At the beginning of 1895, the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War, which was caused by the dispute over the sovereignty of Korea, came to an end because the Qing government was close to defeat and active peace. Japanese Prime Minister Hirobumi Ito and his Japanese cabinet have long discussed that whether it is war or peace, they must take the Liaodong Peninsula and Taiwan as the outcome of this war.
Ma Guan huihe
Hirobumi Ito (1841–1909) and Li Hongzhang (1823–1901)
In January of the same year, the Japanese army of Satsuma Domain, consisting of about 4,000 regular army troops, consisted of 5,500 expeditionary forces, actively prepared for the landing in Penghu. On March 15, 1895, the army secretly departed from the port of Sasebo in Hiroshima and landed on the largest island of the Penghu Archipelago in the early morning of March 23 without any resistance: the risho cape of the main island of Penghu, where the city of Magong is located.
Penghu Archipelago
On the other hand, the Qing troops stationed in Penghu, with 12 battalions of infantry, 2 battalions of artillery, and 1 battalion of the navy, did not have much resistance because of the low morale brought about by the old equipment and the defeat in the Sino-Japanese War. During this period, chen Buti, the highest supervisor of the Penghu Department, tainan Province's grain hunting and coastal defense, also fled to Chinese mainland shortly after the campaign was launched. Therefore, on March 24, 1895, the Japanese army occupied the capital of Penghu, Magong City, in less than two days. Although the Casualties of the Japanese Army were few in the Battle of Penghu, during this time, the Japanese army was dissatisfied with the water and soil, and the total number of soldiers suffering from cholera was about 1,700, and the number of deaths reached 1,000.
Battle of Penghu
Penghu houses
On March 26, 1895, Japan, which had already obtained a strategic position in the Taiwan Strait, determined that it could easily take Taiwan, and accepted the Qing Dynasty's peace demands in Shimonoseki, Japan.
On April 17, 1895, Li Hongzhang, who had tried his best to make peace but was still ordered to exchange peace between the Liaodong Peninsula and The island of Taiwan, signed the Treaty of Maguan, which ceded Taiwan.
Treaty of Maguan
Earlier, the Taiwan gentry who learned of the penghu occupation were already panicked, and after learning the news of the "extortion of the territory", some Qing Dynasty Taiwan officials cooperated with some Taiwan gentry to announce the establishment of the "Taiwan Democracy State" on May 23, 1895, with the era name "Yongqing". Tang Jingsong, the former Qing governor stationed in Taiwan, was promoted to the presidency of Taiwan's democratic state, Liu Yongfu was promoted to be a major general, and Qiu Fengjia was promoted to the commander of the volunteer army.
"Taiwan Democracy" seal
Tang Jingsong (1842–1903)
Liu Yongfu (1837-1917)
Qiu Fengjia (1864–1912)
On May 10, 1895, Vice Admiral Shiryu Kakeyama, a subordinate of the Satsuma Domain, was promoted to general and appointed as the first governor of Taiwan, responsible for the transfer of military and political power to Taiwan. On May 24 of the same year, Birch Mountain departed from Hiroshima Upin Port to prepare for Taiwan and the Qing Dynasty to deal with the "handover of Taiwan".
Shiki Birchyama (1837–1922)
According to the letter of instructions on "Matters Concerning the Reception of the Island" drafted by Ito Hirobumi, Japan's original attitude toward receiving Taiwan was to order Qing soldiers to leave Taiwan as soon as possible and surrender all their weapons before withdrawing, and to require Qing officials to peacefully hand over official documents. However, on May 21, before departing, Huashan learned that some officials and people in Taiwan were actively preparing for the war, and knew that it was impossible to take over Taiwan peacefully, so he immediately sent a standing fleet to Okinawa to monitor the enemy situation in Taiwan. On the other hand, he also pointed out that the Guards Corps stationed in Dalian, Lushun, which was expected to attack Beijing, was transferred to Taiwan. The Konos Division was the Japanese Imperial Guard, headed by Prince Nohisa of Kita-Shirakawa.
Front row fourth from left: Prince Nohisa of Kita-Shirakawa Palace (1847–1895)
Guards Division
More than 7,000 troops of the Guards Division, after meeting with Governor Huashan in Okinawa on May 27, 1895, followed the instructions of Huashan "climb Aodi, attack Keelung, and occupy Taipei City" on May 29, and in the face of slight resistance, captured the Keelung Commanding Point Lion Ball Ridge Fort on the afternoon of June 3, and on June 11, with the help of Lukang merchant Gu Xianrongzhi, he entered Taipei. In addition, since the beginning of June, the Guards Division has not participated in any battles, and thousands of former Qing soldiers who have gathered themselves in Tamsui have been repatriated to Chinese mainland in small echelons.
Map of the location of the Australian base
Keelung Lion Ball Ridge Fort
Koo Hsien-wing (February 1866 –1937)
Around June 2, 1895, Plenipotentiary Li Jingfang and the Governor of Taiwan, Birch Hill, completed the handover of Taiwan on the Japanese ship Yokohama Maru.
Japanese ship "Yokohama Maru"
Li Jingfang (1855–1934)
Soon, the Democratic State of Taiwan, which was captured by the Japanese army in Keelung, was in internal turmoil. The Chinese soldiers were too brave to fight, and the country's president Tang Jingsong and the commander Qiu Fengjia fled Taiwan for Xiamen in disguise and with money, respectively, and at this point, the victory and defeat of the War of Yiwei gradually became clear.
Tang Jingsong crossed the German merchant ship "Yasha"
Taipei Cheng'en Gate
From 29 May 1895 to 18 June 1895, the war between the regular armies of the two sides came to an end. At this stage, the Qing army and the soldiers under the democratic state of Taiwan, a total of about 3,000 regular troops participated in the battle, and no less than 200 people died in battle. Because of the novel equipment, the actual casualties of the Japanese army were not many, of which only about 7 were killed and 25 were wounded of the more than 4,000 Guards regiments that actually participated in the battle. However, during this time, the Japanese army was not satisfied, because cholera malaria died far more than the number of deaths.