This is, without question, the best line of defence in that part of the province, and Chi was certainly right in falling back upon it. He: had not the numbers necessary to take Chinkiang, having once lost it, and to capture this line, if sturdily defended, might require the sacrifice of s0 many troops that Lu Yung-hsiang's campaign might fizzle out through lack of numbers thereafter. This is what happened to Town-shend after his victory at Ctesiphon and led to the disaster at Kut. The strength of this line is considerable, and there was every reason for Chi to be confident of holding it even against much superior forces. On the left is the Taihu Lake, a stretch of water generally too shallow to be of any-use to an attacking force If the left flank based on the Taihu held as well as the right on Kiangyin, Chi's new position, with his centre at Soochow would represent something like Vauban's celebrated triangle of forts.
The thi is on. the following Wvancing from Ni king to Shanghai meets this triangle Ihsing (on the Taihu) Kiangyin-Soochow and finds itself in a dilemrma. If it masks both Thsing and Kiangyin it is unlikely to have sufficient troops to enable ito attack Soochow, and if it rashly approaches Soochow' with reduced forces ¥ will probably suffer a defeat there. If it leaves Thsing and Kiangyin alone and marches on Soochow the attack-find itself taken if it starts on the job, of-reducing all three forts in detail, there will be an equal difficulty, for
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.