of Fu-yang then returned to Ningpo. The defeated forces at Shao-hing and Siao-shan retired to Yu-hang, where they entrenched themselves and threw up works. They were attacked incessantly by Governor Tso, and daily fights took place. Our object was to keep a firm hold on Yu-hang, as affording a guarantee for the safety and security of Hangchow. Governor Tso, with a naval and military force, then proceeded to Hangchow.
His lines extended from Yuhang to the West Lake, a distance of thirty miles.
In November the insurgents in southern Anhui were weakened by the defection of one of their commanders, Ku Lung-hsien, at Shit'ai. This made it necessary for them to evacuate this region.[1] In Kiangsu, as we have already seen, the "Ever Victorious Army" and General Ch'en had been steadily pushing their way towards Nanking, capturing Soochow and driving the Chungwang back to Ch'angchow and Tanyang.[2] The Shiwang, Li Shi-hsien, was at Liyang Hsien, about sixty miles southeast of Nanking, whither he was trying to bring his cousin in the hope of detaching him from the T'ienwang's cause.[3]
Everything pointed to the early capture of the beleaguered city. Throughout the autumn the cordon was more and more tightly drawn about the walls. Finally, on the eighteenth of December, a mine was exploded under the wall, but the Taipings were strong enough to keep their opponents from entering through the breach. Of this attempt the Chungwang wrote:[4]
