As soon as the Dnieper was frozen, the army passed over. The Mongol warriors were so numerous, the squeaking of their wagons so piercing, the neighing of their horses and the roaring of camels so deafening, that men in the city could not hear, as was declared, what they said to one another. First the attackers surrounded Kief; next they built a wooden wall; then they erected their engines and hurled immense stones at the city walls day and night without ceasing. The mother city was defended bravely by its citizens, but available warriors were few; for so short-sighted had the princes been that even when the enemy was on the march they had continued to struggle for succession. When the Mongols had made sufficient breaches in the walls, they rushed through and began a hand-to-hand struggle. The Kief men fought desperately. From morning till evening the battle raged, but toward night overwhelming numbers conquered, and the Mongols held the walls of the city. That night the Kief men made a new wall in front of the first one, even women and children assisting in building defenses, and next day the battle continued. From every house, church and monastery people came out, and fought to the death in all parts of the city. In the churches, multitudes had gathered, and from the weight of the people and their effects on roofs and in the galleries the walls fell. Many perished in hand-to-hand conflict; others were suffocated with smoke; but none surrendered, for all knew that but one fate awaited them.