by february 1864, admiral bonard had accumulated sufficient reinforcements to attack and seize định's main strongholds in the tan hoa and gò công areas. he inflicted heavy casualties on the partisans and forced them to retreat in disarray. định reorganised his troops and procured more firearms from the local chinese in order to resume his guerrilla campaign. he attempted to widen his support base by distributing leaflets as far as the regional centres of saigon and mỹ tho, calling on "nghĩa quân" from other provinces to join the common struggle. by this time, the french were able to keep định and the other resistance leaders constantly on the move, aided by a growing network of local informants. in 1863, a famine had broken out, and resistance forces were increasingly unable to find food. with the court providing no practical support, the french gradually wore down the partisans. định retreated into the marshes of bien hoa, where he attempted to reorganise his forces.