impressed with his ability that he took him into his employ. The Younger Tsêng then enrolled an army of three thousand men and called his command "The Camp of Good Fortune." So important had he become that he was recalled from mourning for his father in the fifth moon, May 23-June 22, 1857, his army having been driven back from Kian to Anfu by Shi Ta-k'ai. His coming gave his men the courage to withstand an attack by that formidable adversary with nearly one hundred thousand men at Chishui-hsien in the eleventh moon.[1] There he was the victor, and the capture of Kian pointed to him as one of the most promising generals on the government side.
The relief to Kiangsi was but momentary. Ten thousand rebels coming over the border from Shaowu, Fukien, struck terror into the hearts of the people in the prefectures of Fuchow, Kiench'ang, Jaochow, and Kwanghsin.[2] Tsêng Kuo-fan hastened to Iyang and posted detachments in the surrounding regions, determined that he would not leave Kiangsi while this danger threatened. A glance at the map makes apparent the importance of this decision. From Nanchang, the capital of the province, one can proceed as along the ribs of an open fan, — north to the Poyang Lake and the Yangtse at Huk'ow, northeast through Jaochow to Nanking and the coast, almost directly east through Kwanghsin into Chekiang, southeast through Fuchow and Kiench'ang into Fukien, and south through Kian and Kanchow into Kwangtung. To the west lie the provinces of Hunan and Hupeh, reached by several roads, from which came most of the supplies of men, money, and grain for the new-model armies. Sound strategy could not permit the abandonment of this vital region to the possibility of invasion, especially in view of the fact that the invading soldiers
