alliance with the ICP in jeopardy, as the Communists regarded southern rice as critical to ending the northern famine. Peasants were persuaded to partially restore production levels by local Communists, and the ICP maintained its precarious unity with the Hòa Hảo in the common cause of independence. The Hòa Hảo, Việt Minh, and Cao Đài, another religious group, united in the independence effort and the ICP took power in Saigon during the August Revolution. The Việt Minh proclaimed themselves to be Vietnam's legitimate government. The French, alongside the Cao Đài and Hòa Hảo, other local political organizations, and the Binh Xuyen forces all disputed this claim. Thus, the Hòa Hảo clashed with Việt Minh as well as the Cao Đài. Militarily superior to the Việt Minh, the Hòa Hảo became the main political power in the Mekong Delta region, constituting a huge threat to the Communists. The religious leadership was unwilling to toe the Việt Minh line from Hanoi. On 7–9 September 1945, a band of 15,000 Hoahaoists armed with hand-to-hand weapons and aided by the Trotskyists, attacked the Việt Minh garrison at the port city of Cần Thơ, which the Hòa Hảo considered the rightful capital of their domain. They were led by Trần Văn Soái (1889–1961), his eldest son, Lâm Thành Nguyên (1904–1977), and Sổ's younger brother, but with their antiquated weapons, the Hòa Hảo were defeated and Sổ's men were massacred by the Việt Minh-controlled Advanced Guard Youth, who were reportedly aided by a nearby Japanese garrison. The slaughter, characterized by its savagery, prompted a retaliatory campaign of mass killing against the Communists from the Hòa Hảo delta strongholds. The bodies of Communist cadres' were bound together and dumped in rivers and canals. In villages where the Hòa Hảo were in charge, corpses were also displayed in public to test outsiders' political inclinations. Those who expressed their discomfort with the sight were assumed to be Việt Minh sympathizers. French colonial rule in Vietnam was disrupted during World War II. The German occupation of France and the subsequent collaboration of Vichy France with the Axis powers served to delegitimize French claims of sovereignty. Nevertheless, the French and the British took advantage of the anti-colonial forces' disunity and pushed the pro-independence forces out of Saigon over the next few weeks, during Operation Masterdom. The Hòa Hảo forces blocked the route, obstructing the Communist retreat. Late in September, the ICP