Page:Tseng Kuo Fan and the Taiping Rebellion.djvu/210

188 an attack on the camp outside Nanking, led by Li Siu-ch'ing (later the Chungwang) and others. This was delivered by a combination of all the insurgents available; they struck a smashing blow, divided the imperialists, and compelled a general retirement to Tanyang. General Hsiang Yung committed suicide in atonement for his failure, and left his successor, Ho Chun, to gather together the scattered army and reëstablish it at the new base. He tried to restore the morale of his army and revive its organisation after the unexpected disaster by moving out to capture the cities of Anhui and Kiangsi instead of sitting still. Chang Kuo-liang coöperated with him in the command of the forces.

In Anhui the Taipings had their headquarters at San Ho, the government holding Lüchow as their base. General Ho Chun decided to strike a decisive blow and led an attack in person (September 17). This effort was a complete success, the enemy being routed. More than five thousand were slain and numbers were drowned in the river. Another of their bases, Ch'ao-hsien, a strongly defended source of supplies for Nanking, succumbed to the imperialists on the twenty-seventh of September. Large quantities of military supplies fell into government hands. But Anhui as a whole was still far from conquered; the Taipings remained in Anking and only small detachments of loyal troops were available for necessary attacks on a few specific localities. These few victories were important, however, in revealing improvement in the fighting ability of the imperial armies, whose ranks now included men accustomed to actual warfare.