Page:Tseng Kuo Fan and the Taiping Rebellion.djvu/203

Rh and money Tsêng felt that the war could be won; without them all was lost. The limitations placed on him were irksome indeed. He was eager to retire to his quiet countryside; nothing but an abiding sense of loyalty held him true to a task that seemed well-nigh hopeless.

By the end of April Tsêng had secured, by great efforts, a fleet of two hundred boats with three thousand well-drilled men, to join Lo Tse-nan in the Jaochow and Kwanghsin region. Li T'su-ch'ing had been sent to Nank'ang-fu. These regions were on opposite sides of the lake, and the flotilla found its chief usefulness in keeping the rebels apart and communications open between Tsêng's divided army. But these small imperialist forces were entirely inadequate to face the Taipings then in central China. The Eastern king was at Wuchang, Shi Ta-k'ai, one of their ablest generals, at Kiukiang, and Lo Ta-kang at Hankow. Taiping armies were overrunning the eastern portion of Kiangsi, including Kingtechen, the site of the imperial potteries. There is some evidence that they contemplated an invasion of Chekiang along the road through Kwanghsin. This Tsêng hoped to be able to frustrate by a scheme for unified control of the whole military area, and the emperor appointed him commander-in-chief to carry out his proposed plans. But the plan was quite too elaborate and ambitious for immediate enforcement owing to the scarcity of men, the small number of boats in their lake flotilla, and the need for holding a large detachment at Kiukiang.

During the month of May a few victories were reported by Lo Tse-nan, and the rebels in that region retired into Chekiang. But these encouraging episodes were offset by the quarrel that arose between Tsêng and the governor