The next Finnish unit to arrive was the 11th Infantry Regiment, advancing along the road on the northern side of the Kemijoki river on 15 October 1944. Its commander decided to encircle the remaining Germans and moved to cut the road leading from Rovaniemi towards Kittilä. Fortunately for the single German battalion (II of 12th SS Mountain Jaeger Regiment), the Finns were low on munitions and unable to support the encircling units which allowed the German battalion to escape nearly unscathed.