Siege of Tuyên Quang The garrison at Tuyên Quang consisted of two Legion companies, a company of Tirailleurs Tonkinois, a detachment of engineers, and a detachment of artillery in the town totaling 619 men of which 390 were Foreign Legionnaires. The garrison at Tuyên Quang was commanded by Chef de Battalion Marc-Edmond Dominé of the Bataillon d'Afrique. The garrison at Tuyên Quang had been surrounded by Black Flag trench works by January 20. A failed Chinese night assault on the French position on January 26 led to the Chinese beginning of tunneling operations commencing on February 8 to mine the French positions. On February 8 the Chinese force was reinforced by an artillery battery. First World War In World War I the Foreign Legion fought in many critical battles of the war, including the Battle of Verdun. The Foreign Legion was highly decorated for its efforts in the war. Many young Americans like Fred Zinn volunteered for the Legion when the war broke out in 1914. Outbreak of the war At the outbreak of World War I, the Foreign Legion consisted of the 1st Foreign Regiment and the 2nd Foreign Regiment which were headquartered in Algeria at Sidi-bel-Abbès and Saida respectively. Each regiment consisted of six battalions of a 1000 men each; each regiment also had one or two Mounted Companies which, though attached to a regiment, effectively operated independently. Two companies from these regiments were garrisoned in French Indochina at the time. Also at the beginning of the war much of the Foreign Legion's strength was in Morocco as part of the French military activities there. The French military establishment did not predict the great numbers of volunteers for French military service which began arriving at French ports following the commencement of hostilities; this presented problem for the French army on both a legal and military level. At the time French law proscribed the enlistment of aliens in any part of the French armed forces other than as a standard five-year enlistment in the Foreign Legion, however that restriction was lifted on August 3, 1914, the Ministry of War issued a decree allowing foreign volunteers to enlist in the French Army for the duration of the war. Despite the French government's swift action to accommodate the influx of expatriate volunteers from a legal viewpoint, there still remained the matter of furnishing military training to the new recruits and organizing;