 By March 1945 only about 30,000 French troops could be described as fully combat ready, the remainder serving in garrison or support units.At the beginning of 1945 the understrength Japanese Thirty-Eighth Army was composed of 30,000 troops, a force that was substantially increased by 25,000 reinforcements brought in from China, Thailand, and Burma in the following months.In early March 1945 Japanese forces were redeployed around the main French garrison towns throughout Indochina, linked by radio to the Southern area headquarters.