Ever Victorious Army
On 12 September the consolidated Taiping forces, numbering 70,000, struck the Qing again from Taicang and Kunshan. Moving very rapidly, they reached Qingpu, only 5 km from the city, and surrounded 20,000 Imperial troops. Qing fleet commander Huang Esen counterattacked from the river, gaining some ground, but even after reinforcement by the Ever Victorious Army he was unable to make much progress. The Taiping forces used this time to build many floating bridges.