"The enemy trapped the in the city by building a wall around it. Foodstuffs could not be brought in: starvation and crowded conditions gave rise to disease, and epidemics spread among the populace. But surprisingly the held on. Then the enemy massed troops outside the wall and brought out the latest in weaponry. They attacked, using fire to spread destruction. The Jews repelled the enemy a number of times. So savage was the resistance that the campaign to destroy the Jewish population took much longer and cost more troops than anticipated. S ....