It proved an impossible task, in the face of relentless Japanese pursuit, severe supply shortages, and plummeting troop morale. Paris sent no money, and Sabattier’s store of piasters and opium was almost gone. With the Americans offering only medicines, he saw no option but to seek sanctuary in southern China. In April and May, about 5,700 Indochina Army soldiers, including 2,400 Europeans, straggled across the frontier at various points, in wretched condition. They were promptly disarmed by the disdainful Chinese.8
