he merely gained support during the chaos and fought, just as many others did. He joined the Qing army of Zuo Zongtang in exchange for a Mandarinate. He acquired estates which were large. Reinforced by the Dungan people of Hezhou, Zuo Zongtang planned to advance westward along the Hexi Corridor toward Xinjiang. However, he felt it necessary to first secure his left flank by taking Xining, which not only had a large Muslim community of its own, but also sheltered many of the refugees from Shaanxi. Xining fell after a three-month siege in late 1872. Its commander Ma Guiyuan was captured, and defenders were killed in the thousands. The Muslim population of Xining was spared but the Shaanxi refugees sheltering there were resettled to arable land in eastern and southern Gansu, which were isolated from other Muslim areas. Despite repeated offers of amnesty, many Muslims continued to resist at Suzhou (Jiuquan), their last stronghold in the Hexi Corridor in west Gansu. The city was under the command of Ma Wenlu, who was originally from Xining. Many Hui people who had retreated from Shaanxi were also in the city. After securing his supply lines, Zuo Zongtang laid siege to Suzhou in September 1873 with 15,000 troops. The fortress could not withstand Zuo's siege guns and the city fell on October24. Zuo had 7,000 Hui people executed and resettled the rest in southern Gansu, to ensure that the entire Gansu Corridor from Lanzhou to Dunhuang would remain Hui-free, thereby preventing the possibility of future collusion between the Muslims of Gansu and Shaanxi and those of Xinjiang. Han and Hui loyal to the Qing seized the land of Hui rebels in Shaanxi, so the Shannxi Hui were resettled in Zhanjiachuan in Gansu. The escape of Han people from Hezhou during the revolt was assisted by Ma Zhan'ao. Confusion The rebels were disorganized and without a common purpose. Some Han Chinese rebelled against the Qing state during the revolt, and rebel bands fought each other. The main Hui rebel leader, Ma Hualong, was even granted a military rank and title during the revolt by the Qing dynasty. Only later, when Zuo Zongtang launched his campaign to pacify the region, did he decide which rebels who surrendered were going to be executed, or spared. The title Chaoqing in 1865 was granted by Mutushan, a Qing General to Ma Hualong after he officially submitted to the