Waian Jiapao (Waian Bait Cannon) Introduction
Located in the western highlands of Wai'an, "Xipuding" was built during the Japanese colonial period and has been preserved to this day. According to the "Penghu Island Fortress Construction Guidelines" from 1920 (Taisho 9), a battery was originally planned to be set up at Wai'an to resist potential naval invasions from the west and south of Magong Harbour. It was planned to install two 35 cm caliber cannons in a turret form and allocate 200 rounds of ammunition, which were large coastal defense guns of the time. However, after construction began in 1921, the signing of the "Washington Naval Treaty" in 1922 by the five major maritime powers (the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, France, and Italy) limited the expansion of new fortresses and coastal defenses. This led to the forced suspension of the Wai'an battery. In 1923, the Japanese Army ordered the Army Fortification Department to build a dummy turret at the original site and designated the surrounding area as a fortress zone, attempting to mislead the outside world into believing that this location was already completed before the treaty restrictions as a defensive fortification, with plans to later replace the dummy turret with a real one when the opportunity arose. However, with the rapid development of aerial combat capabilities among countries, the fixed turret, which was vulnerable to air attacks, became an outdated design. Consequently, coastal artillery on Penghu Island transitioned to the deployment of multiple mobile artillery pieces, so the dummy turret here was never "realized." During World War II, it was also not listed as a priority target for airstrikes by the United States Army and Navy, thus preserving it by chance to this day, becoming one of the symbols witnessing the military history of Penghu. Source: Penghu Travel, Modern Fortress Construction History, Volume 2, Volume 10, "Penghu Island Fortress Construction Guidelines (August 19, Taisho 9)" by the General Staff Headquarters, Quarterly "Lao Gu Shi" Issue 93 of the Cultural Affairs Bureau of Penghu County, "Dummy Bait -- The Misunderstood Wai'an Dummy Cannon and Wude Dummy Cannon of Penghu" 【Recommended stay time】 0.5 hours.
Viewing platform overlooking Wai'an bait cannon
