machine gun shooters on the first floor were wounded, and the shooters of one of the machine guns had been changed twice.

The heavy casualties did not affect the morale of the soldiers, and the sacrifice of their fellow villagers and friends did inspire the blood of several Vietnamese soldiers, the problem is that although they can continue to fight, the weapons in their hands are somewhat unsustainable. All machine guns have a problem that cannot be avoided, that is, the problem of overheating of the barrel will soon occur after continuous shooting, and at this time, the only way to reduce the temperature of the barrel or simply replace the barrel is the most troublesome for the French-designed machine gun.

In the end, the No. 1 machine gun fort could only reduce the intensity of fire, reduce the long burst, and change to short burst fire and single shot, after finding that the frequency of the defenders' firing had decreased, the Japanese immediately took the opportunity to carry out several assaults, although in the end they were repelled by the French rifles and grenades, but the Japanese army had already seen that the defenders were only at the end of the crossbow at this time, and the Japanese army could already smell the breath of victory.

At the same time, the Okubo squadron, supported by an infantry artillery squad and the 10th squadron, launched the first assault. The soldiers of the Okubo squadron were ashamed of their previous performance, and they felt that if they couldn't wash away this shame, they would not be able to raise their heads in front of their comrades in the brigade in the future, so the soldiers of the two detachments, under the leadership of the junior non-commissioned officers, launched a round of disorderless and brainless pig attacks, but what they didn't expect was that the French, who had never seen this method of warfare, were caught off guard, and let these soldiers rush to the wall of the stronghold, occupy a peripheral trench, and launch a confrontation with the French army, The grenadiers and machine guns in the squad quickly suppressed the French troops on the wall.

For a time, the tide of the war began to turn in favor of the Japanese army. The officers of the Morimoto Brigade finally breathed a sigh of relief, in their opinion, the most dangerous moment had passed, and with a little more force, the Morimoto Brigade would definitely be able to break through the French defenses and take the city of Tongdeng, which they were destined to go down in history for.

But what these Japanese officers did not know was that a huge convoy from the direction of Gaoping was rapidly approaching Tongdeng along Highway No. 4, which was now less than five kilometers away from the place where the Japanese and French exchanged fire.

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