Eight Twenty-Four-Pound Cannons were dragged rapidly up the slope by the combined strength of the soldiers, pressing forward beneath enemy artillery fire—in such complicated terrain, men were far more efficient than horses.
At the same time, nearly four thousand French Soldiers hunched low as they charged toward the bastion fort.
Unlike on the Polish side, after days of continuous French bombardment, two small breaches had already appeared in the outer wall on the fortress's north side, and several gun emplacements on the inner wall had been destroyed.
Meanwhile, the Hot Air Balloon periodically used enormous red and blue flags to indicate areas where the enemy artillery fire was thinner, helping the attacking troops reduce their casualties. Although Skirmishers drew the fortress cannons' attention, three Twenty-Four-Pound Cannons were still hit and destroyed on the way. In the end, after twenty grueling minutes of travel, five heavy cannons reached a point more than seven hundred meters from the fortress and immediately began pouring shells into the breaches they had previously blasted open. Since Steinocher had transferred six or seven hundred soldiers away from the fortress's north side, the French Soldiers faced far weaker firepower. Before dusk fell, more than a thousand men had crossed the outer wall through the breaches.
After enduring a moonless, overcast night, the Poles were the first to launch a new round of attacks, forcing Lieutenant Colonel Steinocher to abandon the idea of transferring soldiers back to reinforce the north side.
The French Army seized the chance to rapidly consolidate its forward positions. In a single day, they dragged twenty-two Twelve-Pound Cannons and thirty Howitzers up the slope, bringing them within effective range.
The fortress's south side was a brutal mill of flesh and blood, while its north side was battered by cannons whose density exceeded the fortress's