When the Chinese Besieged a Dutch Star Fortress – The (Staggering) Siege of Zeelandia 1661/62

#taiwan #Zeelandia #Staggering #SiegeofZeelandia"On a misty morning in 1661, the cannons of the Chinese warlord Koxinga opened fire on Fort Zeelandia. This marked the beginning of a siege that pitched a Western star fortress against a determined, disciplined, and numerically superior Chinese army. The siege lasted almost a year and was characterized by hunger and disease, complex terrain, and spectacular firefights. The stakes were high, as Formosa, modern-day Taiwan, was one of the most important Dutch colonies in Southeast Asia, and Koxinga desperately needed a safe base from the civil war raging on the Chinese mainland. This is how modern historiography tells the story of the staggering siege of Zeelandia.