WesWorld

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But they will not be facing a guerilla force at the beginning. They could be very effective in any type of proto-blitz and I can't see any French or Vietnamese force going to guerilla tactics from the very beginning of any conflict due to no historical precedent to do so.

The French are very aware of recent developments in the firepower of Siamese forces, and understand that these developments require adjustments to their tactics and strategy. The precedent they look to is Spain during the Napoleonic wars, where a combination of regular and irregular forces posed severe problems for the French.

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Historically in the 1941 war the Thai used tanks in a somewhat succesful way versus the French in Cambodia and IMHO it should be something similar if this happens in WW. The French supply depots are too far away from the border areas and the Thais would have the initial advantage but the deeper they get into French Indochina the pendulum will swing in the other direction.

And every mile Siamese forces advance, and every village they take, will be another mile of flank they must protect and another village they must garrison. They will be shocked how quickly their combat power at the point of their advance dwindles. And French invstments in indiginous armaments production will ease their supply problems.

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The only concern of this force will be supply. As you stated they are road bound and their supply lines will be very fragile. They could be cutoff by any flanking attack that severs their supply lines or basically stopped just by severing their supply lines.

Indeed.

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Originally posted by AdmKuznetsov

The French are very aware of recent developments in the firepower of Siamese forces, and understand that these developments require adjustments to their tactics and strategy. The precedent they look to is Spain during the Napoleonic wars, where a combination of regular and irregular forces posed severe problems for the French.

What I found impossible is for the French to use an example over 100 years old to try to develop an strategy and tactic. Historically nations respond to their experience in their last conflict to develop a new doctrine. IMO in this case the French will still follow the lessons of WW Great War and using the tactics of an enemy they fought over 120 years ago seem unrealistic. IOTL they even were slow in the development of true mechanized units with the lessons being less than twenty years old.

Why they will develop insurgency tactics when they fought three wars since them and not using those tactics? And they won the last war they fought. Planning for leaving behind troops sounds defeatists, pretty much taking for granted that territory will be captured and hold by the enemy for a long time. All I can say is maybe in WW they expect their enemies to capture large swaths of their territory like in the Great War and instead of Maginot Line they decide to deny the enemy the captured terrain. But as I say before this could be a political unpalatable tactic for the French electorate, even in places as far as Indochina and at the same time thrusting the Vietnamese to actually do the fighting is hoping for a lot.

How many guerilla type attacks were there in WW1?

None.

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trusting the Vietnamese to actually do the fighting is hoping for a lot.

Especially since their true loyalties are known to only a very few...

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Why they will develop insurgency tactics when they fought three wars since them and not using those tactics?

Because French forces will be extensively napalmed, and they know it already.

The capabilities of Siamese weapons have been observed, both in testing and in the recent unpleasantness in Arabia. There are several responses to that development, and the more interesting one is described by words start with "D" dispersal, deception, and digging, and digging is of limited usefulness.

The other response would be to develop corresponding terror weapons, transfer sufficient French forces to the theater to immediately win air, naval, and ground supremacy, and dictate peace in the smoking ruins of Bangkok.

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trusting the Vietnamese to actually do the fighting is hoping for a lot.

They are trusted to defend their prospective independence, and their homes, the mysterious Mr. "M" notwithstanding.

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Originally posted by AdmKuznetsov

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trusting the Vietnamese to actually do the fighting is hoping for a lot.

They are trusted to defend their prospective independence, and their homes, the mysterious Mr. "M" notwithstanding.

We shall see if he has as much "loyalty" as is implied.
I doubt a fancy "M" logo will be enough to instill that loyalty...

When you read the Blake & Mortimer comic "The Yellow Mark" and see Olrik in action, you'll think otherwise about the power of the 'M'.

8 November

One of the newly-delivered Fw 42B-1s has been modified at Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base with additional internal fuel tanks in its bomb bay and the removal and fairing over of the aft gunner's position. The aircraft is reportedly being prepared for entry in next year's MacRobertson Air Race.

24 November
Royal Palace, Bangkok

"So, Mr. M, what news do you bring me?"

"I have unfortunate news on the French front my king. It would seem that Mr. HC is firmly in the colonialists' pocket."

"That is unfortunate. What of force K?"

"Fragmented and not likely to achieve much success, my king."

"Then I suppose we will have to rely on more direct action?"

"Yes, my king. I have a plan here with me..."

-----

22 December

The Royal Siamese Naval Air Service has placed a contract with the Indian Awali Brothers concern for eight "Toofani C" naval bombers.

27 December

M considered the letter the Argentine defense minister had sent, and the request that had been made. On the one hand, there was the desire to keep Siamese secrets, well, Siamese secrets. On the other, the formula wasn't exactly difficult, and the things had been used a few times by the White Elephant Squadron, meaning it wasn't exactly a total secret anymore. And besides, it might be useful to have a marker to call in with Argentina...

One of the reasons he had become one fo the most feared men on the Asian continent was because he had a habit of accumulating favours from other people. A piece of information given here, a bit of kit provided there. The only condition was that the favour should be repaid at a later date.

And M always collected.

Oh, it might take a while before he did. But when you accepted a favour from the head of the White Mice, sooner or later the mousetrap would be sprung, it was just a matter of time.

Smiling, M marked 'approved' to the Argentine request, affixed his trademark signature to the bottom of the sheet, and passed it into the 'out' file. The reason for the request hadn't been stated, but it was fairly obvious if you knew what to look for. That was another trait that made M's appearance dreaded; he knew. He saw. And perhaps most frightening, as long as it never affected his beloved Thailand, he never seemed to care.

Whistling cheerfully, he rose from his seat, put on his coat and headed out the door. He'd have a fine dinner at the local ristorante and then spend the night scaring a few of Bangkok's low-lifes.

Tomorrow, a sealed envelope containing chemical formulas would be passed to the Argentine embassy.

And Paraguay would burn.