On the morning of 30 May 1863, the Taiping forces guarding the town of Quinsan were astonished to see an armoured paddle streamer, the "Hyson" armed with a 32-pounder cannon on the bow, sailing up a canal, at whose prow stood Gordon. Following the "Hyson" was a fleet of 80 junks converted to gunboats. Aboard the "Hyson" were 350 men from the elite 4th Regiment of the Ever Victorious Army. Under fire from the Taiping forces, Gordon's men chopped up the wooden stakes the Taipings had placed in the canal, thereby allowing Gordon to outflank the main Taiping defence line and to enter the main canal connecting Quinsan to Suzhou.