With the promise of British subsidies[3] and material aid for a war against Spain, Mohammed ben Abdallah assembled an army of 40,000 men and powerful artillery in 1774 and began a bombardment of Melilla.[1] Spanish troops resisted the attack over a period of 100 days, over which time some 12,000 projectiles were lobbed onto the city.[1] A small garrison under Florencio Moreno likewise resisted the Sultan's army at Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera.