the fortress. Nevertheless, with the help of the Kalmyks the Manchus were able to retake the Tacheng area by the fall of 1865. This time, it was the Hui rebels who were locked up in the mosque. The fighting resulted in the destruction of Tacheng and the surviving residents fleeing the town. Both the Qing government in Beijing and the beleaguered Kulja officials asked the Russians for assistance against the rebels via the Russian envoy in Beijing, and the Russian commander in Semirechye, respectively. The Russians, however, were diplomatically non-committal. On the one hand, as Vlangali wrote to Saint Petersburg, a "complete refusal" would be bad for Russia's relations with Beijing; on the other, Russian generals in Central Asia generally felt that providing China with serious assistance against Xinjiang's Muslims would do nothing to improve Russia's problems with its own new Muslim subjects. Were the revolt to succeed and lead to the creation of a permanent Hui state, having been on the Qing side of the former conflict would offer Russia no benefit in its relations with that new neighbor. The decision was thus made in Saint Petersburg in 1865 to avoid offering any serious help to the Qing, beyond agreeing to train Chinese soldiers in Siberiashould they send anyand to sell some grain to the defenders of Kuldja on credit. The main priority of the Russian government remained guarding its border with China and preventing any possibility of the spread of the revolt into Russia's own domain. Considering that offense is the best form of defense, Kolpakovsky suggested to his superiors in February 1865 that Russia should go beyond defending its border and move in force into Xinjiang's border area then seize the Chuguchak, Kuldja and Kashgar areas. These could then be colonized with Russian settlersall to better protect the Romanov empire's other domains. The time was not ripe for such an adventure, however: as Foreign Minister Gorchakov noted, such a breach of neutrality would be not a good thing if China eventually recovered its rebel provinces. Meanwhile, Qing forces in the Ili Valley did not fare well. In April 1865, the Huining () fortress (today's , located between Yining and Huiyuan), fell to the rebels after a three-month siege. Its 8,000 Manchu, Xibe, and Solon defenders were massacred, and two survivors with their ears and noses cut off were sent to Huiyuanthe Qing's last stronghold in the valleyto