Chapter 40: The Sixth Division's Sneak Attack
As the naval battle was just beginning, a large convoy escorted by 2 destroyers and 4 armed merchant ships also approached Taiwan's southern port of Takao from the southwest. The convoy carried an army of 30,000 men of Japan's Sixth Division and their division commander Lt. Gen. ōkubo Haruno.
Most of the leaders of the Taiwanese Navy have risen from the grassroots, so they have rich combat experience, but their strategic vision is not far-sighted. They concentrated most of their attention on the naval battle in central Taiwan, and in order to give a devastating blow to the six-country navy at one time, they mobilized the largest number of submarines and torpedo boats to rush to the central Taiwan sea area to participate in the war. The maritime defense near Tainan was reduced to its lowest point, with only a few submarines and torpedo boats unable to closely patrol the long coastline from central Taiwan to Tainan, allowing this not-so-small troop transport fleet to easily break through the blockade line and appear outside Dulan Port.
Duoliang Port was once a small fishing port in southern Tainan, but in recent years Taiwan has vigorously developed light industry and camphor and sugar processing industries. Due to its proximity to the Philippines, Duoliang Port gradually became a small trading port for Taiwan's imports and exports to the Philippines. The local government used fiscal revenue and loans to expand the port five years ago, enabling it to berth medium-sized cargo ships of 5,000 tons or less.
This time, due to the Taiwanese government's issuance of a war mobilization order, most ports were closed, and naval mines were also laid on the entrance and exit channels of the ports by the Taiwanese Navy. As a result, the entry and exit of ships in Duoliao Port had basically stopped, and the number of patrol boats was severely insufficient, so this fleet transporting the Japanese 6th Division sailed all the way to the outer reaches of Duoliao Port without being discovered by the Taiwanese garrison.
The commander of the Japanese 6th Division was Lieutenant General ōkubo Haruno, a seasoned army general who had fought in the Russo-Japanese War. The plan to land on Taiwan using transport ships was mainly devised by this Japanese lieutenant general with a name like "peach".
In the Japanese military, the army and navy are a pair of natural rivals, competing not only for budget but also for various honors. In previous plans to land on Taiwan, the navy was the main force and the army was the auxiliary, but none of these plans were successful, resulting in the loss of countless naval vessels and the sacrifice of many Japanese soldiers and generals, which made the Japanese army's distrust of its own navy reach an all-time high.
This time, the six countries united to implement a landing plan on Taiwan. From the beginning, Lieutenant General Dairoku did not quite believe that the navies of various countries could easily break through Taiwan's maritime power. Therefore, after careful research with the Japanese military department, he proposed a very adventurous and novel landing plan, in which the army would use transport ships to break through the blockade line of the Taiwanese navy for landing operations. Although this tactic was highly risky, if the transport fleet was discovered by the Taiwanese navy ahead of time, the fate of the Sixth Division would be total annihilation. However, the Japanese had no naval power to rely on, and if they waited for the six-country united fleet to break through Taiwan's maritime defense line, even if they finally defeated the new government of Taiwan, the Japanese would not gain much benefit from Taiwan. Those countries would divide Taiwan without leaving a single thread, and then give the Japanese government a pile of rubbish. To avoid this situation where effort was made but no benefits were gained, Dairoku and the Japanese military department decided to complete this landing plan at all costs.
In the early morning, outside Duliao Port, the sea was still pitch black. The Japanese troop transport fleet formed two columns outside the port and implemented a blackout, quietly entering the waters of Duliao Port under the cover of pre-dawn darkness.
"Boom... Boom..." In the densely packed troopship fleet, two huge explosions suddenly sounded. The two troopships at the front of the fleet were thrown out of the water by a massive wave and then capsized, exposing their hulls covered with seaweed and shells. Due to the extremely dense formation of the troopship fleet, not only were the two ships that hit the mine blown up, but also the two adjacent troopships were almost overturned by the huge waves and shockwaves...
"Hachigatsu... Taiwan people's torpedo... Commander, there are torpedoes in this waterway." Standing on the surface of the sea, the commander of the destroyer's command tower, Kaoru Samejima, saw his own transport ship being torpedoed and sunk, his soldiers crying out and struggling in the water, and shouted to ōkubo with extraordinary pain.
"Don't panic, Izu Islander! Order the ships in front to turn on their lights and speed up to the dock. A few water mines can't stop the elite troops of the Japanese Empire. We can't stop now; only by landing on land are we the invincible warriors of the Imperial Country!" General Okubo looked at the somewhat disordered fleet of landing ships ahead, loudly issuing orders while reminding his deputy not to be intimidated by a few water mines.
It turned out that General ōkubo's judgment was correct, as the port was not very large and the wharf could not accommodate too many ships, so the Taiwanese Navy in charge of this place did not lay too many mines, but only symbolically laid some magnetic mines on the waterway in and out of the port.
As the Japanese transport ships turned on their lights and sped up towards the dock, the mines in the waterway caused great damage to the Japanese transport ships. However, due to insufficient numbers, more than half of the Japanese ships broke through the mine defense line and entered the port.
The third company of the first battalion of the second regiment of the fourth brigade of the Taiwanese army was stationed at Du Liao Port, and the company commander's name was Zheng Fa-zi. This platoon leader was a native of Taiwan, from Yilan County, and was among the first batch to abandon their land and run to Keelung to participate in factory construction. However, due to his extremely low cultural level - or rather, complete lack thereof - Zheng Fa-zi was illiterate, and spoke with a very difficult-to-understand Taiwanese accent in Hokkien dialect, which only his fellow villagers could comprehend. Due to his inability to read or write, coupled with his obscure accent, he had been excluded from several batches of workers who attended supplementary classes to learn basic knowledge before becoming factory workers. Watching as many of his companions entered the foreigners' teaching classes and became workers, while he was still on the construction site hauling rocks and digging holes as a laborer, Zheng Fa-zi was deeply troubled.
Just as he was about to give up his job and go home to continue farming, Keelung began recruiting a militia team. Zheng Fa-zi, with a try-it-out attitude, signed up, thinking that if he couldn't make it as a soldier, he would pack up his bedding and head home. Who knew that heaven would open its eyes? On the same day, among the people recruiting for the militia team at Keelung's construction site, there was someone from the same hometown of Yilan who heard Zheng Fa-zi's familiar accent and felt very close to him. He personally tested his physical ability, inquired about his background, and after everything was qualified, he recruited Zheng Fa-zi into the militia team. From then on, Zheng Fa-zi followed this fellow townsman who was a squad leader in the militia team, and mixed all the way to the new army in Taiwan. Later, he was promoted to platoon leader and company commander. In this war mobilization, Zheng Fa-zi followed his own troops from Taitung to Tainan, and his company was stationed at Duoliangang, specifically responsible for the safety of Duoliangang.
