Capitulation of Tainan ( 1895 ) The Capitulation of Tainan , on 21 October 1895 , was the last act in the Japanese invasion of Taiwan . The capitulation ended the brief existence of the Republic of Formosa and inaugurated the era of Japanese colonial rule in Taiwan . Background . After the Qing Empire signed the Treaty of Shimonoseki , officials on Taiwan opposed to the cession of Taiwan to Japan proclaimed an independent Republic of Formosa and raised forces in order to resist the impending Japanese invasion . On 6 June 1895 , in the wake of the Imperial Japanese Army ' s successful landing and occupation of northern Taiwan , President Tang Ching - sung fled the island . On 26 June the former - Qing garrison commander and vice - president of the Republic of Formosa Liu Yung - fu announced his succession as head of government , and used his base in Tainan as the capital of the second republic . The capture of Tainan now became a political as well as a strategic imperative for the Japanese . However , this proved to be easier said than done . Faced with growing resistance to their occupation , the Japanese were unable to advance immediately on Tainan . During the second phase of the campaign , from June to August , the Japanese secured central Taiwan by occupying Miaoli and Changhua . They then paused for a month , and only embarked on the third and final phase of the campaign , the advance on Tainan , in the second week of October . The arrival of strong reinforcements ( the 2nd Provincial Division , transferred from the Japanese 2nd Army in Manchuria , and part of the 4th Provincial Division , from Osaka ) allowed the Japanese to approach Tainan from three directions at once . On 10 October two task forces sailed from the Pescadores . The smaller task force , 5 , 460 troops under the command of Prince Fushimi , landed at Pa - te - chui ( 布袋嘴 ) , to the north of Tainan . The larger task force , 6 , 330 troops under the command of Lieutenant - General Nogi , landed at Fangliao ( 枋寮 ) , well to the south of Tainan . Its first objective was to capture the port of Takow ( modern Kaohsiung ) , twenty - five miles to the north . Meanwhile , the Imperial Guards Division , then at Changhua , was ordered to continue to press forward towards Tainan . Just under 20 , 000 Japanese troops now closed in on Tainan simultaneously , from the north , the northeast and the south . Liu Yung - fu could probably field a larger force , but the Chinese and Formosans were by now fighting merely to stave off defeat . They had little hope of stemming the Japanese advance on Tainan . Japanese advance on Tainan . Japanese capture of Yunlin and Chiayi . The Imperial Guards Division commenced its march south from Changhua 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 with the insurgents at Yunlin , driving them from a series of fortified positions . On 9 October the division fought the second - largest battle of the campaign , the Battle of Chiayi , 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 . Liu Yung - fu ' s conditional surrender offer . On 10 October , discouraged by the news of the fall of Chiayi , Liu Yung - fu made an offer of conditional surrender to the Japanese . He asked that no Formosan should be punished for having taken up arms against the Japanese , and that all Chinese soldiers still in Taiwan should be treated hospitably and repatriated to Canton or Amoy . The surrender offer was conveyed to the Japanese headquarters at Makung in the Pescadores by the British warship HMS " Pique " , and the Japanese replied that they would send a warship to Anping , the outport of Tainan , on 12 October to discuss Liu ' s proposals . On 12 October the Japanese cruiser " Yoshino " arrived off Anping , but Liu Yung - fu refused to go aboard , perhaps fearing treachery . The Japanese subsequently informed him that they would accept only unconditional surrender . Japanese victory at Shau - lan . Meanwhile the other two Japanese columns were making their presence felt . Prince Fushimi ' s northern column , which included the 5th and 17th Infantry Regiments , landed at Pa - te - chui on 10 October . The division fought several brisk actions during its advance southwards . These included an action at Kaw - wah - tau on 12 October , in which Japanese casualties were slight , and an engagement near Kiu - sui - kei on 16 October to disengage a company of the 17th Regiment which had been surrounded by the insurgents , in which the Japanese suffered casualties of 9 dead and 10 wounded and the enemy at least 60 dead . On 18 October the 5th Infantry Regiment , supported by a battery of artillery and a troop of cavalry , routed the insurgents at Ongo - ya - toi . Japanese casualties were 3 dead and 14 wounded , while the enemy left 80 dead on the battlefield . On the same day the 17th Regiment met the Formosans at Tion - sha and inflicted a heavy defeat upon them . Formosan losses were computed at around 400 killed , while on the Japanese side only one officer was wounded . Meanwhile , the brigade ’ s advance guard dislodged an insurgent force numbering around 4 , 000 men and armed with repeating rifles from the village of Mao - tau , to the south of the So - bung - go River , but suffered relatively high casualties in doing so . On 19 October , in a battle to capture the fortified village of Shau - lan , the Japanese took a striking revenge . The 17th Regiment trapped a force of 3 , 000 insurgents inside the village and inflicted very heavy casualties on them when they stormed it . Nearly a thousand enemy bodies were counted after this massacre . Japanese losses were only 30 men killed or wounded , including 3 officers . Japanese capture of Takow . Lieutenant - General Nogi ' s southern column , consisting of 6 , 330 soldiers , 1 , 600 military coolies and 2 , 500 horses , landed at Fangliao on 10 October , and engaged a force of Formosan militiamen at Ka - tong - ka ( 茄苳腳 ) , modern Chiatung ( 佳冬 ) , on 11 October . The Battle of Chiatung was a Japanese victory , but the Japanese suffered their heaviest combat casualties of the campaign in the engagement — 16 men killed and 61 wounded . Three officers were among the casualties . On 15 October Nogi ' s column closed in on the important port of Takow ( Kaohsiung ) , but discovered that the Japanese navy had beaten it to the punch . Two days earlier , on 13 October , the Takow forts had been bombarded and silenced by the Japanese cruisers " Yoshino " , , , " Hiei " , " Yaeyama " and " Saien " , and a naval landing force had been put ashore to occupy the town . Foiled of their prize , Nogi ' s men pressed on , and captured the town of Pithau on 16 October . By 20 October they were at the village of Ji - chang - hang , only a few miles south of Tainan . There , on the night of 20 October , they received an offer of unconditional surrender from the Chinese merchants of Tainan . The collapse of the Republic of Formosa . Liu Yung - fu ' s flight . On 19 October , realising that the war was lost , Liu Yung - fu decided to leave for the Chinese mainland . Accompanied by around a hundred officers of the Tainan garrison , he left the city during the night on the pretence of going to inspect the defences of Anping . He then disguised himself as a coolie and boarded the British merchant ship " Thales " , bound for Amoy , on the morning of 20 October . The Japanese only got wind of Liu ’ s flight on the following morning , after they marched into Anping and Tainan , and on 21 October the " Thales " was pursued by the cruiser " Yaeyama " , halted fifteen miles from Amoy , and boarded by Japanese sailors . The Japanese sailors did not recognise Liu Yung - fu , but announced that they intended to arrest seven supposed Chinese labourers aboard the British vessel who were unable to give a satisfactory account of themselves . Although the Japanese did not know it , one of the seven labourers was Liu Yung - fu . He owed his escape to the intervention of the British captain . Indignant at being boarded on the high seas , the captain protested vigorously at this illegal search , and when the merchant ship reached Amoy all its passengers , including Liu Yung - fu , were allowed to go ashore without further hindrance . Admiral Arichi Shinanojo , the Japanese fleet commander in the invasion of Formosa , was shortly afterwards forced to resign as a result of a subsequent British complaint to Japan . Only later did the Japanese realise how close they had come to capturing Liu Yung - fu . The capitulation of Tainan . The news that Liu Yung - fu had abandoned the struggle broke in Tainan on the morning of 20 October . It was at first greeted with shock and disbelief . Soldiers and civilians alike wandered through the city ’ s streets , discussing this sudden turn of events in animated tones . Then the soldiers began to leave Tainan , making for the illusory safety of the port of Anping , a few miles further away from the Japanese lines . The Chinese merchants and the city ’ s small European community watched this development apprehensively . The mood of the soldiers could easily turn ugly , and there was a danger that they might return to plunder the city . For once , the European residents played a decisive part in events . Three European employees of the Maritime Customs at Anping — Messrs . Burton , McCallum and Alliston — persuaded the Chinese soldiers who had flocked to Anping to hand over their weapons for safekeeping and surrender peacefully to the Japanese . Nearly 10 , 000 Chinese soldiers rid themselves of their telltale firearms , and sat down to await events . The collection of the weapons lasted throughout the day , and by nightfall between 7 , 000 and 8 , 000 rifles had been secured and locked up in one of the godowns of the Maritime Customs . The next step was to invite the Japanese into Tainan . The Chinese merchants composed a suitable letter , swearing that all Chinese troops had laid down their arms and begging the Japanese to enter the city as soon as possible to maintain order . Nobody , however , was willing to run the considerable risks involved in delivering this message to the Japanese . Eventually two missionaries of the English Presbyterian Mission , James Fergusson and Thomas Barclay , agreed to make the perilous journey from Tainan to Lieutenant - General Nogi ’ s headquarters at Ji - chang - hang , a few miles south of the city . They set off just before nightfall , and made their way towards the Japanese front lines . After walking for a few hours they were halted by a rifle shot from a Japanese sentry , and were eventually brought into General Nogi ’ s presence . Nogi , unsurprisingly , was wary of possible Chinese treachery , but eventually decided to march on Tainan that night and enter the city early the following morning . Barclay and Fergusson later related their adventure to William Campbell , another member of the English Presybterian Mission , who gave the following description of their tense ordeal : The sun was just setting when all the needful preparations were made , but not an hour was to be lost ; and , therefore , taking the stamped document with them , my colleagues went out from the Great South Gate on their errand of mercy . The stars were shining brightly , and stillness reigned everywhere , till the party was startled by the ping of a rifle , and the loud challenge of a Japanese sentry . Signals were made , but they were immediately surrounded , and led to the presence of General Nogi , who consulted with his officers , and afterwards informed the missionaries of the acceptance of the invitation they brought , and that the army would begin to move before daybreak , having Mr . Barclay with the nineteen Chinamen in front , and Mr . Fergusson with several officers marching in the rear . It was also plainly stated that , on the slightest show of treachery or resistance , the soldiers would open fire , and the whole city be burned to the ground . The time occupied by that long march back again was , indeed , an anxious one ; and as the missionaries drew near and saw the city gates closed , their hearts sank within them lest some fatal interruption had taken place . That sound , too , seemed something more than the barking of dogs . Could it be possible that the roughs of the city had broken out at last , and were now engaged in their fiendish work ? My colleagues looked behind , and saw only a wall of loaded rifles ; in front , but there was no hopeful sign ; and the strain was becoming almost insupportable , when the Great South Gate was swung wide open . Hundreds of gentry came forward bowing themselves to the ground , and in a minute more the flag of the Rising Sun was waving over the city . Nogi ' s column entered Tainan at 7 a . m . on 21 October , and by 9 a . m . had secured the city . The troops of Prince Fushimi ’ s northern column arrived on the afternoon of the same day . The capitulation of Tainan put an end to serious Formosan resistance and effectively inaugurated the era of Japanese colonial rule in Formosa .