It Would Be Difficult To Exaggerate The Effect Of This Success On The
Spirits Of The Taepings, Who Had Been Seriously Discouraged Before They
Achieved This Gratifying Result.
The capture of these towns removed all
their most serious causes of doubt, and enabled them to repay themselves
For the losses and hardships they had undergone, while it also showed that
the enterprise they had in hand was not likely to prove unprofitable.
After one month's rest at Hankow, and having been joined by many thousands
of new followers, the Taepings resolved to pursue their onward course. To
tell the truth, they were still apprehensive of pursuit from Tseng Kwofan,
who had been joined by the Triad loader, Chang Kwoliang; but there was no
ground for the fear, as these officials considered themselves tied to
their own province, and unfortunately the report of the success of the
imperialists in Hoonan blinded people to the danger in the Yangtse Valley
from the Taepings. The Taepings resumed active operations with the capture
of Kiukiang and Ganking, and in March, 1853, they sat down before Nankin.
The siege continued for a fortnight, but notwithstanding that there was a
large Manchu force in the Tartar city, which might easily have been
defended against an enemy without artillery, the resistance offered was
singularly and unexpectedly faint-hearted. The Taepings succeeded in
blowing in one of the gates, the townspeople fraternized with the
assailants, and the very Manchus who had defied Sir Hugh Gough in 1842
surrendered their lives and their honor to a force which was nothing more
than an armed rabble. The Tartar colony at Nankin, numbering 2,000
families, had evidently lost the courage and discipline which could alone
enable them to maintain their position in China. Instead of dying at their
posts they threw themselves on the mercy of the Taeping leader, imploring
him for pity and for their lives when the gate was blown in by Tien Wang's
soldiery. Their cowardice helped them not; of 20,000 Manchus not one
hundred escaped. The tale rests on undoubted evidence. A Taeping who took
part in the massacre said, "We killed them all, to the infant in arms; we
left not a root to sprout from, and the bodies of the slain we cast into
the Yangtse."
The acquisition of Nankin at once made the Taepings a formidable rival to
the Manchus, and Tien Wang a contestant with Hienfung for imperial honors.
The possession of the second city in the empire gave them the complete
control of the navigation of the Yangtsekiang, and thus enabled them to
cut off communications between the north and the south of China. To attain
this object in a still more perfect manner they occupied Chinkiangfoo at
the entrance to the Grand Canal. They also seized Yangchow on the northern
bank of the river immediately opposite the place where Sir Hugh Gough had
gained his decisive victory in 1842. Such was the terror of the Taepings
that the imperial garrisons did not attempt the least resistance, and town
after town was evacuated at their approach. Tien Wang, encouraged by his
success, transferred his headquarters from Hankow to Nankin, and
proclaimed the old Ming city his capital. By rapidity and an extraordinary
combination of fortunate circumstances, the Taepings had advanced from the
remote province of Kwangsi into the heart of the empire, but it was clear
that unless they could follow up their success by some blow to the central
government they would lose all they had gained as soon as the Manchus
recovered their confidence. At a council of war at Nankin it was decided
to send an army against Pekin as soon as Nankin had been placed in a
proper state to undergo a protracted siege. Provisions were collected to
stand a siege for six or seven years, the walls were repaired and fresh
batteries erected. By the end of May, 1853, these preparations were
completed, and as the Taeping army had then been raised to a total of
80,000 men, it was decided that a large part of it could be spared for
operations north of the Yangtsekiang. That army was increased to a very
large total by volunteers who thought an expedition to humble the Manchus
at the capital promised much glory and spoil. The progress of this
northern army very closely resembled that of the Taepings from Kwangsi to
Nankin. They overran the open country, and none of the imperial troops
ventured to oppose them, but when any Manchu officer showed valor in
defending a walled city they were fain to admit their inadequate
engineering skill and military capacity. They attacked Kaifong, the
capital of Honan, but were repulsed, and pursuing their former tactics
continued their march to Pekin. Having crossed the Hoangho they attacked
Hwaiking, where, after being delayed two months, they met with as signal a
repulse as at Kaifong. Notwithstanding this further reverse, the Taepings
pressed on, and defeating a Manchu force in the Lin Limming Pass, they
entered the metropolitan province of Pechihli in September, 1853. The
object of their march was plain. Not only did they mystify the emperor's
generals, but they passed through an untouched country where supplies were
abundant, and they thus succeeded in coming within striking distance of
Pekin in almost as fresh a state as when they left Nankin. Such was the
effect produced by their capture of the Limming Pass that none of the
towns in the southern part of the province attempted any resistance, and
they reached Tsing, only twenty miles south of Tientsin, and less than a
hundred from Pekin, before the end of October. This place marked the
northern limit of Taeping progress, and a reflex wave of Manchu energy
bore back the rebels to the Yangtse.
The forcing of the Limming Pass carried confusion and terror into the
imperial palace and capital. The fate of the dynasty seemed to tremble in
the balance at the hands of a ruthless and determined enemy.
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