On the sixteenth day, after many had been slain and all the citizens were in utter exhaustion from toil and sleeplessness, they commenced the final assault with ladders and battering rams.

The walls of wood were soon set on fire, and, through flame and smoke, the demoniac assailants rushed into the city.
Indiscriminate massacre ensued of men, women and children, accompanied with the most revolting cruelty.

The carnage continued for many hours, and, when it ceased, the city was reduced to ashes, and not one of its inhabitants was left alive.
The conquerors then rushed on to Moscow.

Here the tempest of battle raged for a few days, and then Moscow followed in the footsteps of Rezdan..