There was no effort to end the war by diplomatic means between 6 November 1870 and 23 January 1871. During that period Favre and Ernest Picard were the only voices in the government advocating a capitulation or a "sortie torrentielle", a major military undertaking. By 27 December, when howitzers had begun to strike the Parisian fortresses, the city was facing famine and loss of morale. On 5 January the residential areas of the city fell under bombardment. The last gasp of French military resistance came at the battle of Buzenval on 19 January. They were defeated. On 20 January Trochu asked for a local armistice to bury the dead, but Bismarck refused. The French president resigned, and on 22 January when a council of war proposed a second mass sortie, there was no officer willing to lead it.