 L’Olonnais and le Basque landed their troops out of reach of the fort’s guns, capturing it after a three-hour land battle.They made their way up the channel and attacked the city, which then had 4,000 inhabitants and a 250-man, 14-gun garrison who defended the town bitterly.While they were still engaged at Maracaibo, the buccaneers learned that a Spanish detachment had been sent as reinforcement.