For three days, the artillery fire was kept up without intermission.

The guns on the wall were too weak to silence the batteries of the besiegers, although these were much annoyed by the fire from the fort, which dismounted four of their guns, and blew up one of their magazines.

Several times the town was set on fire by the shell from the French mortars; but Charlie had organized the irregulars into bands with buckets, and these succeeded in extinguishing the flames before they spread.
Seeing that the mud wall of the town was crumbling rapidly before the besiegers' fire, Charlie set his troops to work, and levelled every house within fifty yards of it, and with the stones and beams formed barricades across the end of the streets beyond.

Many of the guns from other portions of the walls were removed, and placed on these barricades.

The ends of the houses were loopholed, and all was prepared for a desperate defence.
Charlie's experience at Arcot stood him in good stead, and he imitated the measures taken by Clive at that place.