When Franco was in exile in France, Japanese patrols began to appear on the streets of Saigon.
Saigon is an ancient city. In the early years of the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Empire sent Zheng He to the Western Seas, East and West Asia, the Middle East Coast, East Africa and other countries to pay tribute or trade to the Ming Dynasty. At that time, Saigon was a port where tribute ships from the west berthed. Over time,
This place is called "Saigon".
In 1698, Nan Nguyen directly controlled Saigon and established Jiading Prefecture in Saigon. At the same time, he attracted refugees to Jiading to reclaim wasteland and organized the local Ming Dynasty survivors into the "Ming Xiang Society". In this way, Nan Nguyen controlled Jiading with the help of the Ming Dynasty survivors.
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After the establishment of French Indochina, the name "Jiading" was changed back to "Saigon" as the center of French rule in Indochina.
Today, the management of Saigon is still controlled by the French, but all the garrison troops have been replaced by Japanese.
The Japanese were not satisfied with the management of the French. The French were tolerant of the whites, which led to the deployment of the Japanese army in Saigon without any secrets. The Japanese then made more demands on the French, so the Japanese army began to take over the security of the streets of Saigon.
Patrol work.
The city of Saigon has a large number of Western-style buildings, and the Red Church is one of them.
The Red Church was originally called the Church of Our Lady of the King in Saigon. It got its name because it was built with red bricks. All the red bricks used in the construction were shipped from France.
The cathedral is designed after the bell tower of Notre Dame de Paris. It is well-proportioned, solemn and majestic. The two towers are 40 meters high. There is also a four-ton statue of the Virgin Mary in front of the church.
The Rand Bank, not far from the Red Church, was one of the key targets of the Japanese army.
Saigon was the colonial center of France in Asia. Rand Bank opened its first branch as early as 1910. This was Rand Bank's second branch in Asia, after the Lion City branch.
The headquarters of the Rand Bank in French Indochina is even more magnificent than the Red Cathedral. This 60-meter-high building is made of reinforced concrete. The exterior walls are decorated with stone flakes. Only the eight columns at the entrance are
Real marble, behind a huge floor-to-ceiling window above the colonnade, branch general manager Qian Ya is discussing the final retreat with security director Ma Nan.
As early as two months ago, the Rand Bank had emptied all the underground vaults and sent them to the Rand Bank in Coconut City for storage. Many staff had also withdrawn, and only the necessary personnel remained at the Rand Bank in Saigon.
These employees are also about to leave now.
The Japanese have obviously been paying attention to this for a long time.
The Japanese hate Rand Bank to the core.
As early as the end of World War I, Southern African capital, led by the Rand Bank, frequently attacked Japan. Even Japan purchased scrap ships from the United States to dismantle steel, a commercial practice that was unprofitable for Southern African companies. Southern Africa
African capital has to take a hand.
Southern African companies control countless strategic resources, including iron ore in Australia and Brazil, oil in the Persian Gulf and East India, and natural rubber that is abundant in Southeast Asia but difficult for Japan to obtain. This makes the Japanese intolerable.
What is hateful is that no matter how much money the Japanese pay, southern Africa will not sell it.
What is even more hateful is that even if southern African companies sell resources to the Americans and Germans, the Americans and Germans will be prohibited from selling these resources to the Japanese.
This completely blocked all possibilities for Japan to obtain strategic resources from southern Africa.
Therefore, after the Japanese army entered Saigon, they made the Rand Bank a key surveillance target. Now, across the street from the Rand Bank, there is an armored vehicle produced in Southern Africa parked across the street, with five Japanese soldiers sitting on it.
This is the Alligator armored vehicle given to France by the Rand Bank.
Although it is a product of the previous generation, the 12.7mm heavy machine gun is still very powerful, and its combat effectiveness is much higher than that of the Japanese Doudin tank.
"Damn the French, they surrendered to Germany, but they actually surrendered to Japan. They are really shameless." Qian Ya was very angry. These armored vehicles were given to French Indochina before France stopped resisting. At that time, they were still money.
The donation ceremony was hosted by Ya.
The armored vehicles were donated to French Indochina in the hope that the French colonial government would toughen up and resist the Japanese invasion.
Unexpectedly, Vichy France actually opened its borders to the Japanese army, and these armored vehicles became the trophies of the Japanese army.
"Don't worry, if a fight breaks out, I can guarantee that no Japanese will be able to enter Rand Bank." Manan is a senior mercenary from the Umbrella Company and has confidence in his men.
There are less than a hundred staff members of the Rand Bank left in Saigon, but there are more than 120 mercenaries.
In the room next to Manan and Qianya, two twin-mounted 20mm machine guns have locked onto the alligator across the road, and can tear it into pieces at any time if the armored vehicle makes any movement.
There are six such machine guns in this building, four of which are distributed on the top of the building. If the Japanese army sends out bombers, it will be difficult to pose a threat to the building.
"The 'Ping An' has entered Saigon Port. We can evacuate at any time without causing any complications." Qian Ya took a deep breath, he will come back.
However, it will not be easy for all to evacuate. The French do not want the Rand Bank to evacuate, fearing that it will cause panic.
Depositors also don’t want to see Rand Bank withdraw. Although the bank has promised that cash can be withdrawn from Rand Bank in Coconut City with certificates of deposit, depositors are still worried that their years of hard work will be lost.
But what can I do if I worry?
Backed by the Rand Gold Mine, Rand Bank is the most reputable bank in the world. Even if all the banks in the world go bankrupt, Rand Bank will definitely be the last to go bankrupt. Compared with the deposits in the bank, France in Saigon
People, or rather white people in Saigon, need to worry more about whether they can survive until the war.
The Times in French Indochina always pays attention to the ongoing war.
The Katyn Forest massacre was too far away from Saigon. After the Japanese army invaded the capital of the ancient northern empire, they caused a horrific massacre there. It is said that 300,000 people were killed.
The Japanese troops in Saigon are relatively restrained now.
But no one can guarantee that these beast-like savages will not become more animalistic one day in the future.
If you look at it this way, it is true that Western countries have not accepted Japan for so many years.
This country should not be accepted by any organization.
If we were to classify the level of civilization of all countries in the world, Japan would definitely be in a unique category.
The lowest one.
So while the Rand Bank was emptying its underground vaults, smart people were leaving Saigon one after another, heading to the Lion City or the safer Coconut City, or even further away, Australia or Southern Africa.
Although in southern Africa, white people will lose some privileges.
But compared with life, privilege is not that important.
What's more, the conditions in southern Africa are more attractive, more modern and more developed than Saigon.
Those who were able fled one after another, but naturally there were also those who were unable or unwilling to leave Saigon.
In the lobby, many people were queuing up to withdraw cash. Almost all of them were whites or Chinese, natives of French Indochina, and rarely had the qualifications to enter Rand Bank.
"Want to pay it all?" Behind the counter, Louis has been busy since the morning, and he hasn't even had time to take a sip of water.
Opening the bankbook and seeing the customer's name, Louis raised his head and smiled.
"No, just take 1,000 rand, which is enough for our family to go to Coconut City." Hu Hanlin, who was born in Thanh Hoa and grew up in Saigon, also smiled. Going to Coconut City is the best choice for Chinese people in Saigon nowadays.
Saigon is deeply influenced by Han culture and there are many Chinese living there. The history of the Hu Hanlin family in Saigon can be traced back to the Ming Dynasty.
The Hu Hanlin family has great influence in Saigon. In the early years, it was engaged in the timber business. After the establishment of the federal government of Southern Africa, the Hu Hanlin family accumulated a lot of wealth by exporting jade to southern Africa.
That's why the cost for Hu Hanlin's family to go to Coconut City is so much. If it's just the ordinary fare, it would only cost one-tenth.
"Wise choice, I hope your family will have a happy life in Coconut City." Louis took out ten rands with a face value of one hundred and put them on the counter one by one. He had just started working and could not count the money fast enough.
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"Thanks"
"Next person"
The next person was an old white man. He slammed the deposit receipt in his hand onto the counter and kept chattering.
"Why do you want to move to Coconut City? This is a shameful escape. You are southern Africans. Are southern Africans afraid of the Japanese?" The old white man did not notice that his words contained too much about Vichy France.
Disrespectful.
Of course, this may also be a deliberate venting of resentment.
"Sir, please be quiet. Rand Bank is a bank and we are not an army." Louis didn't care about the old man's mood. He didn't feel comfortable either.
According to the national strength of Southern Africa, the Rand Bank does not need to evacuate in such an embarrassing manner, which will have a huge impact on the reputation of the Rand Bank.
But the senior management of Rand Bank will definitely not use the lives of their staff to verify whether the Japanese are as cruel as described in the newspapers.
By the way, the Saigon Times branch had all been evacuated when French Indochina opened its borders to the Japanese. However, the newspaper was still being published and the news followed the facts. It was obvious that the Times was
There are special news channels in Saigon and even throughout French Indochina.
Although Louis expressed gratitude for the arrangement of Rand Bank.
But that doesn't mean Louis is happy.
On the contrary, Louis preferred to see the southern African army fighting the Japanese in Saigon.
Then beat the crap out of the Japanese.
Just like the southern African army was overwhelming in Spain.
"The bank is the richest. Your Rand Bank has countless money. You can buy advanced aircraft and tanks and hire mercenaries to protect the company. Isn't that what you always advertise?" The old man refused to give up. Rand Bank
It is true that it has good relations with southern African military industrial companies and umbrella companies, and is even a shareholder of these companies itself, but Rand Bank cannot do that.
"Withdraw all or part of it?" Louis didn't talk nonsense to the old man. There were still many people lining up behind him.
"All" the old man was still angry and kept chattering: "You in southern Africa have accumulated so many troops at the Changi Naval Base, as well as dozens of aircraft carriers and tens of thousands of fighter jets. No one would have thought that you are also weak.
, if the Japanese attack Changi Naval Base, will you also give up resistance?"
"Sir, please take your cash." Louis counted the money obviously much faster than before.
Before the old man picked up the money, Louis had already started calling the next person, obviously impatient.
This attitude did not satisfy the old man. Just when the old man was about to have a fit, a lady behind him was equally impatient.
"Please leave after you get the money and don't continue to pester. At least they are still working hard. You French men are the real weaklings!" The lady spoke upright and won sporadic applause.
There were many people doing business in the hall, and the old man's words unknowingly aroused public outrage.
What is even more outrageous is France's performance in this war.
At least what Madam said is right: French men are the real softies.
"What did you say? Damn it, we French men are not like that. We were forced to make the choice to stop resisting in order to protect you women." The old man used his strong words and successfully won more boos.
Louis couldn’t bear to listen to this reason.
At this moment, a child across the street, probably out of curiosity, suddenly approached the parked Alligator armored vehicle.
The appearance of the natives of French Indochina is actually similar to that of the Chinese, and it is difficult to tell them apart at first glance.
The child came to the armored vehicle and curiously reached out and touched the body of the armored vehicle.
"Get out of here!" A Japanese soldier pushed open the car door and yelled, kicking the child to the ground.
The child burst into tears immediately.
Immediately a group of people gathered around.
"Go away, don't watch." The fierce little man looked arrogant.
"Look what you did, he is still a child!" A white woman said righteously. White people are not afraid of the Japanese.
"Please leave, this has nothing to do with you." The Japanese officer sitting in the back seat of the car got out of the car. He seemed to have received education, at least he knew how to use "please" when speaking.
"Your soldiers shouldn't be so violent, you should restrain them better." The lady was very angry, but it was a pity that they were talking the same way.
The lady doesn't speak Japanese.
Not many Japanese can speak English, at least not the few Japanese soldiers present.
So the situation is very confusing.
At this time, the child's mother finally appeared. She quickly ran over and picked up the child, looking at the Japanese officer with fearful eyes.
"You should apologize to this child!" the white lady tried to ask the Japanese soldier in a civilized way.
The officer was already very impatient at this time, and his white-gloved hand tightly grasped the saber in his hand.
"I'm sorry." The child's mother apologized in a slightly soft voice.
"You shouldn't apologize to him, he should apologize to you." The white lady upheld justice.
"Haha" the Japanese officer smiled ferociously and suddenly pulled out his saber.
The bright red blood is extremely vivid under the pale sunlight.
