The Tang soldiers, having fallen into a serious food shortage by July, receive very small daily rations of rice.

If they want more food, they must settle for whatever animals, insects, and tree roots can be found in their vicinity.

Yin Ziqi, noticing the famine plaguing the Tang army, orders more troops to surround Suiyang.

He makes many siege attempts with siege ladders, but they are all repelled by the determined Tang troops.

Yin Ziqi even uses hooked pulled carts, to try to pull down the towers of the fortress, with limited success.

The Tang soldiers are able to destroy the hook of these carts, before major damage is made, but even with the battle success, Zhang Xun knows that with only around sixteen hundred soldiers left, and most of them sick or hungry, the battle must soon be lost.