Page:Tseng Kuo Fan and the Taiping Rebellion.djvu/29

Rh could join together to rebel against Peking, and for this purpose it was admirable.

In practice, therefore, the Green Standard was only slightly less static than the Banners. We must abandon the idea that the governor or the t'ituh could call together a large force in any given emergency. The commands were so divided and scattered, that at most the capital and important cities could be defended. The Green Standard was far more useful for garrison duty than for service in the field. They might help in putting down mutiny in other commands, a viceroy's force, for example, helping to prevent a mutiny in a t'ituh's or tsungping's command; or they might be used to put down minor disturbances in the country places. As against great bodies of rebels it was difficult, if not impossible, to bring together a force strong enough, except by recruiting new soldiers; and if that were done, coöperation among the different officers was even harder to secure.

The proportion of infantry, cavalry, and garrison troops differed from province to province, but in fourteen provinces the garrison forces outnumbered the other two combined. In 1850 the total for China was: cavalry, 87,100, infantry, 194,815, garrison, 336,404, in all 618,319. By provinces they were distributed as follows: