Battle of Chiayi The Battle of Chiayi ( 9 October 1895 ) was an important engagement fought during the Japanese invasion of Taiwan ( 1895 ) . The battle was a Japanese victory . Background . On 27 August 1895 the Japanese captured Chang - hua , after inflicting a crushing defeat on the Formosan insurgents at Baguashan . This action was followed by a lull in the campaign , during which the Japanese consolidated their positions and waited for the arrival of fresh troops from Japan . The only significant military action in central Formosa during the weeks following the capture of Chang - hua was a series of engagements in early September around Yunlin . On 3 September Formosan insurgents attacked the small Japanese garrison of the village of Toapona , to the south of Chang - hua . Japanese reinforcements came up , and the insurgents were defeated and retreated towards Yunlin . A Japanese infantry company in the vicinity attacked the retreating insurgents and during the evening of 3 September pursued them as far as the walled city of Talibu , whose defences it scouted . Three days later , during the night of 5 September , the Japanese returned and made a surprise night attack on Talibu . The Japanese vanguard scaled the city walls and opened the gates for its comrades , who poured into the city firing volleys . The Formosans fled in confusion , and by 5 a . m . on 6 September Talibu was securely occupied by the Japanese . Formosan losses during these few days of fighting amounted to 130 killed , while Japanese losses were only eight men killed and wounded . Although the Formosans were unable to challenge the Japanese military ascendancy in central Formosa , continuing Formosan guerilla attacks kept the Japanese short of supplies . The island ’ s pestilential climate also continued to take its toll of the invaders . A severe outbreak of malaria at Chang - hua in early September 1895 , worse even than the cholera outbreak on the Pescadores five months earlier , ravaged the Japanese forces , killing more than 2 , 000 men . The battle of Chiayi . In early October , on the arrival of reinforcements from Japan , the Japanese resumed their drive on the Republican capital Tainan . The Imperial Guards Division , under the command of Prince Kitashirakawa Yoshihisa , commenced its march south from Chang - hua on 3 October . On 6 October the division ' s advance guard defeated a force of 3 , 000 insurgents at Talibu . On 7 October the division fought an important action against a force of insurgents at Yunlin , driving them from a series of fortified positions . On 9 October the division fought the second - largest battle of the campaign after Baguashan , to storm the walled city of Chiayi , where the insurgents had decided to make a determined stand . According to report , the Chinese and Formosans numbered 10 , 000 men and included both regular and volunteer units . The true figure was probably around 3 , 000 men , but the insurgents were stiffened by a force of 600 Black Flags , who now fought the Japanese for the first time during the campaign , and also deployed cannon and machine guns on the city walls . After a preliminary bombardment with their mountain artillery the Japanese scaled the walls and broke into the city . The insurgents were defeated , leaving over 200 dead on the field . Total casualties in the Imperial Guards Division in the engagements fought between 3 and 9 October were 14 killed and 54 wounded . The division was ordered to halt at Chiayi and wait until Prince Fushimi ' s northern expedition went ashore at Pa - te - chui before resuming its advance .