The first shell hit Sønderborg Castle, fired from four kilometres away at Gammelmark on Broager, and then shell after shell rained down on the defenceless town. Several houses were set on fire in the southern part of the town, especially in the area around the Town Hall. The inhabitants fled the town with whatever belongings they could carry with them. The bombardment ceased towards evening, when some ninety shells had fallen, but it continued in the following days and nights.