The western plain of Taiwan is home to most of the island's indigenous population, and the plain is generally long and narrow, and you will walk east for one to two days into the mountains, and most of the area is still forested. There are many rivers on the plains, but most of them are not navigable.

Counting from Tainan and Kaohsiung of the Dutch, the main rivers from south to north are Gaoping Creek, Zengwen Creek, Bazhang Creek, Beigang Creek, Turbidity Creek, Datu Creek, Dajia Creek, Da'an Creek and Tamsui River.

These rivers all originate in Taiwan's Central Mountain Range, which blocks water vapor from the south. The spatial part of rainfall in Taiwan is extremely uneven, with 5,000 mm of precipitation in the central mountain range and only 1,500 mm in the western coastal areas. The time distribution is also uneven, with the wet season from May to October concentrating most of the year's precipitation. Typhoons contribute greatly to rainfall, and frequent typhoons can seriously affect Taiwan's agricultural production.

It is now the end of the Xiaoice Season, and the rainfall is less than normal and concentrated in the rainy months. Rapid rainfall flows into the sea through short, steep rivers, and there is often no water available during dry seasons when there is no precipitation.

The drought had a very bad impact on agricultural production, but it was not a bad thing for Han Chinese to immigrate to Taiwan. The rainy season can make it difficult to move an inch, and the drought only reduces yields per acre, but allows migrants to adapt to Taiwan's climate more quickly. The drought drained many swamps, reduced malaria rates and helped migrants build infrastructure.

So historically, the development of Taiwan by the Han people began in Tainan. Annual rainfall in Tainan is more unevenly distributed, with Tainan not raining for longer periods of time than Taipei, which is more conducive to migrants working outdoors. And Taipei, even in the later Qing Dynasty, was regarded as a plague place by Tainan people.

The chicken coop is a famous rain port in Taiwan, and the annual precipitation can reach 3000mm. However, it is also because of the existence of the Xiaoice period, according to the statistics of the Dutch, the rainfall is much less than in normal years, otherwise the Spaniards would not have succeeded in establishing a colony in the Taipei area.

While heading north, the fleet did some preliminary mapping work on Taiwan's coastline, focusing on the estuaries of major rivers. Da Belly Creek is the territory of the Big Belly Kingdom, and after crossing the mouth of the Big Belly Creek in Taichung, Chen Shouxu said to Maiden, "The terrain looks acceptable, and it is necessary to build a port here in the future." ”

Maiden said: "This is also the sphere of influence of the Potbelly Kingdom. ”

Shouxu said: "I'm not talking about now. The Potbelly Kingdom provides a buffer zone between us and the Dutch, and it is necessary for us to keep this country in the short term. It's okay to leave them with Da Belly Creek, and we will occupy Dajia Creek. As our natural border with the Potbelly Kingdom. ”

Later, Taiwan's county and city boundaries were basically arranged along these natural rivers that cut across the western plains, such as the river channel of Da Belly Creek, which basically separated Taichung and Changhua, and it was more convenient to arrange work along the estuary. To the north of Taichung is Miaoli, which is separated by mountainous areas and has no reliable land transportation. Shou Xiang is not in a hurry to develop the Taichung area, and the priority here is relatively low. And if you want to penetrate the power into Taichung, a war with the potbelly kingdom is inevitable. For the time being, there is no need for a war to expand the territory, and development must be carried out step by step, and it will be a great success for Taipei to occupy it stably.

There is also no reliable land connection between Miaoli County and the Taipei Plain, but the need for development in Miaoli is more urgent.

He said to Maiden, "You have to make a plan to open up Miaoli, as soon as possible." ”

"I thought that in the early days, only the Taipei Plain was the focus. ”

Shou Xuan shook his head, "In addition to Taipei is Miaoli, in addition to forming a defense line against the Potbelly Kingdom, Miaoli also has oil." ”

The oil fields in Miaoli were open-air, and the Qing Dynasty would mine them privately. Of course, the internal combustion engine could not be used to refine oil, but open-pit oil wells were still very useful, providing an important fuel in addition to wood and coal, and oil mines could also provide bitumen. Asphalt is one of the most important marine materials.

"The mouth of the Houlongxi River is wide, and there is a sandbar in the middle of the channel that can avoid waves to a certain extent, so it should be able to be developed into a small port."

"Enough to transport Miaoli's oil?"

"Yes."

"It doesn't seem that difficult."

To the north of Miaoli is Hsinchu, and after entering the Hsinchu area, it is the Taipei Plain area, from Hsinchu, Taoyuan, Taipei all the way to the chicken coop, a reliable land connection can be established, which will be the core area of the Taiwan sub-base.

At the mouth of the Tamsui River, Shou and Maiden take a closer look at the ruins of the Spanish city of Santo Domingo.

"Before it was burned, there were eight guns in Santo Domingo. ”

Maiden put down his binoculars, "With the mountains and rivers in their backs, the rivers are completely covered by the range of the batteries, and the Spaniards have a good eye." ”

The site of the former city of Santo Domingo in Spain is set against the backdrop of towering mountains, with small flat areas on the same level as the castle to the southwest, and deep mountain valleys to the northeast and east.

Shou Xuan nodded, "I don't think there is a more suitable place to build a fort in Tamsui than the old site of the Spanish castle, and we must rebuild the Tamsui castle on the original site as soon as possible, so that we can still use the foundation laid by the Spaniards." ”

Maiden: "Fortress or Round?" ”

Order: "Tamsui will be our most important commercial port, don't save money, bastionization." Build one first, and I think at least two round forts will be built in the future to fully control the freshwater port. ”

Maiden: "Okay. I don't even want to be the governor of Taipei, and the tasks you assigned are so difficult. ”

Shou Xuan smiled, "You interned in my government for a few months, don't you think it's fun to build a country from scratch?" Although Taiwan is our sub-base, the work you face is actually similar to mine. ”

After crossing the Tamsui estuary, bypassing the North Point of Taiwan, and continuing to sail for a short distance to reach the sea off the chicken coop.

The chicken coop is the best harbor in Taiwan, surrounded by mountains and mountains, providing a good shelter from the wind. Outside the port, Sheliao Island (Jilongyu) shields the mouth of the sea, blocking the northeast wind and waves. The eastern channel between Jilongyu and the main island of Taiwan is only 100 meters wide and the western channel is only 600 meters wide, completely covered by the range of artillery. Jilong Port is on the inland sea side of Jilongyu, and there is a square Neiao with a length of 1.4 kilometers and a width of 700 meters. Because there was no breakwater in later generations, not all places in Inner Australia were suitable for building ports, and now the main port of the Spaniards is on the inner side of Jilongyu. In addition to the square Inner Australia, there is also a narrow bay 1.5 kilometers long and more than 200 meters wide that folds to the southwest, and there are even small bays in the bay. There is no need for a breakwater, and these two coves are the best places to build a naval base.

Maiden marveled at the excellent port conditions of the chicken coops, and Acapulco was no more than the port they had ever experienced.

Shou Xuan sighed, "It's just that there is a lot of rain, even in the current era of drought, the chicken coop only has no rain for 3 months at most." And because there is no navigable inland river, Jilong Port does not have the ability to radiate inland. ”

Maiden: "It's already good, we don't have a better choice. The absence of inland rivers is not critical for military ports, and we have fresh water for commercial ports. ”

Pointing to Jilongyu, Shou Xuan nodded and said, "All our plans must start with the capture of Spanish castles. ”

The Spaniards built a triangular fort in the chicken coop, each sharp fort is St. Augustinburg, San Antonio, San Milan Fort, in addition to the fort, there is a round fort on the highest hill of the chicken coop island, the Holy Trinity Fort. Beneath the fort was the city of San Salvador, the main residence of the Spaniards in Taipei.

The size of the Spanish fort was only slightly smaller than that of the city of Geranza. In order to avoid the Taiwan Strait controlled by the Dutch, the Spaniards went north from the Pacific side of Taitung, and the first landing area was in the northeast corner of Taiwan, the port of Santiago, but they later found that although the port of Santiago could avoid the southwest wind, during the northeast monsoon period, the port of Santiago could not stay at all, and the white waves in the port were raging. The Spaniards soon moved to the more advantageous port of Chicken Coop. Because of its proximity in pronunciation, the original Port of San Diego was called the Three Sable Horns by the locals.

After the Spaniards entered Taipei, because their economy was relatively difficult, they often did not have enough to eat, and the occasional Manila supply ship would make their life better. As a result, some soldiers fled to Dutch-controlled areas, and some of the seamen of wrecked Spanish ships fell into the hands of the Dutch. Therefore, the information on Chicken Coop Harbor in Shou Order's hands is relatively sufficient.

The first Spanish troops to land in Taiwan had 3 companies of 240 men, only 40 whites, and another 200 Pampanga soldiers.

The year after the landing, Manila sent a large reinforcement force to Taiwan, with more than 10 Galen ships forming an expeditionary fleet, and an army of 500 whites and 1,200 natives. Combined with the forces originally stationed in Taipei, the Spanish army would reach 2,000 men. Such a powerful army was naturally not to defend Taipei, Manila wanted to capture the city of Geranza in one fell swoop, destroy the fledgling Sino-Dutch trade, and consolidate Manila's special position in trade.

It was also the most dangerous stage for the Dutch in Taiwan, and the Dutch were frightened for a long time. However, it was also the destiny of the Dutch, and the Spaniards were unlucky enough to encounter a storm on the road, losing half of their men and ships, and only 250 whites and 600 Pampanga soldiers and Cagayan laborers arrived safely in Taipei. After the blow of the storm, the Spaniards naturally could not go south to attack Tainan, but the garrison of more than 1,000 people also completely extinguished the idea of the Dutch going north to attack Taipei. Although several Taiwanese governors repeatedly asked Batavia to send a fleet to expel the Spaniards, the chiefs did not agree that Taiwan was not as important as Malacca, Ceylon, and Matalan.

Although it started at the same time as the Dutch, and in terms of the initial investment in Taiwan, even Manila was larger than Batavia. But the Spaniards were no match for the Dutch in business, and the trade in the Taipei colony could be described as bleak. And the Spaniards found out that if their goal was not to expel the Dutch, then Taipei was really useless for them. The Dutch could not afford to blockade China's long coastline, and the trade routes from China to Manila had been smooth. A colony without a trade function is like water without roots, Taipei cannot make money, and the Spaniards do not need Taipei to make money, which makes Taipei's importance decrease year by year.

Later, after the garrison of the chicken coop was reduced year after year and Fort Tamsui was abandoned, the Spanish garrison in the entire Taipei area was left with only 3 white companies, 1 Pampanga company and 1 overstaffed Cagayan labor company. When Coquilla was governor of the Philippines, Taiwan's garrison still maintained the size of four companies, but his interest was entirely in Mindanao in the south, and most of Taiwan's garrisons were drawn one after another.

The Spaniard's current supreme governor of Taiwan is called Gonzalo. Portillo, who took office when the garrison of the chicken coop was left with only 65 white soldiers and sailors, 28 Pampangans, and 96 Cagayans. It was this poor force that he repelled the attack of Trodenius last year. As for now, Dutch intelligence indicates that the Spanish garrison in the chicken coop is left with a mixed company of white soldiers and Pampanga, and close to 100 Cagayan laborers, in addition to some Catholic native soldiers recruited in the chicken coop.

Like the Dutch, the Spaniards also devoted considerable energy to missionary work in Taiwan, and Catholicism was much more fervent than Protestantism. At this time, the Dutch had a regular army of 600 men in Taiwan, in addition to being able to levy an indigenous army of several hundred men. The Spaniards were smaller in territory than the Dutch and less in control of the natives, and they had far fewer native soldiers than the Dutch.

Looking at the triangular fortress in front of him, Orderly really convinced these Europeans' enthusiasm for building castles, and Witherling introduced to Order: "Your Excellency, last year Trodenius sent a force of 317 men, including sailors and soldiers, to attack Chicken Coop Harbor, but it was unsuccessful. The Spaniards planted 40 guns on the small island of Jilongyu, and it was very difficult for us to attack. ”

Shou ordered Harris to "raise the battle flag, and with the South Sea as the lead, the fleet is approaching the city of San Salvador." First, let's see how hard that is. ”