sentences:  Imperial General Headquarters deemed that control of Vichy-controlled French Indochina would make the Japanese blockade of China much more effective and would hasten the collapse of the Kuomintang government of China.Japan began pressuring the Vichy government to close the railway between Haiphong and Yunnan on September 5, the Southern Expeditionary Army Group organized the amphibious Indochina Expeditionary Army under its command to coordinate a joint operation with the Japanese 5th Infantry Division of the Japanese Southern China Area Army.On September 22, Japan and Vichy Indochina signed an accord which granted basing and transit rights, but limited the number of Japanese troops which could be stationed in Indochina to 6,000, and limited the total number of troops that could be in the colony at any given time to 25,000.