【Introduction】
Fisher Island East Battery originally known as the East Artillery Fort of Hsiyu is located in Neian Village of Hsiyu Township in front of Dongbitou Mountain. In 1681 (the 35th year of Emperor Yongli), Lieutenant Liu Guoxuan of Zheng Jing’s (Koxinga’s son) troops built two artillery forts in Nei-an (old name Neiqian) to prevent Shi Lang’s (a general of the Qing imperial court) troops from invading the place. These were the first artillery forts built in Neiqian. The forts were renovated in 1717 (the 56th year of Emperor Kangxi, Qing Dynasty). In 1883 (the 9th year of Emperor Quangxu), Magistrate Li Jiantang annexed both Neiqian and Waiqian artillery forts. During the Sino-French War, the forts were occupied by French Admiral Amédée Courbet.
After the Sino-French War, Liu Mingchuan was sent as governor to handle the aftermath of the war, as well as artillery procurements and the constructions of forts in Taiwan and Penghu. In 1887 (the 13th Year of Emperor Guangxu), he appointed Wu Hongluo as a garrison commander to rebuild artillery forts, including those in Hsiyu. The Fisher Island East Battery was one of the four major artillery forts built in Penghu in the late Qing Dynasty. The fort was armed with three Armstrong breech-loading cannons: one 7-inch caliber, another 8-inch caliber, and the other 10-inch caliber.
The fort was built in a rectangular layout, surrounded by inner and outer walls. Two layers of arched entrances were built in the middle with the inscription “Hsiyu East Fort.” During the Sino-Japanese War, the inner entrance was destroyed in an ammunition depot explosion. In addition to the artillery positions, the fort also contained facilities such as an office building, barracks, a bunker, a small ammunitions depot, and the main ammunitions depot. Four tile-roofed cabins were also built outside the fort at its northeast corner, but none of these remain today. During the Japanese colonial period, the Japanese army built three shelters on the southeast side of the fort, and iron pillbox observation posts at the southeast and southwest corners. Today, only the pillbox at the southeast corner remains.