better identify the Red Cross flags. About 400 perished or were wounded by the bombardment which, "had little effect on the spirit of resistance in Paris." Delescluze declared, "The Frenchmen of 1870 are the sons of those Gauls for whom battles were holidays." In actuality, the level of destruction fell short of what the Prussians had expected. The shells often caused little damage to the buildings they struck, and many fell in open spaces away from people. An English observer, Edwin Child, wrote that he "Became more and more convinced of the impossibility of effectually bombarding Paris, the houses being built of such solid blocks of stone that they could only be destroyed piecemeal. One bomb simply displaces one stone, in spite of their enormous weight..." Armistice and surrender On 25 January 1871, Wilhelm I overruled Moltke and ordered the field-marshal to consult with Bismarck for all future operations. Bismarck immediately ordered the city to be bombarded with large-caliber Krupp siege guns. This prompted the city's surrender on 28 January 1871. Secret armistice discussions began on January 23, 1871 and continued at Versailles between Jules Favre and Bismarck until the 27th. On the French side there was concern that the National Guard would rebel when news of the capitulation became public. Bismarck's advice was to "provoke an uprising, then, while you still have an army with which to suppress it". The final terms agreed on were that the French regular troops (less one division) would be disarmed, Paris would pay an indemnity of two hundred million francs, and the fortifications around the perimeter of the city would be surrendered. In return the armistice was extended until February 19. Food supplies from the provinces, as well as shiploads from Britain and the United States, began to enter the starving city almost immediately. Britain sent ships from the Royal Navy loaded with Army food provisions, while private organizations like the Lord Mayor's Relief Fund and the London Relief Committee made significant donations. According to the British representative responsible for distributing the foodstuffs, at the beginning of February the London Relief Committee donated "nearly 10,000 tons of flour, 450 tons of rice, 900 tons of biscuits, 360 tons of fish, and nearly 4,000 tons of fuel, with about 7,000 head of livestock". The United States sent around $2 million worth of food, but much of it was held up at the port of