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At the time of the Siege of Rouen (July 1418 - January 1419), the city had a population of 70,000, making it one of the leading cities in France, and its capture crucial to the Normandy campaign during the Hundred Years' War.
From about 1415 Rouen had been strengthened and reinforced by the French and it was the most formidably defended place that the invaders had yet faced.
When the English reached Rouen, the walls were scattered with many towers and guns, and lined by an army of crossbow men under the command of Alain Blanchard, second in command to Guy de Bouteille, the overall commander.
Due to lack of manpower on the English side, a "breach and storm" of the city could not be managed, so the town was completely surrounded, with the English intending to starve out the defenders.
Despite several brave but futile sorties led by the French garrison, this state of affairs continued until the French surrender on the 20th of January, 1419.
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