December 29, 1880, off the coast of Keelung, French Far East Fleet.

After the fall of the Lone Fleet, Lisby became the supreme commander of the fleet. Although the Far Eastern Fleet suffered unimaginable losses at Mawei, five battleships, including the cruiser Volda, the cruiser Fellers, the gunboat Wildcat, the gunboat Yishibi, and the gunboat Snake, were sunk, and four ships, including the ironclad of the Atarente, the ironclad of La Galizonia, the cruiser Dujuzluin, and the cruiser Destein, were captured.

But even so, the fleet that Lisby had at this time was still the most powerful maritime liliang in the entire East Asian region, with a total of 14 warships, namely:

Victory ironclad (flagship);

the ironclad ship Triumph;

the cruiser Fort Reno;

the cruiser Soni (converted from a transport ship);

cruiser Amirin;

the cruiser La Perlouse;

cruiser USS Nielle;

the cruiser Dusaffer;

the cruiser Kaisheng;

cruiser Reconnaissance;

the cruiser Chamberland;

the cruiser Duwell;

cruiser Lee;

The gunboat Rutin

Although the Chinese Navy captured some of the main warships, it would take at least a few months to completely repair the warships. Moreover, even if the repair is complete, it is impossible to assign officers and men to the ship to operate it, familiarize themselves with various features, and eventually form combat effectiveness. Especially now that there are French warships outside the port, the Chinese Navy does not dare to go out of the port for exercises, so at least during the war, the Chinese Navy will not dare to risk coming out to challenge the Far East Fleet.

In addition, a large number of transport ships and support vessels were loaded with the 4th Brigade under the command of Johnny Nelli. This brigade was intercepted by Liu Buyun and others during transportation before, and lost more than 1,000 people, and now there are more than 2,000 people, plus more than 1,000 marines in the past, so that Lisby has more than 3,000 troops in his hands, and he is confident that he can achieve the strategic goal of capturing Taiwan.

Luxby fully agreed with the French government that Taiwan would force the Peking government to captivate the entrance to the Min River, control the Beizhili Bay, and that mastering this place would force the Peking government to submit and thus make himself a key figure in ending the war, and that he would undoubtedly become a national hero of France.

After some reconnaissance, Luxby decided that the area around Xiandong in the West Mountain of Keelung Harbor was the most suitable for landing operations.

In the early morning of December 30, the French fleet gathered at Keelung Harbor, and in the distance was the Keelung Fort of the Chinese army.

The morning sun casts a golden glow on the entire sea, and gray and white seagulls migrate here from the far north to spend the winter, winding and circling around the warship.

Standing on his flagship, the Victory, and in high spirits, he gave the order to open fire.

Immediately, the roaring flames shattered the quiet morning of the harbor, and countless shells whistled and flew towards the distant battery, and the Chinese soon responded with the sound of artillery, and the attack began.

The sun was now looking down on the ridge on which the fort was located, and the sunlight in the face of the French gunners was blinded by the fact that the fort was still shrouded in early morning mist, which affected the French aiming and made the initial artillery battle favorable to the Chinese defenders.

During the artillery battle, a 170mm Krupp shell from the turret accurately hit the bow of the cruiser Fort Renault, blasting out a large hole, resulting in the death of two sailors, startling the captain Polino, who had to order the warship to retreat some distance. At the same time, a 180mm smoothbore shell also broke the main mast of the cruiser La Perlouse.

After a moment of fierce fighting, the sun rose completely, the morning fog disappeared, and the accuracy of the French artillery quickly increased. In particular, the two ironclad ships, the Victory and the Triumph, with a total of 12 239mm caliber heavy guns, like Thor's hammer, quickly destroyed the two smaller secondary batteries.

Subsequently, all the shells of the French army rained down on the main battery. Before noon, the entire Keelung battery had been completely destroyed, and all the cannons had been blown into pieces of steel.

After confirming that the Chinese defenders had lost their ability to attack, Richby ordered a beach rush to begin, and a 200-man force under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Lakro landed in the area of Xiandong, where the West Mountain extended into the sea, and quickly occupied the West Hill and established a landing ground with almost no resistance.

After that, Lisbee led a large French army to land, took control of the port, and gave Lacro's troops an additional artillery unit.

Rakoro quickly launched an attack on Keelung, and after a short exchange of fire, the Chinese defenders retreated after a slight attack by French artillery, and by the time it was dark, the French had captured Keelung, and the price paid was only two dead and five wounded.

That night, Lishby placed his headquarters in Keelung, and he was very satisfied with the progress of the battle, and the troops occupied the gateway to northern Taiwan with almost no losses, which gave him greater confidence in the battle.

In particular, the Chinese defenders were almost crushed at the touch of a button, which made him even more arrogant and arrogant. He sent a telegram to the French government and to Baohai, who was in Hong Kong and had just been confirmed as a future negotiator, and said triumphantly in a telegram: "I am extremely happy to have achieved such a brilliant result at a very small cost that can almost be ignored." In the next step, I will also advance into the hinterland without blood, and go straight to the ...... of Taipei, the ruling center of Chinese. ”

Risby set up his headquarters in the only Western-style building in the city, and began to establish a field hospital and administrative structures in Keelung, including tax and municipal administrations, and appointed himself as the provisional supreme administrator. He had already begun to dream of becoming France's first governor of Taiwan.

In fact, before the French army entered the city, most of the residents of Keelung had already been evacuated, and everything that could be moved was also moved, and the French occupied only an empty city.

After two days of rest and preparation, in the early morning of January 2, 1881, Lieutenant Colonel Laquero led two companies and supplemented the artillery unit, namely the 23rd Artillery Squadron under the command of Captain Luwert, 72 officers and men, and six 40mm mountain guns, and the artillery detachment under the command of Captain Barry, equipped with two 80mm mountain guns, and some military police, with a total strength of more than 400 men, and confidently began to march southward, ready to follow the nearest straight-line distance - cross Yuemei Mountain and reach Taipei Province. Jihua conquered Yuemei Mountain on the same day, then spent the night on Yuemei Mountain, and traveled to Taipei Province the next day.

At the same time, Lisby also sent a force to attack the Badou Coal Mine, which was five miles to the east.

In the Yuemei Mountain area south of Keelung City, the guard general Zhou Shengbo is angrily reprimanding Deng Chang'an, who has withdrawn from Keelung: "you pock!" The sugar cat who blocked the gun, I shrugged your ass at a time! ”

Zhou Shengbo is a native of Hefei, Anhui Province, and he usually speaks official language, but now seeing that Deng Changan is so pustuy that he easily discarded Keelung, he was extremely angry and scolded people in Hefei dialect.

Although Deng Changan didn't understand everything, he also knew that it was not a good word, and he knew that he was wrong, and his muffled voice was red. Although the French army was large, there were more than 2,000 people under his command, and it was indeed unreasonable to flee so easily without a fight.

At this time, the subordinates reported that the French army was dispatching a unit and was coming in the direction of Yuemei Mountain.

Zhou Shengbo calmed down, this is the time to employ people, just in time for Deng Changan to make meritorious contributions. He said: "Deng Changan, either go to the camp in Huwei and take the blame yourself." Either stay and fight with the French army to make up for the merits. It's up to you to do it yourself! ”

Deng Changan didn't think about it, and immediately clenched his fists and said: "I am willing to fight to the death!" ”

Mount Yuemei is the barrier to Taipei Province in the south, and in front of the mountain is a hilly area full of dense jungle with few real roads. Heavy artillery is simply unusable, and large forces are difficult to deploy, giving the defending side a unique terrain advantage.

Zhou Shengbo arranged the main regiment on the ridgeline of Yuemei Mountain, and the patrol battalion troops who retreated from Keelung were arranged in the hills in front of the mountain.

At the same time, he also hurried to Huwei Daying for help.

At noon, the French army finally approached the area of Yuemei Mountain, and it was drizzling all the time.

It's been a nightmare. Endless kudzu vines and bamboo bushes, winding and serpentine cliffs and steep roads, slippery and muddy everywhere, it takes a lot of effort to take every step forward.

The front is a sea of subtropical plants, and the troops must constantly cut down trees and grasses to open the way forward, and these plants have an astonishing vitality, exaggeration, almost after cutting down the grass and trees, the people have just passed, and the back is immediately overgrown again.

After several hours of exhausting trekking, the French finally reached the area in front of Yuemei Mountain and exchanged fire with the Chinese troops.

These Chinese are like cunning loaches, cats in the grass, specially put black guns, and when the French army rushes over, there are already no people in the grass. The French army was extremely tired of such a sneak attack, and scolded "shameless Chinese cowards" one after another.

At this time, the rain is getting heavier and heavier, and the already bad ground is even more difficult to walk. The French soldiers were not accustomed to this style of fighting, and were drenched from head to toe by the endless rain, and there were muddy mud puddles everywhere. When you step on these mud, you will make a "sizzling" sound, like stepping on a disgusting pile of shit.

The French army had to deal with the sneak attacks of the Chinese from all directions, and on the other hand, they had to deal with the insects that were everywhere around them. There are so many kinds of pesky creatures that most of them are not yet named, and they are constantly flying and crawling in front of and behind them, occasionally burrowing into the collar, cuffs, and trouser legs.

The soldiers had to constantly lay down their weapons and scratch all over their bodies. Everyone was extremely annoyed, trying to fight the enemy desperately but couldn't do anything, and even wanted to die with a bullet.

Everyone had a feeling that they were going crazy.