Facing the menacing Continental Allied Forces, the British Indochinese colonial government was left completely dumbfounded. Having lost control of the seas, Indochina was like a house leaking from every side, unable to withstand wind and rain.
Even setting aside the disparity in combat strength, Indochina could not scrape together a million men. Worse still, the enemy held both naval and air superiority and could strike from every direction.
Telegrams pleading for aid were sent to London, then forwarded to India.
After the Battle of Malacca, the Far East shipping route had been cut off. Even if the homeland dispatched reinforcements immediately, they would have to detour through India.
Time waited for no one on the battlefield. With the Continental Allied Forces bearing down on them, only India could now support British Indochina.
After the outbreak of the war for hegemony, India's colonial forces had expanded sharply, their total strength already surpassing four million.
On paper, that was an absolutely formidable force. Even the Holy Roman Empire's army, navy, and air force combined numbered fewer than three million.
But this was the age of industrialization. Human-wave tactics could still play a role, but that role was steadily being weakened.
No one knew his own household better than its master. Governor Robert Jervis knew perfectly well what sort of rabble those four million-plus colonial troops were.
Command, equipment, training, morale—not one aspect of the army met the standard. Its combat effectiveness was easy enough to imagine.
If they truly had any fighting power, they would not be worrying about being besieged by Russia and Austria. They would have taken the initiative to go looking for trouble with those two countries.
Looking at the telegram pleading for aid in his hand, Robert felt like he was falling apart inside. To the north was