5, the town of Soissons was the subject of German strafing from Stukas. By June 8, the 12th REI, in danger of being encircled, received orders to retreat to the south, however the orders did not come soon enough and parts of the 12th REI were surrounded at Soissons; the rest of the 12th REI made their way to Limoges by the signing of Second Armistice at Compiègne on June 25, 1940. By the surrender of France the 12th REI had lost 2,500 of its number. The 21st Marching Regiment of Foreign Volunteers was deployed to the Maginot Line when the German offensive began, but was shifted to the north of Verdun by the end of May. The 21st RMVE took heavy losses during an engagement with the Germans on June 8 and 9; the 21st RMVE joined the rest of the French Army in that sector in retreat when the order to retreat was given. At the time of the armistice the 21st RMVE was at Nancy where it was disarmed by German forces. The 22nd Marching Regiment of the Foreign Volunteers left its training depot at Bacarès on May 6 when it was deployed around Alsace. The German offensive forced the 22nd RMVE to be quickly redeployed on the Somme near the village of Marchélepot where it fought a defensive action from May 22 to May 26. On June 5, the 22nd RMVE was preparing to counterattack the Germans at Villers-Carbonnel alongside the 112th Infantry Division when it came under a heavy preemptive attack launched by German forces in the area. The French Forces were able to initially repulse the attack, but later succumbed to the German onslaught; the force of the Foreign Legion acquitted themselves admirably in that engagement. The Narvik Expedition In January 1940, French high command made the decision to deploy a brigade to assist Finland in its defense against the forces of the Soviet Union in the Winter War. This new force, drawn from the ranks of the Foreign Legion's North African regiments, began the process of formation in February 1940 and was complete by March 27 when it took its new name as the 13th Demi-Brigade of the Foreign Legion. Despite the efficient establishment of the 13th Demi-Brigade of the Foreign Legion, the planned deployment of the unit was set back by the capitulation of Finland on March 12; absent the option to