 In 1940 he was transferred briefly to the Taiwan Army of Japan Headquarters, and then became Chief of Staff of the Indochina Expeditionary Army from 1940 to 1941.Chō was Vice Chief of Staff of Unit 82 within the Military Affairs Bureau, in the Ministry of War in 1941, and participated in the strategic and tactical planning for the Japanese invasion of Southeast Asia.From 1941 to 1942 he accompanied the Southern Army to French Indochina to oversee implementation of Japanese strategy, and served as a liaison officer between the Southern Army and the 14th Army in the Philippines.