text:  The advanced season of the year when the vizir disembarked in Candia and the disorganized state of the forces which he found there prevented the immediate commencement of offensive operations; but in the course of the winter the arrival of the contingents of Egypt and Africa as well as of a squadron with fresh troops from Constantinople raised his army to between 40 000 and 50 000 effective men; and on the 20th of May 1667 the trenches were once more opened in form on the western side of the city while 300 pieces of cannon thundering from the Ottoman lines covered the approaches of the pioneers