Chapter 160: From Tayouan to Takau

It is said that the local aborigines, in order to avoid external intrusions and internal conflicts, planted a large amount of thorny bamboo around their villages for protection. The local dialect pronunciation of “thorny bamboo” is “Takau.” The old name for Kaohsiung, “Takau” or “Takou,” comes from this local dialect.

As for the name “Kaohsiung,” it was created by the Japanese during the period of Japanese occupation, based on the Japanese pronunciation of “Takau.” Both the sound and the meaning were much more elegant, and so it became the official name. Just as Keelung replaced Jilong (Chicken Cage), Kaohsiung replaced Takau.

Ren Fu had been to Tayouan (modern-day Tainan) before, but not to Kaohsiung. However, he knew that “Takau” was not too far from Tayouan. So he took the safest route, first sailing to the waters off Tayouan and then heading south along the coastline to Kaohsiung.

With the navy’s navigation skills, sailing directly from Nan’ao Island to Kaohsiung was not difficult and did not require this circuitous coastal route. But Li Ziping was very keen to see the Dutch fortifications at Tayouan.

He had already obtained a rough sketch of the Dutch defensive facilities at Tayouan and an estimate of their troop strength from the Foreign Intelligence Bureau. At this time, the port of Tayouan did not have the comprehensive defense system that it would have later when Koxinga came to retake Taiwan. At best, it was just a fortified trading post. The total number of permanent Dutch personnel at Tayouan would not exceed three hundred.

It turned out that the Foreign Intelligence Bureau’s estimate was accurate. When the Haitian passed by Tayouan port, the Dutch castle was nowhere to be seen, only a few larger buildings scattered by the bay. There were only three European-style ships anchored in the bay, ranging in tonnage from small boats of a few dozen tons to one or two hundred tons. Considering that when Koxinga came to attack this place in the old timeline, the Dutch also only had three ships to meet the enemy, this was clearly their permanent naval force in Taiwan.

Before 1633, the Dutch presence in Taiwan was quite weak. Their authority did not extend beyond 30 kilometers from the city. The aborigines did not submit to the Dutch. In 1630, the Dutch East India Company’s trading post in Taiwan once considered abandoning the place due to insufficient trade and constant harassment from the aborigines.

Fort Zeelandia, which gave Koxinga a hard time for more than half a year, was not completed until 1633. By the standards of East Asia at the time, it was a very sturdy fortress and cost the Dutch East India Company a huge sum of money. In fact, the defense system of Fort Zeelandia proved to be quite effective. Through his high-powered telescope, Li Ziping saw that large-scale construction seemed to be underway near the Dutch trading post, with many workers and a lot of building materials piled up. According to records, between 1631 and 1632, the Dutch East India Company carried out large-scale expansion here.

If they were to attack Tayouan, 1631 was the perfect time. Many people advocated tearing up the trade agreement immediately after the end of the typhoon season at the end of 1631 and capturing Tayouan in one fell swoop. But compared to the benefits brought by the trade agreement with the Dutch, a mere Tayouan was not on the Executive Committee’s mind. The status of Tayouan port was, at best, another Macau—and not even close. With the Fubo Army’s current siege firepower, they could capture it whenever they wanted. The Dutch, their servants, and mercenaries in Taiwan were a “lonely group of outsiders,” surrounded only by treacherous aborigines and completely unreliable mainland immigrants. The transmigrators could easily uproot them—just as Koxinga had done in Taiwan.

The Dutch were also unable to station large ships here. The entrance to Tayouan’s harbor was relatively shallow, allowing only ships with a draft of less than three meters to enter and exit freely. Ships with a draft between three and five meters had to enter and exit at high tide, and ships with a draft greater than five meters could only anchor outside the harbor and be loaded and unloaded by lighters. This made it almost impossible for ships over 200 tons to anchor in Tayouan harbor. The ships that the Dutch sent to Taiwan were generally smaller, largely due to the limitations of the local port.

In general, Tayouan was not a suitable trading port, and the entire island of Taiwan had almost no natural harbors that could be called truly excellent. Both Kaohsiung and Keelung were the result of large-scale artificial reconstruction.

When the Haitian approached Tayouan, a puff of white smoke suddenly rose from above the Dutch trading post, followed by the distant sound of a cannon. Li Ziping had no way of knowing whether this was a warning or an inquiry, but he had already roughly confirmed the information from the Foreign Intelligence Bureau through his telescope. The Dutch at Tayouan would definitely not be a potential stumbling block to Operation Engine—their strength was too small. A single Type 901-class ship would be enough to sweep away the Dutch East India Company’s naval forces at Tayouan.

Leaving Tayouan and sailing along the coastline, in less than a few hours, the Haitian arrived off the coast of Kaohsiung. There were many coastal lagoons here, which had almost completely disappeared in the 21st century, either silted up to become land or transformed into ports. In the 21st-century timeline, Kaohsiung was the second most densely populated area in Taiwan, and even the rural areas generally had an urbanized appearance. But at this time and place, the coast was exceptionally desolate, with almost no signs of human habitation. In contrast, along the coastline near Tayouan, one could still see some scattered aboriginal villages and villages of Fujianese immigrants.

Desolation had its advantages. At least there was no need to use any tricks to seize land. Li Ziping had grown up under the red flag, and in his childhood, there was fierce criticism of colonialists everywhere. As he grew up, he was surrounded by universalist rhetoric. He felt a little guilty about using various tricks to seize land and resources from the aborigines—or “indigenous people” in politically correct terms—and was the type who couldn’t quite let go.

The Haitian sailed slowly under Ren Fu’s navigation. Then, based on the nautical charts and longitude and latitude, Li Ziping found Zuoying. This base of the Taiwanese navy in the old timeline was still a lagoon port at this time, called “Wandan.” Fishermen from the coast of Fujian sometimes anchored their fishing boats here to shelter from the wind. Other than that, not to mention large ships, even the Haitian could only enter at high tide.

“Takau Mountain!” Ren Fu shouted. Li Ziping immediately looked towards the shore and saw a small mountain standing on the coastline not far away. The mountain was unremarkable, covered in lush subtropical vegetation.

“Calculate the altitude,” Li Ziping shouted. The naval cadets and survey team members who were practicing on the deck immediately conducted a series of observations and calculations on Takau Mountain, concluding that its altitude was 330.04 meters.

Seeing Takau Mountain, Takau Port was also in sight. Takau Port was a lagoon port. The long lagoon was separated from the open sea by a natural sandbar, nearly 10 kilometers long, and the lagoon was almost 1.5 kilometers wide. Among the coastal bays, the anchorage conditions here were the best, and fishermen often anchored their boats here.

However, for large sea-going vessels, the anchorage conditions at Takau Port were not very good. Because the lagoon was shallow, large ships could only anchor in the outer part of the port, and the anchorage area was very small. In the old timeline, the Dutch had also built a port here, but it was rarely used.

Entering Takau Port was a very dangerous matter, especially for large sailing ships that relied on wind and currents for propulsion and a rudder to maintain direction, as they had no engine power. It had only one narrow entrance, with rocky reefs on both sides, and the width of the port was only 60 meters. Although the Haitian had a propeller, Li Ziping was not confident about the underwater situation, and Ren Fu also advised caution—there was a constantly shifting sandbar under the water of Takau Port, and it would be troublesome if they ran aground. The tide here only came once a day, and the tidal range was less than one meter. It would be very difficult for a grounded ship to get free.

In the end, they adopted the most prudent method. The Haitian lowered a rowing boat, which measured the water depth as it towed the Haitian into Takau Port. They chose a spot with suitable water depth to drop anchor.

Li Ziping calculated and checked the nautical charts, and finally concluded that their current anchorage was probably in the Xiaogang District of Kaohsiung. This place was formerly known as “Gangziqian,” and the port built by the Dutch in Kaohsiung was located here. But at this time, the Dutch themselves were being troubled by the four major communities near Zeelandia and had no ability to build a port here.

Qian Shuixie and his detachment once again acted as the vanguard of the landing. Ren Fu reminded him to be careful. The natives here were not easy to deal with. Fujianese fishermen and coastal pirates who came here to shelter from the wind or to get water and firewood sometimes had conflicts with them and often suffered losses and deaths.

In the past, a few of Zhu Cailao’s ships had come to Takau for fresh water and had a conflict with the local “Takau savages,” resulting in dozens of casualties. They had fled in disarray.

The so-called “Takau savages” active near Takau Port are generally believed to be a branch of the local Pingpu people.

“I hear that group of natives is quite powerful and good at fighting. They love to cut off people’s heads and hang them in the village as a sign of their military prowess,” Ren Fu said. “Please be careful, sir.”

Qian Shuixie nodded. “It’s no problem. We’ll be very careful.”

He immediately ordered the soldiers to board the rowing boat. In addition to their weapons, they also brought two dogs—descendants of the six breeding dogs that Yang Baogui had brought with him. Under Yang Baogui’s training, they had all become well-trained working dogs, very useful as scouts and sentinels.

Li Ziping said, “If you encounter the natives, try to communicate peacefully and avoid armed conflict.”

Qian Shuixie disagreed in his heart, but he agreed on the surface.

“Don’t worry, we are not European colonists who kill and burn. We believe in harmonious coexistence and joint development…”

Liu Zheng laughed. “Joint development, my ass. Just snatch it directly. What’s the point of talking about harmony with these savages from the South Island!” He made a “beheading” gesture. “If they’re not willing, just chop them.”

Qian Shuixie shook his head. “There is only one model of joint development: we are the bosses, and they are the workers.”

Several people burst out laughing, leaving Ren Fu bewildered. He could only force a few laughs.