Although the Kandyan Dissawe of Matara had arrived, the Kandyan offensive units were still beyond Weligama, a town east to the Galle fort. That day, much to the relief of the Dutch command, three ships ("Haarlem, Middelburgh and Breda") arrived from Goa bringing 350 soldiers and 50 sailors as reinforcements. They were disembarked immediately and ordered to take the field with rest of the troops. By the 12th, the Dutch bombardment managed to considerably weaken the Bastion of Santiago, convincing the Dutch commanders that an assault on Santa Cruz de Gale was now possible. On the same day at noon a Dutch messenger arrived at the bastion of Santiago carrying a white flag and a drum. He was accompanied by João Festa, who was the Portuguese Captain of Batecaloa Fort. But they were refused a hearing and even fired upon as had happened during the siege of Trincomalee. Although the Dutch envoy managed to get back unharmed, Portuguese sources claim that the Dutch issued a "no quarter" order in retaliation to the insult. A Dutch commander later wrote “...and conquered, killing everyone who was found armed”. Portuguese writer Queiroz gives a possible explanation for their breach of accepted norms, Later that day, the Dutch war council gathered on board of their flagship "Utrecht". In a controversial move, Commodore Willem Coster proposed to storm the fort in the early morning of the 13th without waiting for the arrival of Kandyan offensive units. According to the prior agreements with Kandyan Mudalis, they were expected on the 13th to attack the fort on a later hour. The original Dutch order signed by Coster himself, state the reasons for this premature attack,  The Dutch army was divided into four groups. The first group, the vanguard, led by "Commisaris" Jan Thysen, was to attack the bastion of Conception. The center, commanded by Minne Williemsz Caertekoe, was to attack the Bastion of Santiago and the curtain between Conception and Santiago. The rearguard, commanded by "Opperkoopmen" Simon de Wit, was to follow up the storming once a breach had been made. All the rest of the troops, carpenters, support troops and two Kandyan units, which had arrived, formed the reserve force and occupied the high ground where the battery was mounted. They were commanded by Fiscal Gerard Herbers, the former Dutch commander of the fort at Trincomalee.