Chapter 928 – From Tayouan to Dagou

Legend held that to protect their villages from foreign incursions and internal strife, the local indigenous peoples planted dense thickets of thorny bamboo around their settlements. The local word for thorny bamboo sounded like "Dagou"—literally "beat the dog." Kaohsiung's old name, sometimes rendered as "Dagu" or "beat the drum," derived from this term.

The name Kaohsiung, or Takao in Japanese, was a creation of the occupation period, rendered from the Japanese pronunciation of "Dagou." More elegant in both sound and meaning, it eventually became the official name—just as Keelung had replaced the less distinguished Jilong, "Chicken Coop."

Ren Fu had sailed to Tayouan—the site of modern-day Anping, Tainan—but had never visited Kaohsiung. He knew, however, that "Dagou" lay not far from Tayouan. So he took the safest route: first to the waters off Tayouan, then south along the coastline to Kaohsiung.

With the Navy's navigation capabilities, sailing directly from Nan'ao to Kaohsiung presented no difficulty; there was no need for such a circuitous coastal approach. But Li Ziping very much wanted to observe the Dutch defensive posture at Tayouan.

He had already obtained sketches of Dutch defensive facilities and rough troop estimates from the Foreign Intelligence Bureau. At this time, Tayouan Harbor lacked the comprehensive defense system it would possess when Koxinga eventually recovered Taiwan; at best, it was a fortified armed trading post. The total permanent Dutch personnel at Tayouan numbered fewer than three hundred.

The Intelligence Bureau's estimate proved accurate. When the Haitian passed Tayouan Harbor, the famous Dutch castle was nowhere to be seen—only a handful of larger buildings scattered along the bay. Just three European-style ships rode at anchor, ranging from small boats of a few dozen tons to vessels of one or two hundred. Considering that even when Koxinga attacked in the old timeline, the Dutch had only three ships to oppose him, this evidently represented their standing naval force in Taiwan.

Before 1633, Dutch power in Taiwan was remarkably weak. Their deterrent extended no more than thirty kilometers from the fort. The locals showed little interest in what the Dutch offered. In 1630, the East India Company's trading post in Taiwan had even considered abandoning the place entirely, citing insufficient trade and constant harassment by natives.

Fort Zeelandia, at which Koxinga would gnaw for over half a year, wouldn't be completed until 1633. By the standards of seventeenth-century East Asia, it was a formidable castle, one that had cost the East India Company a small fortune. Its defenses would prove quite effective. Through his high-powered telescope, Li Ziping observed large-scale construction underway near the Dutch trading post—many workers, piles of building materials. Records indicated that between 1631 and 1632, the Company had undertaken a major expansion here.

If they wished to conquer Tayouan, 1631 was the perfect moment. Quite a few transmigrators had advocated tearing up the trade agreement immediately after the typhoon season ended in late 1631 and seizing Tayouan in a single stroke. But compared to the profits Dutch trade brought, a mere Tayouan hardly registered on the Executive Committee's priority list. At best, Tayouan Harbor's status was that of another Macao—or perhaps far less. With the Fubo Army's current siege firepower, they could take it whenever they pleased. The Dutch and their servants and mercenaries were "lonely outsiders" in Taiwan, surrounded by natives who bore them ill will and mainland immigrants who were completely unreliable. The transmigrators could uproot them easily—just as Koxinga had done in history.

Moreover, the Dutch couldn't station large ships here: the entrance to Tayouan Harbor was relatively shallow. Only vessels with a draft of less than three meters could enter and exit freely; ships with drafts between three and five meters could only enter at high tide; vessels drawing more than five meters could only anchor outside the harbor, using barges for loading and unloading. This rendered nearly all ships over two hundred tons unable to anchor inside Tayouan Harbor. The ships the Dutch dispatched to Taiwan were generally smaller, largely due to these port restrictions.

Overall, Tayouan was a poor choice for a trade port. In truth, almost nowhere on the entire island of Taiwan could be called a natural deep-water harbor. Both Kaohsiung and Keelung were products of massive artificial modification.

As the Haitian approached Tayouan, a puff of white smoke suddenly appeared over the Dutch trading post, followed by the distant report of a cannon. Whether this was a warning or an inquiry, Li Ziping had no way of knowing. But through his telescope, he had roughly confirmed the Foreign Intelligence Bureau's data. The Dutch at Tayouan would pose no stumbling block to Operation Engine—their strength was simply too small. A single Type 901 gunboat would suffice to sweep away the East India Company's naval forces at Tayouan.

Leaving Tayouan and sailing along the coast, within a few hours the Haitian arrived off Kaohsiung. Here sprawled vast coastal lagoons—by the twenty-first century, these would almost entirely vanish, either silted up into land or transformed into harbors. In that distant future, Kaohsiung would become Taiwan's second most densely populated area, its countryside wearing an urbanized appearance. But here and now, the coast was exceptionally desolate, almost entirely devoid of human habitation. Compared to the coastline near Tayouan, where one could at least spot scattered native villages and Fujian immigrant settlements, this shore lay utterly empty.

Desolation, Li Ziping reflected, had its benefits. At least they wouldn't need to employ schemes to seize land. He had grown up under the red flag; as a child, he had seen ferocious criticisms of colonialists everywhere. As an adult, his ears and eyes had been filled with universal values condemning the trickery and force used against "indigenous peoples" to strip them of land and resources. He felt a twinge of guilt and couldn't quite let it go.

The Haitian sailed slowly under Ren Fu's piloting. Li Ziping identified Zuoying based on charts and coordinates. This future naval base of Taiwan was currently just a lagoon harbor called "Wandan," where Fujian coastal fishermen occasionally sheltered their boats from storms. Beyond that, even the Haitian—let alone larger vessels—would need to wait for high tide to enter.

"Dagou Mountain!" Ren Fu shouted. Li Ziping immediately looked toward the shore and saw a small hill rising from the coastline not far away. The hill was unremarkable, cloaked in lush subtropical vegetation.

"Measure altitude," Li Ziping called out. The naval cadets and survey team members interning on deck immediately observed and calculated, concluding an altitude of 330.04 meters.

With Dagou Mountain in sight, Dagou Harbor lay just before them. Dagou Harbor was a lagoon port—the long lagoon separated from the open sea by a natural sandbar nearly ten kilometers in length, while the lagoon itself stretched nearly 1.5 kilometers wide. Among the coastal harbors of the region, this place offered the best anchoring conditions, and fishermen frequently moored here.

For large seagoing vessels, however, Dagou Harbor's anchoring conditions left much to be desired. The lagoon was very shallow; large ships could only anchor in the outer portion, where anchorage space was extremely limited. In the old timeline, the Dutch had built a port here too, but rarely used it.

Entering Dagou Harbor was a dangerous affair, especially for large sailing ships without engine power, forced to rely on sails, currents, and rudders alone. There was only one narrow entrance flanked by rocky reefs; the harbor mouth measured only sixty meters wide. Although the Haitian had a propeller, Li Ziping felt uneasy about underwater conditions, and Ren Fu likewise counseled caution—a shifting sandbar lurked beneath the surface. Grazing it and running aground would spell serious trouble. The tide here ran only once daily, with a range of less than a meter. A stranded ship would be very difficult to free.

Finally, they adopted the safest method: the Haitian lowered a rowboat to sound depths while leading the ship into Dagou Harbor, selecting a spot with suitable depth to drop anchor.

Li Ziping calculated and cross-referenced the charts, ultimately concluding that their current anchorage was likely Xiaogang District of modern Kaohsiung—formerly named "Gangzaiqian." The port the Dutch established in Kaohsiung had been right here. But at this moment, the Dutch themselves were being run ragged by the four great tribes near Fort Zeelandia, with no strength to spare for building a port here.

Qian Shuixie and his detachment once again served as the landing vanguard. Ren Fu warned him to be careful—the natives here were notoriously difficult. Fujian fishermen and coastal pirates who came seeking shelter, water, or firewood sometimes clashed with them, often suffering casualties.

Years earlier, several of Zhu Cailao's ships had come to Dagou for fresh water. Conflict had erupted with the local "Dagou Savages," resulting in dozens of deaths and injuries. They had practically fled in panic.

The so-called "Dagou Savages" active near the harbor were generally considered by later scholars to be a branch of the local Pingpu people.

"I hear that bunch of natives is powerful and good at fighting," Ren Fu said. "They love chopping off heads to hang in their villages as war trophies. Chiefs, please be careful."

Qian Shuixie nodded. "No problem. We'll be very careful."

He immediately directed the soldiers to board the rowboats, bringing along two dogs in addition to their weapons—descendants of the six breeding dogs Yang Baogui had brought. Under Yang Baogui's training, they had become well-disciplined working dogs, highly effective as point men and sentries.

Li Ziping said, "If you encounter natives, try to communicate peacefully. Avoid armed conflict."

Qian Shuixie disagreed inwardly but assented outwardly. "Don't worry. We're not European colonialists who kill and burn. We believe in harmonious coexistence and joint development..."

Liu Zheng laughed. "Joint development my ass. Just grab it directly—why bother with harmony when dealing with barbarians from the southern islands?" He made a beheading gesture. "Anyone unwilling gets ka-cha."

Qian Shuixie shook his head. "There is only one mode of joint development: we're the bosses, they're the laborers. That's joint development."

Several men laughed together, leaving Ren Fu bewildered. He could only force a few chuckles along with them.