The
Assault Of This Bulwark Was Continued A Whole Day, And At Night The
Enemy Were Forced To Retreat With Much Loss.
Next day Pacheco deeming it
impossible to resist, surrendered upon promise of life and liberty to
himself and his men.
Solyman did not perform the latter stipulation, but
he granted their lives for the present and clothed them in Turkish
habits. By one of these prisoners, Solyman sent a summons to Sylveira to
surrender, but the proposal was treated with contempt. Solyman now
planted his artillery against the fort, having among other cannon nine
pieces of vast size which carried balls of ninety pounds weight. His
artillery in all exceeded 130 pieces of different sizes, and his
batteries were continually guarded by 2000 Turks. This formidable train
began to play against the castle on the 4th of October 1538, and
continued without cessation for twenty days, doing great injury to the
defences of the fort, which could hardly do any injury in return to the
besiegers, neither could the garrison repair sufficiently the most
dangerous breaches, though they used every possible exertion for that
purpose. On the sixth day after the commencement of this violent
cannonade, perceiving that the bulwark commanded by Caspar de Sousa was
much damaged, the Turks endeavoured to carry it by assault, but were
repulsed with much slaughter, two only of the defenders being slain.
Every day there were assaults by the besiegers or sallies by the
garrison. In one of these Gonzalo Falcam lost his head; and Juan de
Fonseca being disabled by a severe wound of his right arm continued to
wield his lance with his left as if he had received no hurt.
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