 Inside was a French garrison of nearly 4,000 men, many of them Tonkinese, with units of the French Foreign Legion.Once the Japanese had cut off all communications to the forts they invited General Émile Lemonnier, the commander of the border region, to a banquet at the headquarters of the 22nd division of the Imperial Japanese Army.Lemonnier declined to attend the event, but allowed some of his staff to go in his place.