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. There
happened to be very few troops in Pekin at the time, and levies had to be
hastily summoned from Mongolia. If the Taepings had only shown the same
enterprise and rapidity of movement that they had exhibited up to this
point, there is no saying that the central government would not have been
subverted and the Manchu family extinguished as completely as the Mings.
But fortunately for Hienfung, an unusual apathy fell upon the Taepings,
who remained halted at Tsing until the Mongol levies had arrived, under
their great chief, Sankolinsin. They seem to have been quite exhausted by
their efforts, and after one reverse in the open field they retired to
their fortified camp at Tsinghai, and sent messengers to Tien Wang for
succor. In this camp they were closely beleaguered by Sankolinsin from
October, 1853, to March, 1854, when their provisions being exhausted they
cut their way out and began their retreat in a southerly direction. They
would undoubtedly have been exterminated but for the timely arrival of a
relieving army from Nankin. The Taepings then captured Lintsing, which
remained their headquarters for some months; but during the remainder of
the year 1854 their successes were few and unimportant. They were
vigilantly watched by the imperial troops, which had expelled them from
the whole of the province of Shantung before March, 1855. Their numbers
were thinned by disease as well as loss in battle, and of the two armies
sent to capture Pekin only a small fragment ever regained Nankin. While
these events were in progress in the region north of Nankin, the Taepings
had been carrying their arms up the Yangtsekiang as far as Ichang, and
eastward from Nankin to the sea. These efforts were not always successful,
and Tien Wang's arms experienced as many reverses as successes.
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Words from 114107 to 114615
of 191255