Following Đèo Văn Trị's death, leadership of the White Tai passed to his third son Đèo Văn Long, passing over the second son. After the Japanese coup of 1945, Đèo Văn Long fled Lai Chau with retreating French units. On his return, with the assistance of a Eurasian agricultural official named Louis Bordier, Đèo Văn Long was reestablished, and the French agreed to honor the terms of Pavie's 1889 agreement with Long's father. Bordier married Long's daughter and as his son-in-law proceeded to direct military operations of the White Tai against the Black Tai at Son La who supported the Viet Minh. Several Tai companies fought alongside the French in the First Indochina War, against both the communist Viet Minh and the nationalist Việt Nam Quốc Dân Đảng (VNQDD), probably motivated by their distrust vis-à-vis the lowland Vietnamese and their wish to retain the autonomy they enjoyed under the French.