interests held the factions together. They temporarily halted their conflicts with the French, signing a military treaty with them on 8 May 1947, less than a month after Sổ's assassination. Delta triumvirate Following Sổ's assassination, the religious movement expanded its territory to include Cần Thơ Province. They controlled over a third of southern Vietnam, elected their own officials, and built significant infrastructure for collecting taxes and recruiting armed forces. Soái formed an alliance with the French, providing Hòa Hảo troops as auxiliary forces; however, several other Hòa Hảo leaders refused to recognize Soái's leadership, and the religion continued to be riven by rivalries and factionalism. Nevertheless, it transformed into a French-backed 20,000-strong army. They ruled most of the upper central delta, and, along with the Cao Đài and Bình Xuyên, established a triumvirate in the mid-1950s, early in the Vietnam War (1955–1975), that grew in strength and constituted a significant threat to South Vietnam. This republic was regarded by the Hòa Hảo as just another in a series of central governments aiming to subjugate the Hòa Hảo to their rule. The new authority in Saigon, led by President Ngô Đình Diệm, succeeded in expelling the French, a long-held ambition of the Hòa Hảo. When the French sought to build up the Vietnamese National Army (VNA) in 1952, relations with them started to deteriorate. The Hòa Hảo forces were adamant about preserving their autonomy, and one of their commanders withdrew his forces from the VNA, burning down the outposts they were assigned to guard. In February 1955, the French cut off funding to the Hòa Hảo and Cao Đại, and the groups' leaders were forced to seek funding from two wealthy individuals: Diệm and Bình Xuyên leader Lê Văn Viễn. Colonel Edward Lansdale, who became one of Diệm's closest American confidants, met with the movement's leaders on Diệm's behalf, offering them money and applauding Diệm's nationalism. Diệm and his brother, Ngô Đình Nhu, also had direct dealings with religious leaders. While key figures of the movement agreed to support the government in exchange for millions of U.S. dollars, others were less receptive to Diệm's pleadings, and many grew bitter when they discovered Diệm expected them to relinquish their autonomy. They were especially concerned about Diệm's demand that Soái hand over control of his administrative region to the Saigon government, and also Diệm's response to Soái's refusal; Diệm dispatched the VNA to