Page:Tseng Kuo Fan and the Taiping Rebellion.djvu/247

224 of Nanking, and he did not have enough men to capture them, to say nothing of going into the two great coast provinces beyond. The best he could do at the moment was to send twelve thousand men to the rescue of the imperilled Ningkuo, under the command of Chang Yun-lan, Sung Kuo-yung, and Li Yuan-tu. Tso Tsung-tang, who might otherwise have gone with them, had been delayed by a mandate ordering him to proceed into Ssuch'uan, but Tsêng finally succeeded in having it changed so that Tso could join him in Anhui.

Before Tsêng's reinforcements could reach them Ningkuo had fallen (September 2, 1860). The Yingwang and Shiwang then attacked Li Yuan-tu in Huichow and captured that place October 9. This made it possible for them to extend their power almost to Tsêng's base at Keemun. Another urgent mandate to go to the rescue of Shanghai, Sungkiang, and Chinkiang, all of which had been attacked, afforded Tsêng another chance to consider and set forth his circumstances and immediate plans. South of the Yangtse he had three armies. The first was under Tso Tsung-tang at Lop'ing, with instructions to move northward or eastward according to the direction in which the rebels should appear; the second and third under Pao Ch'ao and Chang Yun-lan at Hsiuning. So long as these armies kept near each other they were sufficient, but if separated danger of loss would ensue. Until Anhui was pacified there was no way to abandon his position and go to the coast. Here again is a statement of the familiar policy, firm and unwavering, which Tsêng clung to persistently throughout his military career. Though nearly eight years had passed since first he set out to relieve Nanking, the goal was still distant, because he would