On the afternoon of December 5, 1631, after a morning of trekking, the leading scouts fired an arrival signal shortly after noon. By about 13:00 in the afternoon, all the leading scouts arrived at the scheduled settlement.
The settlement they planned to colonize was once located on the banks of Chengcheng Lake in Niaosong District, Kaohsiung City. Chengcheng Lake was originally called Dapi Lake, and later renamed Dabei Lake. It was only renamed Jiaochengcheng Lake in the 1960s. This place was originally
It is the source of industrial water in Kaohsiung City, and later became a famous tourist area in Kaohsiung City. It is known for its beautiful lakes and mountains, and is known as the "West Lake of Taiwan".
However, in 1631, Dabei Lake was very different from the old time and space. There was not even a clear lakeshore area. Strictly speaking, it was not until the Qing Dynasty that Cao Jin opened Jiuqu Pond and diverted water from Danshui Creek to irrigate farmland.
The pond was built to provide water for people's livelihood and for field irrigation in spring, and Dabei Lake was officially formed.
In 1631, Dabei Lake was just one of the countless ponds dotted around the Niaosong area. The area was far smaller than in the old days, but it was enough water for production and living in the farming land.
Guan Shanyue stood on the mound, the sky was blue, and the temperature was only about 20 degrees at the moment, neither cold nor hot, with a feeling of crisp autumn air.
The Niaosong area is a large wetland on the Kaohsiung Plain, full of rivers and swamps. At first glance, it seems very suitable for farming, but Guan Shanyue knew that there were two major problems with this location. One was that it was too humid, which easily breeds mosquitoes and was not conducive to hygiene; the other was that it was difficult to enter
Floods are bound to occur after the rainy season.
However, irrigation here is convenient and the land is fertile. It has always been a major agricultural area on the Kaohsiung plain. It is also difficult to find a better location not far from Kaohsiung city. It is no wonder that the exploration team and Ye Yuming chose this place.
"Where is the specific location of the settlement point?" he asked the Li Miao company soldier who was leading the way.
The first settlement site of the Kaohsiung Wing of the Taiwan Farm Reclamation Brigade is on a high hill on the south bank of Dabei Lake. The terrain here is higher and it is a mixed structure of earth and stone. It should not be flooded during the rainy season and is close to the lake.
There are sufficient water sources for irrigation, and there is a large amount of land beside the lake. Although it is relatively humid, it can be used to grow rice. The high hills are condescending, which is also convenient for defense.
A black and white sign pole was inserted at the highest point. Surrounded by the captains of the Agricultural Reclamation Corps, Guan Shanyue came down to the pole. There was a mark on the pole: the altitude was 16.33 meters. Strictly speaking, it was not even a hill.
It can only be regarded as a small mound, but it is the commanding height here. Standing on the mound, you can have a panoramic view of the surroundings. To say that the scenery here is not bad. The patchwork vegetation presented by the subtropical wilderness is compared to the tropical jungle.
The dense and dark "green hell" appears to be much more layered.
It presents a typical wetland landform, with ponds dotted here and there and streams crisscrossing it. In the old days, this was the first wetland park in China.
Guan Shanyue was filled with emotion and ordered: "Let's get started."
After confirming that the wind direction was safe and clearing the fire break zone, the immigrants set a fire in and around the hills that night. The dry autumn and winter fueled the fire. The fire was so big that the bursting sparks were scattered everywhere, which once made Guan Shanyue very nervous.
Nervous - this was the first time he encountered a wild forest fire.
Although setting fire to wasteland is an essential step in reclamation, setting fire on the Kaohsiung Plains in autumn is still a high-risk matter. If the fire break zone is not wide enough or the wind direction suddenly changes - in this wasteland full of fuel
They didn't even have a chance to escape.
The immigrants also became commotion. Although the strong men are considered the "backbone" and "firm", facing such natural power, people would seem insignificant. If Guan Shanyue had not always acted "calm and composed"
It looked like they were about to disperse in a hurry.
Although everyone was exhausted from marching, setting up camps, cleaning up and setting fires on the first day, few people could sleep peacefully that night. Only in the second half of the night, when the fire gradually became smaller, did people gradually fall asleep. Guan Shanyue originally wanted to stay up all night
Yes, I didn’t expect that after two o’clock in the middle of the night, I couldn’t stand it anymore. I fell asleep sitting on the canvas folding chair. I didn’t even know when I was helped to the camp bed.
Early the next morning, the fire gradually extinguished, and the entire settlement and its surroundings were already scorched black. Dotted with ponds and streams limited the expansion of the fire.
The burned ground is scorched black and looks very miserable. But it is a good thing for reclamation. Burning wasteland not only cleans up the ground, but also kills parasites and snakes hiding in it, and also fertilizes the ground.
After the wake-up call was blown, the entire advance team gathered, and Guan Shanyue conducted the first roll call since arriving.
The result of the roll call was that all 361 members of the advance team arrived, and six were injured. This result satisfied him. It seemed that his segmented march and adequate rest had a great effect on the health of the immigrants. They arrived yesterday
Although strenuous physical labor began immediately after that, there were very few injured and injured people, and judging from the formation, everyone's morale was pretty good.
Guan Shanyue simply said a few words to encourage morale, and then ordered double rations to be distributed every day from now on - there will be a lot of hard work ahead, and it is impossible not to eat enough.
Then, the immigrants cut down two small fir trees from nearby, beat the tubes and erected them on the high hill as a flagpole. Under the watch of the cadres of the Agricultural Reclamation Unit and the soldiers from the Limiao Mountains, Guan Shanyue put a foundation stone into the flagpole.
The foundation pit below. The buglers of the Regiment Headquarters blew the bugle. Then, with the rising of the morning star flag and the farming flag, everyone sang "Rule, Senate". The Senate's first settlement in Taiwan
Click to announce the start of construction.
After the flag-raising was completed, Guan Shanyue asked the escorted Limiao Mountain platoon and the pack team to return to Sankuacuo, telling them that the road conditions were acceptable and that he would immediately start road repairs and new settlement sites. Li Dongtian was asked to arrange for the pack team to be transported as soon as possible.
The second batch of supplies arrived, and now he doesn't have much food in hand.
Under his command, the immigrants established temporary camps on the hills. The prefabricated house components they obtained had not yet been transported due to road conditions. The camps established by the immigrants were very simple, with only some tents - they used standard
A simple military tent, two pieces of tent cloth and branches can be used to build a small two-person tent. After being disassembled, the tent cloth can be used as a poncho. When necessary, it can also be used to make a stretcher or serve as a ground mat.
Around the camp, the immigrants first dug a trench, which was both a defensive facility and a drainage function. The excavated soil was used to pile up a mound, on which bamboo, wood and vines were used to make a deer village and a horse-proof structure.
A wooden watchtower.
This place has gone deep into the area where local indigenous people live. Although there seems to be no villages or fields along the road, the garrison officer of Sankuacuo once warned him that more than once he found indigenous people peeking into the village of Sankuacuo. And Li, who escorted the team, had
Miao scouts also reported that they found traces of human activities such as ashes, feces and barbecued animal bones during their searches. It can be seen that there are often indigenous activities here.
In the following days, Guan Shanyue devoted half of the advance team's labor force to the road construction project, starting from the camp and extending in the direction of Sankuacuo. At the same time, Li Dongtian led all the remaining young adults to build roads in opposite directions from the landing point.
At the same time, he also used soldiers from the Li Miao platoon to continue escorting the pack transport team to and from the two places, transporting various supplies from Sankuacuo to
The road is easier to navigate than expected, but in order to transport dozens of tons of materials to the settlement site, oxcarts must be able to pass. At present, they do not have construction machinery and rely entirely on hand tools, so they can only overcome it by investing more labor.
Guan Shanyue, the other half of the advance team's labor force, devoted all of them to fortification. After the trenches and earthen ramparts were built, only the horses were placed on the earthen ramparts. Now he plans to upgrade them into wooden walls.
The strong men cut down the neighboring woods in pieces, removed the branches and leaves, and then dragged them to the earthen ramparts with oxen. They did not fumigate or peel off the bark. They used axes to sharpen the tops of the wooden piles, and then smoked and hardened them with flames.
After that, the tree trunks were buried vertically in the soil and arranged. In order to increase the engagement between the tree trunks, horizontal braces and diagonal braces were added.
Wooden village walls are probably the most primitive fortification structures of mankind. They are found all over the world and are similar in structure. If Guan Shanyue could visit nearby indigenous villages, he would find that the walls they built are similar to his own.
Exactly the same.
The trees used to build the wall were all big trees, which made Guan Shanyue feel heartbroken - although he knew in his heart that there were plenty of trees here, and more big trees would be destroyed to open up farmland in the future, but when he saw each and every one of them,
The lush tree fell down and was turned into wooden posts for the village wall. He still felt like a "sinner".
This was also done out of necessity for safety. He secretly comforted himself that there were many trees here and they would grow back soon.
The village wall basically relies on the terrain of the high hills and stretches for about 300 meters, which is more than enough to accommodate about 800 immigrants.
The village relies on the topography of the high hills and is divided into two front and rear villages. The front village is located on the south slope of the high hill and is the largest in area. It is the main part of the village and has a village gate. The rear village is located at the highest point of the high hill, between the front and rear villages.
There is also a village wall to separate the village and connect it with a village gate. The Guan Shanyue here is prepared to be used as a team headquarters and warehouse. It is similar to the setting of "Acropolis" or "Imperial City". It can also be used as the last resort once the former village is lost.
Fortress of resistance.
In order to ensure the safety of the "Acropolis", he designed artificial cliffs and planned to use a lot of labor to steepen the slopes of the north, east and west sides of the high hill. He also planned to add a large amount of wood and bamboo to the steep slopes.
Made of thorns.
This is a long-term job. The only thing he can do now is to urge the advance team to complete the trenches, earth forts and "Acropolis" walls as soon as possible. This chapter has been completed!