In September 1938, the Japanese occupied French Indochina (仏印進駐 Futsu-in shinchū?) in order to prevent the Republic of China from importing arms and fuel through French Indochina along the Sino-Vietnamese Railway, from the port of Haiphong through Hanoi to Kunming in Yunnan. The fighting, which lasted several days before the French authorities reached an agreement with the Japanese, took place in the context of the ongoing Sino-Japanese War and the upcoming Pacific War. Japan was able to occupy northern Indochina, tighten the blockade of China and make a continuation of the drawn-out Battle of South Guangxi unnecessary.