劉小姐大破倭奴

圖上寫的是：

「君辱臣死，千古大義；台南自劉大將軍鎮守有日，勝仗連獲，有劉小姐恨倭奴無道，乃集女兵力功倭奴於台北，女兵虜其兵力，分隊進擊，奈倭奴烏合之眾，仗血氣，非女將敵，悲泣震野慘，氣聲天均聞。」

本文引自部落格《漁人碼頭的戰爭》，原文為英文，為版主擅自翻譯

http://danshuihistory.blogspot.com/2010/01/fantasy-and-reality.html

上圖是一張木雕「劉小姐大破倭奴圖」，年代日期未知。看起來是對一種日軍接管台灣戰役的民間傳說圖，「倭奴」是一種鄙棄蔑視的稱呼，就像二次世界大戰中美軍所稱的「Japs」一樣。

圖上文字寫著：「君辱臣死，千古大義；台南自劉大將軍鎮守有日，勝仗連獲，有劉小姐恨倭奴無道，乃集女兵力功倭奴於台北，女兵虜其兵力，分隊進擊，奈倭奴烏合之眾，仗血氣，非女將敵，悲泣震野慘，氣聲天均聞。」

圖中的人物有：

劉紅仙：可能指的是劉永福的女兒，或者僅僅是劉小姐。

賽本菊：可能指的是劉小姐的部將。

陳軍師：正在作法噴火焰。

生番兵：陳軍師指揮的原住民戰士。

圖中兩面三角旗寫上劉字，代表劉永福的黑旗軍。在圖上日本士兵正恐慌地逃竄，有的被劉紅仙和他的揮舞著長槍的女將斬殺，當然她們是綁著小腳的。

不知道是否真的有劉紅仙和賽本菊其人，不過，在台北城的這場勝仗純屬虛構。雖然在中國歷史上確曾出現過女軍，但是圖上顯示的，可能不是事實。

(還有一幅木刻圖畫顯示「劉永福將日軍Kabayama Sukenori 樺山資紀斬首」，很悲哀的，這也非事實。)

是否這代表台灣抵抗日均接管的戰役僅是虛構的故事？也不全然是如此，這些英勇的抵抗大都因火力與軍力的懸殊而造成重大的傷亡。台灣軍使用的武器是中法淡水戰役時期的守軍一般武器，而台灣義勇軍方面通常只有刀棍，而沒有鎗砲。台灣軍力非常了解雙方武器的懸殊火力，但是仍然不放棄抵抗。中國方面沒有提供任何援軍或軍火援助，沒有海軍保衛海岸線或牽制日軍艦隊。戰力顯示台灣守軍是遠遠不如了。即使如此，日軍還是發生極高的傷亡，傷亡人數的統計因為過高而必須用死於疾病來粉飾，以維持日本輿論與政府的支持。(版主案語：台北城與台南城開城投降，日軍兵不血刃就進城接管，這是史實。日軍在澎湖以及台灣各地因痢疾而有重大傷亡，這也是當時的部份實況。)

嚴酷的事實如下圖所顯示：

在第一次清日戰爭(1894-1895)，在韓國半島上日本海軍與陸軍協調分從海上與陸路進擊。日軍接管台灣採取同樣的模式。剛從黃海戰役獲勝的日方海軍，在1895年5月29日護送近五千名陸軍士兵在基隆附近登陸。(版主案語：地圖上顯示的是登陸在三貂角。)

這不是和平的接管，塗上紅色的打叉顯示許多小規模的衝突戰，這是台灣軍的反擊。(版主案語：從圖上顯示，桃園、三峽、湖口、新竹市、彰化市(兩戰)、嘉義都有對戰，嘉義以南就沒有記錄了。彰化市那一戰還造成日軍能久親王受傷死亡，事後在彰化市八卦山上留下紀念碑。)

日軍艦隊的主力很快地到達已佔領的澎湖群島。兩個軍團分別在嘉義附近的布袋與打狗附近的枋寮。(附註：打狗就是後來的高雄)。日方陸軍從六月佔領台北以後，遭遇了幾場與台灣義勇軍的殊死戰之後，繼續南下。八月八日，在新竹擊敗地方自願軍，八月二十七日，在彰化市擊敗台灣地方守軍，十月九日，在嘉義獲勝。

日本軍的策略是從南北兩方進擊劉永福主力防守的台南府。

在此之外，還有五艘日本軍艦在 1895年10月12日抵達打狗港的外圍。10月13日早上七點(另有一說是10月16日)，其中的三艘：秋津洲Akitsushima、浪速Naniwa與旗鑑吉野Yoshino 開砲轟炸，很快就將港口擊垮。事實上，僅僅見到這三艘軍艦就讓守軍喪失戰志。英國方面認為戰爭會持續一段時間而把英國公民移到一艘戰艦上，事實是：戰爭很快結束，英國人當天下午就回家了。

嘉義及打狗一棄守，劉永福除了尋求較好的投降條件之外別無選擇：對台灣守軍的仁慈免罪以及遣返黑旗軍回廈門或廣東。不過日軍方面堅持對抗的一方必須無條件投降。因為孤立無援，劉永福拋棄了他的軍隊，喬裝身分逃上一艘英國船(泰利斯號 SS Thales)在10月20日逃往廈門。

台南城在10月21日開城投降。

10月22日，將近八千名軍備齊整的黑旗軍向日軍投降，這些黑旗軍曾在越南的東京擊敗過法軍。隔天，僅有五千一百名被遣返清國。至於在淡水的清軍，在遣返前與遣返後的人數計載有一些瑕庛，因此也不知道被遣返的確切人數。

(版主案語：一百一十五年之後，很難下一個斷語。劉永福的黑旗軍確實在彰化或嘉義抵抗日軍，也有不少人壯烈犧牲，要說劉永福沒有下令抵抗日軍，軍隊私自行動，這是不符當時的情理。可是掌握黑旗軍主力的劉永福未曾出戰，卻也是事實。換一個角度來看，如果你是劉永福，妻眷財產都在中國。皇帝已經下令將台灣割讓給日本，即使血戰而守住台灣擊退日本，仍然有可能以抗旨為由被滿門抄斬的。更何況是完全沒有戰勝的把握。聰明如劉永福，當然以不戰而退而保全身家，遵奉皇帝旨意為上上籤了。)

以下是呂興昌老師引用《教會報》教會人士的報導：

呂興昌老師：〈白話字中的台灣文學資料〉

（１）５月２５日（即五月初二），台灣設立民主國。那天，台北的頭人及紳士做了一個銀印，送給撫台（即唐景崧）。那顆印的字是說，「台灣民主國」。撫台做「民主」（即總統），龍旗換虎旗。眾人送那個印，很熱鬧。那個下午，民主就對文武官說，你們若是沒膽，不敢跟日本人相殺，可以回（中國）去。那日剛剛換了虎旗，日本有三隻戰船到了滬尾口，日本就用小小的火煙船進入港內，靠在大英的戰船（附近）。大英的人對他說，你們得趕快出去，否則危險。那天險被兵勇開槍打。.....

（４）６月４日（即五月十二日），夜間撫台穿兵勇的衣服偷偷到了滬尾，上了賈蒔的火船。那個晚上，撫台的衙門全被放火燒了。到了五號（即十三日）早起，滬尾的兵勇都知道撫台及海關在船裡，官兵就阻擋不準賈蒔開船，若是開，砲台要開大槍打賈蒔，讓他破。那一日夜，兵勇都開槍打賈蒔。後來撫台暗地裡重託外國人去向官兵買砲台的大槍。外國人就去向砲台的官兵說，我給你們四千塊，你們的大槍賣給我。官兵說好，馬上給他們銀錢。外國人將那個槍心及好幾項器具都拆下來，使那個大槍無法發放。賈蒔就穩當可以開出港口。到了六號（即十四日），賈蒔要開，忽然間觀音山的砲台開砲打中賈蒔的船，死六人，受傷十多人。那時德國的戰船有開砲打觀音山的砲台；後來賈蒔就自顧自走了。那天，唐人、海關及守備的衙門全被百姓拆掉，官府所有全被人搶走；砲台自己也放火燒。台北府所有的衙門大都放火燒掉。

（５）論這個撫台，實在是很不好的人；（民主國）是他所做的卻自個兒溜掉，拋棄好幾萬的兵勇在台灣，沒得吃，沒船可回去。還有，他們是出外人，在台灣無親無戚。雖然中國的兵勇多的是壞人，但是仍然有人有心可憐他們。台北的教會有人出頭向頭人及眾百姓說，咱們應該可憐出外人較好，每個人出一點點米，叫人煮給他們吃，救他們的生命。大家歡喜，又知道外國人還有議論；若是兵勇沒銀錢搭船，叫他們將槍來換船票，就會載他們回去，兵勇說好。

(秋津洲Akitsushima- 3,100 噸)

(浪速Naniwa- 3,650 噸 - 曾在1895年6月9日訪問淡水港)

(旗鑑吉野Yoshino - 4,150 噸)

This is a wood-block print entitled "Missy Liu's great victory over the Wuo-noo". The date of its publication is unknown. It appears to be part of an illustrated folklore recounting a battle against the Japanese takeover of Taiwan. 倭奴 (Wuo-noo), in the title, is a derogatory term with a connotation just a tad worse than "the Japs" used by the Americans during WW2.

A loose translation of the text: "That the subordinates must die to avenge the insolent insults to the emperor is the rule since time immemorial. General Liu [i.e., 劉永福Liu Yung-Fu] has defended Tainan successfully achieving many victories. Then there is Missy Liu, who hates the guts of the Wuo-noo, has formed an army of female soldiers to attack the Wuo-noo in Taipei. The latter are just a disorganized mob, no match for the women warriors. They are defeated crying out in great sorrow, and the wailing reaches the heaven."

The captions are:
劉紅仙: Liu Hong-Hsian, most likely Liu Yung-Fu's daughter, or Missy Liu, if you will
賽本菊: Sai Ben-Ju, most likely Missy Liu's second in command
陳軍師: Chief of Staff Chen, who is seen operating an imaginary flame thrower
生番兵: The Aboriginal warriors directed by Chen

Both triangular banners are the much-famed Black-flags of Liu Yung-Fu. In the picture, the Japanese are being slaughtered, as they are running away in horror, by Missy Liu and her lance-wielding Amazons (with bound feet, no less).

It is unknown if there were really Commanders Liu and Sai; although the victory in Taipei never did happen. And the deployment of combatant women soldiers, even though true in Chinese history, but probably not so in this case.
[There was another print showing Liu Yung-Fu executing Adm 樺山資紀Kabayama Sukenori - sadly, also a fantasy.]

Does this mean that the defense of Taiwan was based on fantasies? Not at all. The battles were fought with great bravery at huge losses that strongly indicated an over-matched firepower. The equipment of the regular army dated back to the Sino-French War, and the militia often were armed only with cold weapons. These were all perfectly understood by the Taiwanese and yet they still chose to fight on. There was no re-supply or reinforcement from China; no navy to protect the shoreline or to engage the IJN fleet at sea. The odds were stacked against the Taiwanese. Even so, the loss of the Japanese was so high that the casualty stats must be white-washed with reports of deaths owing to illnesses - in order to retain both the public and the governmental supports.
The harsh reality is illustrated in the diagram below:

In the First Sino-Japanese war (1894-5), the Japanese army and navy had coordinated their attacks on land and from the sea when advancing through the Korean Peninsula. The same was applied in the conquest of Taiwan. The IJN fleet, fresh from the victories in the Yellow Sea and Port Arthur, quickly escorted the first Japanese force, the Imperial Guards (of about 7,000 men), to land near Keelung (upper right) on May 29, 1895. A peaceful takeover it wasn't, the red crosses on the island (on the map above) indicate major skirmishes where the Taiwanese fought back.
The bulk of the IJN fleet soon arrived in the already occupied Pescadores (Peng-hu on the left) and on Oct 10, two crack regiments (each around 6,000 men) sailed from Peng-hu, and landed in 布袋Pu-Tai (near 嘉義Chia-I) and 枋寮Fang-liao (near 打狗Takow), respectively. [Note: Takow was later renamed 高雄, pronounced Takao in Japanese and Kaohsiung in Chinese.]
The Imperial Guards, having already been engaged in quite a number of deadly encounters with the Taiwanese militias since the occupation of Taipei in June, fought their way south. On Aug 8, they defeated the local defenders in 新竹Hsin-Chu followed by another fierce battle in 彰化Changhua on Aug 27, and yet another in Chia-I on Oct 9.

The Japanese strategy was for the remaining Guardsmen and the two reinforcement units to mount attacks from both north and south to ultimately capture Tainan, the last stronghold still in the hands of Liu Yung-Fu's army.

In addition, five Japanese warships arrived in the outskirts of the Port of Takow on Oct 12, 1895. At 7AM on Oct 13 (another source puts it at the 16th), three of them, 秋津洲Akitsushima, 浪速Naniwa, and the flagship 吉野Yoshino opened fire and bombarded the port which quickly fell. In fact, the mere sight of these steely warships was at once demoralizing to the defenders. The British had evacuated their citizens to a battleship expecting a prolonged battle which, however, never materialized. Everyone went home in the afternoon.

Once Chia-I fell and Takow lost, Liu Yung-Fu had no choice but to sue for a conditional surrender: clemency for the Taiwanese fighters and repatriation of his 黑旗軍black-flag army to Amoy or Canton. The Japanese, however, demanded an unconditional one. With no other recourses, Liu abandoned his army, fled on board a British ship (the SS Thales) in disguise, and headed for Amoy on Oct 20.

The City of Tainan yielded on Oct 21, 1895.
On Oct 22, about 8,000 of the still well-armed and once proud 黑旗軍, who had defeated the French many times in the Sino-French war in Tonkin, surrendered to the Japanese. One day later, only some 5,100 were repatriated. As in the case of the repatriation of Qing soldiers in Danshui, there was a discrepancy in the number of soldiers before and after the process. And how many actually safely arrived back in Amoy was also unknown.