In 1941, at the beginning of the new year, the Japanese army began a large-scale offensive against German Indochina.

After World War I, the colonies of French Annam were divided between Germany and Austria, and Germany was given jurisdiction over the rich southern region of Annam, while Austria-Hungary was given a relatively impoverished northern mountainous area north of Da Nang, where anti-colonial guerrillas were often infested.

After the outbreak of Japan's war of aggression against China, Germany strengthened its military forces in the Far East. The number of German troops in Qingdao increased to 30,000, and the number of colonial troops in Annam increased to 100,000. However, there is one biggest problem, in order to deter Japan, Germany gathered all the main forces of the Far East Fleet in Qingdao, but it was attacked by Japan and the main force of the Far East Fleet suffered heavy losses. Although the Far Eastern Fleet recovered and repaired the sunken and wounded warships, the German fleet, which lacked aircraft carriers, could only occasionally operate on the coast from Qingdao to Tianjin, under the protection of shore-based aviation, and did not dare to leave the coast too far.

The German garrison in Annam now has only a cruiser detachment consisting of two light cruisers, four Type 1934 destroyers, and a number of offshore torpedo boats and patrol boats.

On the afternoon of 9 January, Japanese bombers taking off from the Malay Peninsula launched a surprise attack on the German Annam region with the cooperation of two naval aircraft carriers.

The Germans had set up several radar stations in southern Vietnam, but they were mainly located around Zigong. Before launching the attack, the Japanese army had already made a detailed reconnaissance of the Annam area by using the local anti-colonial guerrillas, and the deployment of the German-Austrian troops was very clear. In North Vietnam, there were not only 120,000 Austro-Hungarian colonial troops, but also to ensure the security of the naval base in the Gulf of Tonkin Gulf. It was also supported by the 16th Army of the Chinese Army. Relatively speaking, the German army in the south was insufficient, and the coastline of the entire Annam region was more than 1,000 nautical miles, and it was indeed very difficult to prevent the Japanese from landing after losing the right to control the sea.

Before the war, Germany deployed two army air wings in the colony of Annam. There are about more than 530 combat aircraft, including more than 180 BF109B fighters and 210 Ju87D "Stuka" dive bombers. The Japanese made two attempts to attack German Annam in November 1939 and March 1940, but both were counterattacked by German air forces and had to cancel the battle plan.

The British were very jealous of the Japanese army and refused to allow the Japanese to enter the Malay Peninsula, which also caused the Japanese army to use the Malay Peninsula as a pedal to attack the German Annam.

Now, Britain itself is no longer able to hold the Malay Peninsula and Burma, or even India. With the mediation of the United States, it was finally agreed that the Japanese army would be stationed in the Malay Peninsula, but the Japanese army was not allowed to enter the Indo-Burma region. At this time, Burma was not an independent country, and since 1889, when the British wrested control of Burma from China, the suzerainty of Burma, they incorporated Burma into India and became a state of the British Indian colony, under the jurisdiction of the British Viceroy of India.

The Japanese landed at Punsun Bay, which was barely German defensive, on the border between Annam and Thailand. Moreover, with the Cardamom Mountains and the Elephant Mountains blocking it, it was not easy for the Germans to carry out reinforcements.

Ponson gradually after the fifties is the largest seaport in Cambodia. At this time, it was just a deserted bay in the middle of the rainforest, and the Germans had only one battalion of colonial troops and a police station with about 170 policemen. The Japanese landing at Punson Bay met only minor resistance from the local police, and the battle lasted only about ten minutes before a small police force was routed.

After receiving the news of the Japanese attack, the German troops stationed in this area immediately began to retreat to Phnom Penh.

The German air force immediately launched a counterattack against the Japanese landing convoy, but it was cut off by sea for nearly a year and a half. The Germans consumed about 120 more than 120 aircraft in several air battles, and they were not replenished. At the same time, the performance of the German fighters stationed in Annam has fallen behind slightly due to the inability to equip the latest fighters.

The Japanese army soon gained absolute air supremacy over Cambodia, and the Germans were powerless to prevent the Japanese landing. The main force of the 5th Division and the advance force of the 18th Division landed at Punxun Bay. Lieutenant General Yamashita Fumi, commander of the 25th Army, and Lieutenant General Matsui Taikuro, commander of the 5th Division, also rushed to the landing site by boat as soon as possible.

After landing, the 5th Division did not have a quick rest at all, and began to march towards Phnom Penh. At the same time, the 18th Division of the Japanese Army, under the command of Major General Tong Meihaonan, began to land at Jinou Bay.

The Germans had a division of troops stationed at Golden Oujiao, and the Tumei detachment met stubborn resistance during the landing.

The 341st Regiment of the 3rd Infantry Division of the German Far East Army defended Jinou Bay, which built coastal defensive positions along the line of Nangen, the landing site chosen by the Japanese army, and built pillboxes and barbed wire fences in front of the positions. In addition, the Germans had artillery positions behind the coastal positions, a light artillery battalion with a total of 12 105-mm howitzers and an anti-aircraft battery armed with six twin 37-mm anti-aircraft guns and six 12.7-mm anti-aircraft machine guns.

Slightly different from the Austro-Hungarian Army, the German Infantry Division had 2 regiments and 6 battalions, while the Austro-Hungarian Army Infantry Division had a 33 formation, with a total of 3 infantry regiments and 9 infantry battalions. The German-Austrian Army had more or less the same structure of armored and infantry regiments, with three infantry battalions, a regimental artillery company (with six 75 mm light howitzers and two 105 mm medium howitzers), and an anti-tank artillery company (with six 57 mm anti-tank guns and three 75 mm anti-tank guns).

Unlike the German infantry in Europe, which has begun to be widely equipped with G38 semi-automatic rifles, the German Army in the Far East has not yet had time to reequip, and is still equipped with Mauser Kar98K single-shot rifles, which are far less dense than those in Europe, and even less than some elite Chinese army divisions that have begun to be widely equipped with semi-automatic and automatic rifles. Another important difference was that the German infantry divisions in Europe had begun to have a separate armored battalion with 76 tanks and 128 armored vehicles, while the Far Eastern forces had only one light armored regiment with 136 light tanks.

Germany had sent a "volunteer armored division" to the Far East, but that armored unit had been fighting with the Chinese army and had not been transferred to the colony in Annam to strengthen its defenses.

Even so, the equipment of the German Far Eastern Army, especially in terms of the number and caliber of artillery, was much stronger than that of ordinary Japanese army divisions.

The Tumei detachment encountered a difficult bone to gnaw.

Each infantry battalion of the German 341st Regiment had a heavy firearm company armed with six 81 mm mortars and three 75 mm light infantry guns, plus each infantry company also had one heavy firearm battery consisting of three 60 mm mortars, three 40 mm "Iron Fist" grenade launchers and two 7.92 mm MG38 general-purpose machine guns. With a 12.7 mm MG35 heavy machine gun and two MG38s equipped with each infantry squad, the German infantry regiment had 38 guns of 75 mm caliber or higher, 27 60 mm mortars and nearly 200 light and heavy machine guns that were terrifying to the Japanese army.

The German 341st Infantry Regiment stationed in Nangen made Tomi Hiroo suffer enough. (To be continued......)