【Introduction】
The Gongbei Fort of Huxi, originally known as Dacheng North Artillery Fort, is located atop Gongbei Mountain, previously known as Dacheng Mountain.The fort was built in 1875 and known by the French as "Fortin de Tao-Xa-Pa." When French Admiral Amédée Courbet occupied Penghu in 1885, he blew up the stone fort and destroyed its ammunitions depot. Following the Sino-French War, Liu Mingchuan was sent as governor to handle the aftermath of the war as well as handle artillery procurements and the construction of forts in Taiwan and Penghu. He appointed garrison commander Wu Hongluo to rebuild Chinkuitou, Hsiyu East, Hsiiyu West, and Dacheng North forts in 1887. As one of the four forts built at the time, the Dacheng North Artillery Fort was armed with three 6-inch, 7-inch, and 8-inch caliber Armstrong breech-loading cannons.
The fort was built in a rectangular fashion and surrounded by inner and outer walls. Two arched hallway entrances were built in the middle. In addition to the artillery positioning and bunkers, the fort also contained a domed command post, large barracks, main ammunitions depot, small ammunitions depot, and a square pool. During the Sino-Japanese War, the fort was completely obliterated, and only its ruins remain today. When the Japanese set up defensive positions in Penghu, they rebuilt the fort on the mountaintop and expanded its scale by adding military facilities: the First and Second Artillery Forts of Gongbei Mountain, the Gongbei Mountain Blockhouse, and the Gongbei Mountain Bunker. All of these still remain standing today.