 With this coup the Japanese planned to overthrow the colonial administration and intern or destroy the French army in Indochina.Several friendly puppet governments would then be established and win the support of the indigenous populations.In early 1945 the French Indochina army still outnumbered the Japanese in the colony and comprised about 65,000 men, of whom 48,500 were locally recruited "Tirailleurs indochinois" under French officers.