 When finally in February, fighting off mosquitoes and fever, the General decided to begin small skirmishes, a new Conservative army, fresh and well supplied, under the command of the general Próspero Pinzón, had cut off all routes of escape.On May 11, 1900, the Liberal advance arrived at the outposts in the Canta mountains, in between Bucaramanga and Lebrija, and there began the most prolonged battle of the war.Fifteen days of combat on a front of 26 kilometers of trenches occurred in the rustic topography of the hills of Palonegro.