one of the naval battles, a Siamese commander while waving his sword and hurling defiance in the bows of his boat, was brought down by a musket shot, and the whole flotilla fled. In another encounter, one Siamese cannon shot scored a direct hit, killing several men on two Burmese boats. At any rate, the Siamese attempts to break the siege were unsuccessful. During this time, the Burmese troops farther back grew their own rice while their boats prevented supplies from entering the city. By the end of the monsoon season, the city was beginning to run low on provisions. Second dry season offensive (November 1766 – March 1767) When the waters subsided, the Burmese reconstructed the earthworks around the city, and gained more complete command than before. Some of the earthworks were higher than the walls, with cannon firing down on the city and the palace itself. Towards the end of 1766, the governors of Tak and Phetchaburi led a waterborne expedition to relieve the city but were driven back. The governor of Phetchaburi was killed. The governor of Tak, Taksin, an able and ambitious commander, was blamed for the failed expedition, and hindered in his attempts to mount an effective counterattack. By then, the city was starving. To make matters worse, a fire broke out within the city in early 1767 that burned 10,000 houses. All was not well for the invaders either. In December 1766, the Chinese launched their second invasion of Burma, directly aimed at Ava. Hsinbyushin, who had expected another Chinese invasion like the first one and had made preparations accordingly, was surprised by the sudden increase in the Chinese invasion force (25,000 versus 6,000 in the first invasion). Still, the fiery king was unwilling to recall the armies from Siam; instead he directed his remaining troops in northern Shan states to the Chinese front. He did however send a directive (dated 9 January 1767) to his commanders in Siam to take the city quickly, and return as they were needed to defend the homeland. Indeed, when it appeared that the Chinese situation was contained, he later sent another directive to the Siamese front to "persevere" in the siege. Meanwhile, the Siamese leadership had grown desperate. The king and princes tried to escape the city but were driven back. The king finally offered to become a Burmese tributary but the Burmese, who had just received