Battle of Baguashan

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Buguashan
partof=Japanese Invasion of Taiwan (1895)


caption=
date=August 27–29, 1895
place=Changhua, Taiwan
casus=
territory=
result=Decisive Japanese victory
combatant1= militias
combatant2=
commander1= Hsu Hsiang
commander2= Prince Kitashirakawa Yoshihisa
strength1=5,000
strength2=15,000
casualties1=Heavy
casualties2=Minimal
notes=The Battle of Buguashan (zh-t|t=八卦山之役) was a battle fought between the Republic of Formosa and the Empire of Japan in central Taiwan. It was the largest battle during the Japanese Invasion of Taiwan [WTFM CLAN 達人 [http://wtfm.exblog.jp/5581450/ 1895 臺灣獨立戰爭] ] , and saw the first use of heavy weaponry by the Formosan forces against the Japanese forces.

Background

Following the capture of Miaoli, the last Formosan stronghold in northern Taiwan, the Imperial Japanese Army advanced south towards Changhua, the largest city in central Taiwan and the gateway to southern Taiwan. The city was surrounded by hills that offered strong defensive positions, and was protected by the Bagua Battery (zh-t|t=八卦砲台) on Mount Buguashan (zh-t|t=八卦山), which was one kilometer east of the city. It was also surrounded by a city wall, which was rare for cities in Taiwan as the Qing government forbid the construction of city walls due to frequent rebellions by Formosans rebel against rule, and in fear that fortified cities could be used by rebels as strongholds.

The vanguard units of the IJA reached the north bank of Dadu River (zh-t|t=大肚溪) on August 25, and immediately began preparation for crossing the river. In anticipation of a large scale confrontation, both sides tried to gather as many forces and supplies as possible. However, due to internal strife, the Formosans could only muster around 5,000 men, many of whom were remnants of militia units that were defeated in Miaoli, or raw recruits from Changhua; President Liu Yung-fu (zh-t|t=劉永福) ignored the repeated requests for reinforcement due to political rivalry with Li Jin-sung (zh-t|t=黎景嵩), the commander-general of northern Taiwan. [台灣大百科全書 [http://www.taipedia.org.tw/index.php?title=%E5%85%AB%E5%8D%A6%E5%B1%B1%E4%B9%8B%E5%BD%B9%EF%BC%88%E6%96%87%E5%BB%BA%E6%9C%83%EF%BC%89 八卦山之役（文建會）] ] [歷史文化學習網 [http://culture.edu.tw/history/smenu_photomenu.php?subjectid=1571&smenuid=885 新楚軍與黎景嵩] ] The Japanese massed about 15,000 soldiers, with support of modern artillery. On August 27, General Prince Kitashirakawa Yoshihisa ( _ja. 北白川宮能久), commander of the Japanese forces in the area, inspected the front line at the bank to draw plan for an assault on the Formosan positions. He was spotted by the garrison in Bagua battery, who opened fire on him and his group of staff. The unexpected bombardment killed his second-in-command and wounded him; some sources alleged that the wound he received later cost him his live. [蔡照益 [http://202.39.22.28/cgi-bin/big5/imctp/u3?time=13:22:10&qctrl=&q1=vv2&q2=imctp&q22=72 1895年乙未割台日本領有台灣戰爭－八卦山戰役] ]

The Battle

After nightfall on August 27, under the cover of darkness, several Japanese units crossed the river and moved into positions to attack. Unaware of the Japanese movement, the Formosans launched several raids against the Japanese that night, but achieved little. The Japanese left wing successfully reached the foot of Mount Baguashan undetected, and assaulted the battery at dawn. Despite being caught off guard and outnumbered, the Formosans held the battery for three days until Wu Tang-hsing (zh-t|t=吳湯興), who was in charge of defense of the battery, was killed, and the garrison reduced to several dozen soldiers. A counterattack by a Black Banner unit was repulsed, and the remaining Formosans under Hsu Hsiang (zh-t|t=徐驤) were forced to abandon the battery.

At the same time, Formosan units under Wu Peng-nien (zh-t|t=吳彭年) engaged the Japanese in fierce fighting south of the river. Upon learning the loss of Bagua battery, Wu immediately led his men towards the battery and regrouped with Hsu. They then counterattacked the Japanese forces on Mount Baguashan in a last-ditch effort to destabilize the Japanese line, but were eventually thrown back with heavy losses. Wu was killed when his unit was surrounded by the Japanese, and Hsu managed to break out with a handful of men.

After routing the Formosans, the Japanese bombarded the city of Changhua, caused panic among the civilians and garrison soldiers, who then fled the city. The Japanese then took the city unopposed, thus ended the fiercest battle in the history of Taiwan.

Aftermath

Following the battle, there was no more organized resistance against the Japanese in central Taiwan, and almost all major cities in Taiwan were firmly under Japanese control. However, the battle has greatly demoralized the Japanese, [蔡照益 [http://202.39.22.28/cgi-bin/big5/imctp/u3?time=13:22:10&qctrl=&q1=vv2&q2=imctp&q22=72 1895年乙未割台日本領有台灣戰爭－八卦山戰役] ] who were also plagued by diseases and shortage of supplies. The Japanese halted their advance, which gave the Formosans time to regroup and organized an initially successful, but ultimately repulsed, counteroffensive.

On May 6, 2006, Democratic Progressive Party's leadership circle proposed the dedication of August 28 as "Taiwanese Resistance of Japan Memorial Day," (Traditional Chinese: 台灣人民抗日紀念日) [台灣人權資訊網 [http://www.2003hr.net/news_tw.php?news_sn=716 八卦山之役死傷慘烈　史蹟遭忽略　綠擬推828為抗日紀念日（蘋果日報﹞] ] as well as the inclusion of the battle in the history textbooks and having the portrays of leading figures in the battle printed on bank notes. This proposal, however, did not make it to the Legislative Yuan.

ee also

*Japanese Invasion of Taiwan (1895)
*History of Taiwan

References