Indochinese Army

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Basis :

Official name :
Founded :
Active personnel :

Commander-in-chief :

Table of ranks :

In construction

Structure of the army:

The Indochinese Army is organised into six infantry corps ( dao ) and a future specialized mixed corps, like the Occidental armies. These corps form the vertebral column of the defence of Indochinan territory. Each corps count about 50 000 mens, but the the real number fluctuate according to the seasons ( rice harvests in particular ) and the regularity of the payment of the pay.

The internal situation in Indochina does not require the permanent mobilization of hundreds of thousand soldiers. In consequence, there is just three mobilized corps, the others stay in reserve. This configuration allows substantial savings to the government.

The three mobilized infantry corps are located in :

- Saïgon : 5th Fortress Infantry Corps ( 4/2 )
- Battambang : 1st Infantry Corps ( 5/3)
- 8th Mixed Specialized Corps ( 5/1,5 )

The four reserve corps are located in :

- Da Nang ( Tourane ) : 2nd Infantry Corps ( 5/3 )
- Nha Trang : 3rd Infantry Corps ( 5/3 )
- Phnom Penh : 4th Infantry Corps ( 5/3 )
- Paksé : 6th Infantry Corps ( 4/2 )

A new body is being constituted. It will gather units of light cavalry, jungle infrantry and marine troops.

Unconventionnal used names of the corps are :

- 1st Infrantry Corps : Shields of Dambang
- 2nd Infantry Corps : Dragons of Annam
- 3rd Infantry Corps : unknown
- 4th Infantry Corps : Norodom Servants
- 6th Infantry Corps : Rocks of North
- 5th Fortress Infantry Corps : Yellow Flags

Structure of the corps :

Each infantry corps of the Indochinese Army contain some historical type of units :

- ngu : 5 or 10 soldiers
- tôt : 100 soldiers
- so : 400 soldiers
- vê : 2400 soldiers
- quân : 10 000 soldiers
- phu : 12 000 or 15 000 soldiers
- dao : 50 000 soldiers

Recently, influence of military occidental theoricians opened new tracks of thinking. Old terms are more and more replaced by new namings :

- ngu >> section
- tot >> company
- so >> batallion
- vê >> regiment
- quan or phu >> division
- dao >> corps

The typical corps is divided into three infantry divisions and one support division.

Each division count three riflemen regiments, one artillery regiment and one suport regiment.

Each regiment count three riflemen batallions, one engineering batallion, one artillery batallion and one support regiment.

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A particular case : the 8th Mixed Specialized Corps

In 1918, the Indochinese Army had his rows increased by the constitution of an eighth corps. This new corps isn't a classical corps, and is mixed. It includes three different entities, each of them who specialized.

I. Cavalerie Légère (Light Cavalry) :

Between the colonization, there isn't cavalry corps in French Indochina. There isn't a lot of horses too. But after the independence, Indochinese authorities thought that a little cavalry corps could be useful, especially for the defence of the Cambodia, and for raids on the supply lines of any potential ennemy.

Indochinese horses are smaller than the European horses. Most are only 1,20 meters in the withers. So, at war, Indochinese cavalrymen fight on the ground. There is most an elite infantry corps than a cavalry corps. Some military observers speak of them like a dragoon mounted infantry corps.

There is three batallions and one "super-batallion".

- Can Tho
- Dalat
- Stung Treng
- Kompong Cham ("super-batallion")

II. Tirailleurs (Rifles) :

At first, Tirailleurs were constituted by troops recruited locally (Annamitics, Cambodians...). They were of use as auxiliaries to the French troops. After the independence, they were gradually transformed into units charged more specially with the surveillance of the borders, and with the protection of of jungles and mountains area.

Actually, Tirailleurs are divided in five "super-batallions", each of them counting 5 000 mens. It's an exception to the military Indochinese organisation. In operation, they fight generally in little groups of one or two companies.

- Koh Kong
- Koulen
- Paksé
- Pleiku
- Tay Ninh

III. Infanterie de marine (Marines) :

These units are more particularly in charge of defending the main harbours, the most important archipelagoes and certain great waterways of the Independent Indochina. All in all, 12 000 marines compose this speciality.

There is two types of units :

1. Islands and Lakes :

Six battalions (so), each of them counting 400 mens, protect five group of islands. One of them is allocated to the defense of the Tonlé Sap.

- Con Dao (Poulo Condor)
- Hoang Sa (Paracels)
- Nha Trang archipeleago
- Phu Quoc
- Truong Sa (Spratley)
- Tonlé Sap

2. Main Harbours and strategical sites :

Four regiments (vê), each of them counting 2 400 mens, protect three harbours. One of them is allocated to the surveillance of the Mekong river.

- Mekong river
- Hué
- Kompong Nom (Sihanoukville)
- Vung Tau (Cap Saint-Jacques )