Not until one week after the Preliminary Agreement was signed in Hanoi did the Chiang Kai-shek Army General Staff consent to let French troops take over northern Indochina in place of the Chinese troops. The Sino-French accord under which the Chiang troops withdrawal would start on March 15 and end on March 31, 1946 was made public in Chungking on March 13. So the 200,000 Chiang troops had no legal right to remain there after that date.
Hanoi’s armed self-defence units made their presence felt again, for the first time since the Chiang troops had entered the city. Before, only units of Chiang’s 53rd Army Corps had stood guard behind earthworks at street corners, their helmets decorated with the white notched Kuomintang sun. Now, there were also our own self-defence fighters in their forage caps with the golden star on a red background. They looked quite impressive as they stood guard on the pavements, rifles in hand and hand grenades at the belt. This signalled a change. The city put on a new look, assumed a new spirit.
On March 18, 1,200 French troops were allowed to come to Hanoi, as replacements for the Chiang troops. Both the Vietnamese and the French issued separate communiqués calling on the Vietnamese and French populations to remain calm in order to avoid any regrettable actions.
Along the roads the French troops were to go through, our compatriots and armed forces were on the look-out in case any incident should happen.
According to our regulations, every French convoy should fly a Vietnamese flag and be accompanied by Vietnamese liaison officers. The gun barrels in the vehicles should be completely covered. When they reached Hanoi the vehicles must enter it in groups.
Two hundred French military vehicles left Haiphong early in the morning. But it was not until noon that the first ones reached the Long Bien bridge. The convoy, accompanied by armoured cars and Vietnamese liaison officers, had had to stop at every one of our militia men’s check-points.
As the French troops went past, all the doors and windows of the houses along the route were closed. Nobody was in the streets except a few traffic policemen and self-defence fighters on duty. What met the eyes of the French Expeditionary Corps were banners hung across the streets bearing such slogans as: “Viet Nam for the Vietnamese”, “Nam Bo is part of Viet Nam”, in the Vietnamese and French languages. The presence of some French nationals who gathered at Trang Thi Street could not change the cold atmosphere of the whole city: a host turning his back on an unwanted guest.
At 5 p.m. on that day, Leclerc led a delegation including Sainteny, Pignon, Salan, Valluy to the Bac Bo Palace. Leclerc quickened his pace as he came to greet President Ho Chi Minh and smilingly remarked, “Mr President, we Vietnamese and French have now become friends.”
Uncle Ho invited Leclerc to sit beside him on the sofa. The Commander-in-Chief of the French Expeditionary Corps raised his glass to toast the health of President Ho Chi Minh. He expressed his hope that the official talks between the Government of Viet Nam and the French government would be held as soon as possible so as to provide an opportunity for the Vietnamese and French peoples to cooperate in the pursuit of peace and happiness.
Some days later, as an expression of this spirit of cooperation and friendship, Leclerc proposed the organization of a military parade in which the Vietnamese Army and the French Army would take part.
A fully-equipped battalion of Vietnamese troops was sent to Hanoi from the suburbs. Although they lacked training in parade exercises our troops marched in good order and looked valiant. The troops, dressed in green uniform, had leather shoes and carried rifles with fixed bayonets. Commanders with long sabres led their units who advanced singing. The heroic words of the songs springing from hearts burning with revolutionary fire caused great excitement. For the first time the French saw a Vietnamese regular unit. They showed respect and admiration.
After the parade, before returning to their barracks, our troops marched through the main streets of the city. Once more, our compatriots in Hanoi were able to see an armed detachment of the Vietnamese army make its appearance in the capital. Passers-by stopped and people poured out of their houses onto the pavements to watch the scene. Along the streets through which the troops were passing, gay shouts rang out.