Detailed Instructions: In this task, you're given a question, along with three passages, 1, 2, and 3. Your job is to determine which passage can be used to answer the question by searching for further information using terms from the passage. Indicate your choice as 1, 2, or 3.
Q: Question: Of the two armed forces, which one had more soldiers? Passage 1:The conflict emerged from the First Indochina War against the communist-led Viet Minh. Most of the funding for the French war effort was provided by the U.S. After the French quit Indochina in 1954, the US assumed financial and military support for the South Vietnamese state. The Việt Cộng, also known as or NLF (the National Liberation Front), a South Vietnamese common front under the direction of North Vietnam, initiated a guerrilla war in the south. North Vietnam had also invaded Laos in the mid-1950s in support of insurgents, establishing the Ho Chi Minh Trail to supply and reinforce the Việt Cộng. U.S. involvement escalated under President John F. Kennedy through the MAAG program from just under a thousand military advisors in 1959 to 16,000 in 1963. By 1963, the North Vietnamese had sent 40,000 soldiers to fight in South Vietnam. North Vietnam was heavily backed by the USSR and the People's Republic of China. China also sent hundreds of PLA servicemen to North Vietnam to serve in air-defense and support roles.
 Passage 2:Stalybridge is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on the course of the River Tame and the Huddersfield canal, on undulating land in the foothills of the Pennines. Historically a part of Cheshire, it is east of Manchester city centre and northwest of Glossop. The road from Oldham, to the pennine passes: the Snake pass and Woodhead, bridges the river at this point. Stalybridge was the junction of three early railway companies. The Ashton, Stalybridge and Liverpool Junction Railway Company was formed on 19 July 1844 and the railway was connected to Stalybridge on 5 October 1846. On 9 July 1847 the company was acquired by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway. On 1 August 1849 the Manchester, Stockport and Leeds Railway connected Stalybridge to Huddersfield and later to Stockport. This line later became part of the London and North Western Railway.
 Passage 3:Meacock was born in Hoole, Cheshire. He played for local club Hoole & Newton, and was on the books of Chester and Blackpool, before joining Torquay United in 1931, where he made his debut in the Football League. He went on to play regular first-team football in the Third Division North for Tranmere Rovers, where he was part of the Tranmere side which reached the Welsh Cup final in 1934, and Lincoln City, for whom he made 116 appearances in all competitions. Meacock then moved to First Division club Birmingham as one of a number of players signed in 1938 to "boost the club's flagging fortunes". He played 14 games in all competitions, but left at the end of the 1938–39 season with the club relegated. He joined Bristol City, but the outbreak of the Second World War put an end to his professional career.

A:
1