That French and Viet Minh troops controlled different sections of the city added to the tension, and the two sides also squabbled over the right to collect customs duties. By the end of October, rumors were rife in the city of a coming French attack on Viet Minh–held sectors, and the local French commander issued secret orders for the use of tanks and artillery should hostilities erupt. By holding Haiphong and other ports, Valluy optimistically declared in his war plans submitted to d’Argenlieu on November 9, France would “put the Tonkinese authorities and populace at our mercy through the
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