Rise of a Lonely City: From Exiled Prince to Ruler of the Nine Provinces

When the Dutch raised the white flag at Fort Zeelandia in Tainan, signifying a major blow to their East Asian colonial endeavors, the Spanish garrison in San Salvador, Keelung, at the northern tip of Taiwan, was still immersed in a state of constant panic.

In the 17th century, the spread of information at sea was often delayed and distorted.

However, news of the Xia navy's astonishing victory over the combined fleet of the three countries in Liaoluo Bay, as well as the subsequent news of Zheng Zhilong's eastward expedition and siege of Fort Zeelandia, still reached Keelung intermittently through merchant ships, missionaries, and even pirates traveling between Taiwan and Luzon.

Initially, Captain Antonio de Carreño, the Spanish garrison commander in Keelung, was skeptical.

He could hardly imagine that the fleet they regarded as "uncivilized natives of the East" could defeat the combined fleets of the Netherlands, Portugal, and even Spain, which were equipped with strong ships and powerful cannons.

But as more and more ships brought the same news, and even rumors circulated that Dutch rule in southern Taiwan was in jeopardy, Captain Carreño and his fewer than two hundred Spanish soldiers, a few dozen missionaries, and a handful of adventurers began to feel a chill run down their spines.

They occupied the chicken coop and fresh water earlier than the Dutch, but their business was far less successful.

Keelung and Tamsui are located in northern Taiwan. They are less developed and their trade with Han Chinese immigrants and indigenous people is far less developed than that of Tainan. The climate is also more humid and rainy, and diseases such as malaria are prevalent.

The Spanish's main purpose here was not large-scale colonization and trade, but to serve as a transit point and supply point connecting Luzon in the Philippines with Japan and mainland China, while also spreading Catholicism and guarding against the Dutch in the north.

Therefore, the strongholds of Keelung and Tamsui were much smaller in scale than Fort Zeelandia, with fewer troops stationed and relatively weak defenses.

San Salvador was merely a simple wooden and stone fortress with a garrison of only a hundred or so soldiers; the city of Santo Domingo, located in freshwater, was even smaller.

"Sir, breaking news!"

A soldier rushed into his superior's office in a panic, clutching a crumpled letter. "It was bought at a high price from a Fujian merchant ship... They said Fort Zeelandia... Fort Zeelandia has fallen! The Dutch governor has surrendered! Those Xia people are in Tainan counting their spoils and issuing proclamations to reassure the people!"

"What?!" Captain Carreno jumped up from his chair and snatched the letter.

Although his Chinese reading ability was limited, he could understand the meaning of the letter by combining the ship owner's description and some key Chinese characters. His face turned pale instantly, and his hand holding the letter trembled slightly.

Fort Zeelandia… that Dutch fortress, more than ten times stronger than San Salvador, fell in such a short time? Just how terrifying is Zheng Zhilong's power?

"God..." Carreño slumped back into his chair, his back instantly soaked with cold sweat.

He could almost see the terrifying Eastern fleet that had destroyed the Dutch fleet, its black sails billowing, slowly sailing toward Keelung Harbor.

"We must call Manila for help immediately!" he shouted as if grasping at a straw.

"Sir," the adjutant said with a bitter face, "the last batch of small boats sent to Manila to request reinforcements and supplies has been gone for almost a month, and there's still no news... Moreover, even if Manila immediately sends reinforcements, bypassing northern Luzon, crossing the Bashi Channel, and then heading north along the east coast of Taiwan... it would take at least a month, or even longer. Besides, Manila is probably currently preoccupied with the failure at Liaoluo Bay and the potential threat from Xia Kingdom, so they might not be able to send reinforcements..."

A deathly silence fell over the council chamber. Everyone understood the adjutant's meaning: they had been abandoned, at least for the time being. With their pitiful forces in Keelung and Danshui, trying to resist the Xia army capable of breaching Zeelandia was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot.

"Then what do we do? Fight to the last man like the Dutch, and then surrender?" an officer asked desperately.

"Surrender? Perhaps that's an option..." Carreno's eyes flickered as he struggled internally.

For a soldier of the Spanish Empire, surrendering without a fight was a great disgrace.

On the other hand, he had to be responsible for the lives of his hundred or so men.

Moreover, judging from the news brought by those merchant ships, the Xia army seemed to have kept its promise to the surrendered Dutch, allowing them to leave safely.

"Strengthen vigilance! The police station has established lookout posts to monitor the sea day and night! At the same time... take inventory of supplies, pack important documents and valuables, and prepare for... be ready to evacuate at any time."

Carreño ultimately made a contradictory and helpless decision. He dared not easily surrender, but he also had neither the courage nor the means to hold out to the bitter end.

The Spanish outposts in Keelung and Danshui endured another half month of escalating fear and wishful thinking. Until that day—

"Ships! So many ships! From the south!" A sentry on a watchtower in San Salvador sounded a piercing alarm.

Carreño rushed up the city wall and raised his monocular telescope to look out over the southern sea.

Where the azure sea meets the sky, a sail is slowly growing larger.

Leading the way were several long, slender, and fast speedboats.

Then came even more gray-blue warships he had never seen before, their sails like a forest, reflecting a cold, hard luster in the sunlight.

Beyond that were countless large and small Fujian-style ships and bird-shaped boats...

"It's Zheng...it's the Xia Kingdom's fleet!" Carreno's heart sank to the bottom, and his last shred of hope vanished. The scale and the force of their attack were far beyond their ability to withstand.

"Sir! On land! There are troops on land too!" another sentry shouted in terror, pointing to the mountains south of Keelung Harbor.

Dust billowed along the mountain road, and crimson flags were faintly visible—the battle flags of the Great Xia Army! A sizable land division was advancing along the coastal road toward Keelung!

This was the detachment sent by Zheng Zhilong. After a brief rest in Tainan, they landed in central Taiwan by boat, then marched north along the west coast to clear out and pacify the enemy, and finally joined forces with the fleet that was heading north from the sea at Keelung.

Advancing by both land and sea, the army was at the city gates. Zheng Zhilong gave the Spanish no chance to breathe or hesitate.

"God...they're here...they're really here..." Carreno murmured to himself, the binoculars slipping from his trembling hands.

He knew that the moment of decision had arrived, or rather, he had no choice at all.

Zheng Zhilong stood at the bow of the "Qinglong" ship, observing Keelung Harbor and the somewhat shabby city of San Salvador through binoculars.

Compared to the majestic Fort Zeelandia, this Spanish fortress looks like an enlarged outpost.

"My lord, should I lead my troops ashore and take this city in one fell swoop?" Gan Hui volunteered from the side.

Zheng Zhilong lowered his binoculars and shook his head slightly: "The Dutch have been building this for many years, and it's a well-fortified city with powerful cannons, yet it still fell in a single battle. Why bother with such a small fortress? Order the fleet to bombard its harbor forts and destroy its defenses. Also, send an envoy ashore in a small boat to deliver a message to the Spanish commander."

"Deliver a message?"

"Hmm. Tell them the Dutch have surrendered, and the entire island of Taiwan has fallen to Great Xia. Order them to follow the Dutch example, surrender immediately, and hand over all weapons and supplies. I will allow them to take their personal belongings and return safely to Manila by ship. You have one hour. If they do not surrender by then, after the city falls, not a single chicken or dog will be spared, and their commander's head will be hung on the mast!"

Zheng Zhilong's tone was calm, yet carried an undeniable air of ruthlessness. This was both an ultimatum and a psychological offensive. It was enough to deal with these already terrified and isolated Spaniards.

The bombardment began quickly. Several modern warships of the Great Xia Dynasty approached the harbor and unleashed several salvos of broadside guns at the few coastal fortifications of San Salvador. The fortifications' counterattack was weak and ineffective, and they were quickly suppressed and destroyed.

Meanwhile, a small boat carrying a white flag and a strongly worded letter from Zheng Zhilong docked at the makeshift pier in Keelung.

Captain Carreno read the letter with trembling hands.

The letter was much the same as the ultimatum to the Dutch, but the threat of "hanging the head of their superior on the mast" sent chills down his spine.

He looked around and saw that his soldiers were all ashen-faced and his officers were avoiding eye contact; no one dared to speak of war.

"We...we have fewer than two hundred men, our cannons are outdated...and our castle is not even as sturdy as the Dutch's..."

The adjutant whispered, "The reinforcements from Manila... I'm afraid they'll never come."

"Sir, surrender... at least you can live." Another officer murmured.

Carreño closed his eyes.

He knew that resistance was pointless and would only lead to everyone's needless deaths.

The honor of the Spanish Empire? It seemed so pale and powerless in the face of survival.

Moreover, even the Dutch have surrendered, so what reason do they have to hold out to the bitter end?

An hour passed slowly in the deathly silence and under immense psychological pressure.

As the sun rose directly overhead, at the very last moment before the deadline, the simple wooden door of San Salvador creaked open.

A white flag was stretched out weakly, swaying from side to side.

There was no fierce fighting, no heroic resistance.

After learning of the Dutch defeat and the fall of Fort Zeelandia, and witnessing the overwhelming force of the Xia army by land and sea, and feeling the devastating threat of artillery fire, the Spanish garrison in Keelung and Tamsui, after a symbolic hour of "consideration," ultimately chose to surrender without a fight.

Captain Carreño led his less than two hundred men out of San Salvador, dejected. Upon hearing the news, the garrison of Santo Domingo in Tamsui also quickly raised a white flag.

Zheng Zhilong kept his promise.

He sent men to take possession of the two castles and their meager supplies, allowed the Spanish to keep their personal belongings, and provided them with a few dilapidated but still navigable ships to return to Manila on their own.

Zheng Zhilong demonstrated the "tolerance" of a victor to these insignificant and powerless Spaniards—this not only saved manpower and avoided unnecessary casualties, but also, to some extent, showed other Western powers that Daxia was not indiscriminately bloodthirsty and that there was still a way to survive as long as resistance was abandoned.

With the last Spanish ships disappearing into the northern sea, Spain's brief colonization of northern Taiwan came to an end.

From seizing Tainan from the Dutch to forcing the Spanish to abandon Taipei, Zheng Zhilong's Great Xia Expeditionary Army, in less than two months, swiftly and decisively eliminated the Western colonial forces entrenched on the island of Taiwan.

The dragon flag of Daxia was raised successively from Maobitou, the southernmost point of Taiwan Island, to Fugui Cape, the northernmost point.

When the news reached Nanjing, it once again shook the court and the public.

Upon hearing the news, Emperor Xiao Chen was overjoyed and issued an edict to commend the soldiers who led the eastern expedition. He also ordered Zheng Zhilong to remain in Taiwan temporarily to pacify the region, establish official positions, and promote land reclamation and immigration to consolidate the hard-won victory.

Taiwan, this beautiful island, after nearly forty years of covetousness and partial occupation by foreign colonizers, has finally returned to the embrace of Chinese civilization in its entirety.

For the ambitious Great Xia Empire, whose ambitions extended to the seas, its return was far more than just a mark on a map; it was an unsinkable "sea battleship," a strategic foothold facing the vast Pacific Ocean. The empire's maritime dreams now had a solid and expansive stage.