The island was not well fortified, apart from a few guns placed at the coast to cover the likely landing place.[8] The Egyptian commanders furthermore contrived to deceive the islanders: after sailing past the island exchanging heavy artillery fire for two days with the defenders—on the 19th alone the Egyptians fired over 4,000 shots—the fleet moved towards the northern tip of the island. There it launched 18 great boats, pretending that it would make landing there, covered by much musket fire; while 24 boats with 1,500 Albanians landed behind the village of Agia Marina under cover of night on 19 June.[9][10] The bulk of the population lived in the four mountainous villages around the main town, which were now between two hostile forces. Hüseyn Bey issued a call for surrender, rejecting requests for time to consider the proposal.