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intended for the relief of Ganking, then closely pressed by Tseng Kwofan. Having assembled his forces at Woohoo, the leader left the Yangtse and marched inland to Nanliu, whence, turning eastwards, he gained Ningkoue, and then Kwante, towns on the borders of the provinces of Anhwui and Kiangsu. The full importance of this movement was not revealed until the siege of Hoochow, a large town in the silk district south of the Taho lake, and only fifty miles north of the important city of Hangchow. Leaving his cousin to besiege it, Chung Wang hastened on to attack Hangchow itself, the possession of which would confer immense prestige and material advantages on the cause of the rebels. Chung Wang had not more than 10,000 men with him, but he succeeded in capturing the greater portion of Hangchow, partly by a daring assault, partly through the treachery of some of its inhabitants. This was on the 19th of March, 1860, about ten weeks after he had set out from Nankin. The Tartar city held out, and was valiantly and successfully defended, until aid arrived from Chang Kwoliang at Nankin.

As soon as that commander heard of the movements in his rear, he at once realized the plan of campaign formed for the complete cutting off of his supplies. He then detached a considerable army from his main body under the command of his brother Chang Yuliang, for the express purpose of coming to an action with Chung Wang and preventing the realization of his schemes. The force besieging Hoochow was driven back on the main body at Hangchow, and on the 24th of March Chang Yuliang had the satisfaction of relieving Hangchow and of compelling Chung Wang to relinquish his hold on the town and to beat as precipitate a retreat as he could. For the moment it seemed that this Taeping army had been given over to destruction.

We will not deny to Chung Wang the admirable fortitude that is never so striking or laudable as when Fortune wears her darkest frown, and there seems no extrication from accumulated difficulties. Deprived of the prey which he already clutched, it looked for the moment as if Chung Wang would have every reason to regard himself as favoured if he succeeded in regaining such security as the towns on the

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Yangtse could still afford. The celerity of his movements provided him, as it has greater commanders reduced to similar straits, with a safe issue from his perils. Long before Chang Yuliang had stifled the feelings of self-congratulation which he felt at the relief of Hangchow, Chung Wang had marched many miles back on the road to Nankin. In the height of his apprehension Chang Kwoliang had detached his best troops to pursue Chung Wang, so that when that chief outstripped his brother in his return march, the Imperial general found himself left with only an enfeebled force to defend the extensive lines before Nankin. Those lines were attacked with extraordinary vigour by the Taepings from without as well as from within. They were carried with a loss to the Imperialists of more than five thousand men, while the baffled generals, who had counted with such unconcealed confidence on the certain capture of Nankin in the course of a few months, were compelled to make an ignominious retreat, and to admit for once that pertinacity may prove unavailing if not allied with enterprise and audacity. The siege of Nankin was thus raised, and the forces which had been so long enclosed in that town were relieved for the moment from the presence of the foe who had so bitterly and persistently assailed them ever since their first arrival at Nankin, nearly seven years before.

The conduct of Tien Wang in face of this unexpected and undeserved deliverance was not of a kind to impress his friends with a belief in his fitness to raise a sinking cause or to deserve the favour of Heaven. He issued no proclamation to his followers on the occasion of this great victory, and he gave no rewards. His jealousy of Chung Wang increased, and he forbade his deliverer to re-enter the city. All that could be obtained from him was the behest that it would be well "to adhere to the precepts of Heaven," and the statement that "the surrounding aspect indicated signs of great peace." From such a leader it was clear that no material aid could be expected, and the Taepings looked more and more to Chung Wang as the only man capable of supporting their cause. Chung Wang was not allowed to remain long in idleness. He received the command, perhaps because he

inspired the order, to go forth and capture the strong town of Soochow situated on the Grand Canal, and the nominal capital of Kiangsu.

The main body of the Imperialists had rallied at Changchow, some distance north of Soochow on the Grand Canal; and there Chang Kwoliang had at last been joined by his brother's army from Hangchow. A week after the relief of Nankin, Chung Wang resumed offensive operations, and when Chang Kwoliang attempted to check his forward march at Tayan, a battle ensued, in which, after some hours' fighting, the Imperialists were again defeated. Although their loss in men was very heavy, amounting, it was said, to as many as 10,000 killed and wounded, the most serious blow inflicted upon them was the death of Chang Kwoliang, whose energy almost atoned for his shortcomings as a commander. He was drowned in the canal during the heat of the engagement, and the spectacle of his fall so greatly discouraged his men that they at once gave way in all directions. The fate of the ex-Triad chief decided the day, and by this victory Chung Wang cleared the road to Soochow.

Two days later Chung Wang defeated Chang Yuliang at Changchow, thus to some extent compensating for the reverse he had experienced at his hands at Hangchow. Changchow surrendered on the 11th of May, but the Imperialist troops endeavoured to make a fresh stand at Wusieh, where a desperate battle was fought for twenty-four hours. The action was stubbornly contested, and for a moment it seemed as if the verdict would be in favour of the Imperialists; but Chung Wang's impetuosity again turned the day in his favour, and Wusieh became the prize of the victor. Upon its capture the Emperor's general, Hochun, who had taken a prominent part in the earlier siege of Nankin, committed suicide; and Hienfung was thus deprived of another officer who, despite many faults, had shown at least consistent zeal and courage in his service.

From these frequent actions Chang Yuliang had escaped, and with the remnant of his force he prepared to defend Soochow, a place at that time of greater size than strength. His intentions were baffled partly by the difficulty of his

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task, and partly by the discouragement of his troops. An attempt to destroy the suburbs by fire and thus make the place defensible was rendered abortive by the action of the people themselves, so that no resource was left save to abandon the town as promptly as possible. Chang Yuliang and his braves returned to Hangchow, where they remained in safety, while Ho Kweitsin, the governor-general of the provinces of the Two Kiang, implored aid from those very English who were on the point of proceeding to attack the capital of the Empire. The French, then as ever impelled by the restless feeling to participate in whatever warlike operations might be going on, turned a sympathizing ear to the complaints of the Chinese Viceroy, and promised that they would send a force of 1500 French troops if 500 English would combine with them, in order to reassert the Imperial authority, although those very troops owed their presence in China to the fact that they were there to wage war upon the Emperor. The caution of Mr. Bruce forbade the enterprise, but the application of Ho Kweitsin remains an incident almost unique in the annals of war of an officer of a Government appealing to a foreign enemy engaged in actual hostilities for aid against a national rebel. Although the English representative declined to comply with the request of the Chinese official, a proclamation (May 26th, 1860) was made in the joint names of the foreign representatives to the effect that they were fully resolved to prevent Shanghai from falling a second time into the hands of an insurgent force.

When Soochow passed into the possession of Chung Wang, the small towns around it also surrendered. By this means Quinsan, Tsingpu, Taitsan, and other places accepted Taeping garrisons without a blow, and a large part of the able-bodied population joined the standard of Chung Wang. Such attempts as Chang Yuliang made to recover the ground he had lost were all repulsed with loss, and he had to content himself with the defence of Hangchow. This unfortunate campaign proved fatal to Ho Kweitsin, who was degraded, summoned to Pekin, and after a short delay executed, although his advice had eventually to be adopted. The post of Viceroy of the Two Kiang was conferred upon Tseng

Kwofan, then at Kwante endeavouring to collect and reorganize some of the scattered forces. Chung Wang's success in Kiangsu encouraged the disaffected to bestir themselves in Chekiang; but although several towns were lost to the Emperor, the importance of the movement was never more than local, and the principal interest of the situation continued to centre in the attempts of the Taeping leader to acquire possession of the riches of Shanghai.

At Shanghai itself some preparations had been made to recover the neighbouring places, and the town of Tsingpu in particular had been fixed upon as the proper place to commence operations for the reassertion of Hienfung's authority. In this emergency the Shanghai officials had turned to the European residents, as their Governments had refused to be compromised; and the great Chinese merchants, forming themselves into a kind of association of patriotism, guaranteed the funds for fitting out and rewarding a small contingent force of foreigners. Two Americans, Ward and Burgevine, were easily tempted by the promise of good pay and by the possibility of distinction to raise a levy among the foreign and seafaring colony, and to place themselves at the disposal of this Shanghai committee. Of these two men, Ward was the recognized leader, and Burgevine acted as his quartermaster. The terms on which they were engaged was that in addition to high pay they were promised a large sum of money as a reward for the capture of certain positions. The place on which they were invited to make their first attempt, and as it were to prove their mettle, was Sunkiang, a large walled town nearly twenty miles south-west of Shanghai.

The first attack was made under Ward in July, 1860, when he had succeeded in collecting 100 Europeans and perhaps twice as many Manilla-men. It was repulsed, however, with some loss. Ward was a man of determination, and seeing the anticipated prize slipping away from him he resolved to make a further and more vigorous effort to capture the place. He succeeded in enlisting a further body of Manilla-men, and with these he renewed the attack. He seems to have resorted to a stratagem to effect his object, but, having gained possession of a gateway, he held it against

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