Lincuo Anti-Airborne Fortifications South Section

Dàdù Plateau (大肚台地) is a geographic feature of great strategic importance to the defense of central Taiwan. It overlooks the coastal Qingshui Plain (清水平原) and occupies high ground on the westernmost edge of the Taichung Basin (台中盆地), home to the majority of the population of Taichung, the third most populous metropolitan area in the nation. The entire length of the plateau is peppered with military facilities from the massive Ching Chuan Kang Air Base (空軍清泉崗基地) in the north to Chénggōng Ridge (成功嶺) down south. In between one will find dozens of abandoned or disused bunkers, gun towers, and artillery emplacements. This entry focuses on a cluster of five anti-airborne fortifications located in the central part of the plateau around Taichung Metropolitan Park (台中都會公園) in Xitun.

Date Captured July 23, 2016 at 09:30 UTC Camera NIKON D3100 Lens AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II Aperture ƒ / 9 Shutter Speed 1/320 sec Focal Length 18.0 mm ISO 200 Exposure Value 14.7  EV Original Size 3600 × 2400

You may be wondering: what exactly is an “anti-airborne fort” anyway? At first I thought this phrase might be a faulty translation¹ but no, these fortifications were designed specifically to repel aerial assault by paratroopers. Each of the post-war fortifications is a cylindrical reinforced concrete blockhouse, roughly ten metres across and six to nine metres tall, with rectangular firing ports cut into the walls. Inside there are three levels (not including the open rooftop) plus a bunker down below. Each tower is accessed via two camouflaged entrances hidden in the surrounding foliage and linked by underground tunnels in the event of heavy bombardment. Nine fortifications of this style were commissioned by the Ministry of National Defense in 1977 to suppress airborne landings on the central Dadu Plateau², five of which are located in a cluster further north in Daya.

Date Captured July 23, 2016 at 09:26 UTC Camera NIKON D3100 Lens AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II Aperture ƒ / 10 Shutter Speed 1/400 sec Focal Length 18.0 mm ISO 200 Exposure Value 15.3  EV Original Size 3600 × 2400

Date Captured July 23, 2016 at 09:24 UTC Camera NIKON D3100 Lens AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II Aperture ƒ / 8 Shutter Speed 1/250 sec Focal Length 18.0 mm ISO 200 Exposure Value 14.0  EV Original Size 3600 × 2400

Date Captured July 23, 2016 at 09:27 UTC Camera NIKON D3100 Lens AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II Aperture ƒ / 3.5 Shutter Speed 1/50 sec Focal Length 18.0 mm ISO 200 Exposure Value 9.3  EV Original Size 3600 × 2400

First on the list is the No. 1 Anti-Airborne Fort (一號反空降堡). Much like the No. 7 fortification this one faces out toward the sea and is surrounded by ruddy ochre soil. Access to the interior seems possible but it was getting late into the afternoon and I didn’t bother after seeing various multi-legged critters scurry off into the darkness after I cracked the door open.

Date Captured July 23, 2016 at 08:21 UTC Camera NIKON D3100 Lens AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II Aperture ƒ / 9 Shutter Speed 1/320 sec Focal Length 20.0 mm ISO 200 Exposure Value 14.7  EV Original Size 3600 × 2400

Date Captured July 23, 2016 at 08:23 UTC Camera NIKON D3100 Lens AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II Aperture ƒ / 5.6 Shutter Speed 1/125 sec Focal Length 20.0 mm ISO 200 Exposure Value 11.9  EV Original Size 3600 × 2400

The second anti-airborne fort is somewhat harder to locate given that it is isn’t visible from the roadside, nor is it within nearby Taichung Metropolitan Park, though that may change. After bushwhacking through the wilderness I was surprised to find a team of workers cutting the grass and cleaning out the interior of the fort. I wasn’t able to understand exactly what was going on but I left with the impression that the city is tidying up this fort to prepare it for something, the obvious thing being an expansion of the park. I briefly entered the bunker beneath the tower to poke around after receiving permission from the foreman and left with smiles all around.

Date Captured July 23, 2016 at 08:54 UTC Camera NIKON D3100 Lens AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II Aperture ƒ / 9 Shutter Speed 1/320 sec Focal Length 18.0 mm ISO 200 Exposure Value 14.7  EV Original Size 3600 × 2400

Date Captured July 23, 2016 at 08:54 UTC Camera NIKON D3100 Lens AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II Aperture ƒ / 6.3 Shutter Speed 1/160 sec Focal Length 26.0 mm ISO 200 Exposure Value 12.6  EV Original Size 3600 × 2400

Head a little further north and you’ll arrive at the expansive Taichung Metropolitan Park (臺中都會公園), a popular weekend getaway for residents of the sprawling city. Two anti-airborne fortifications can be found here, both of them completely sealed from the outside, but still interesting to see. I particularly like the No. 3 Anti-Airborne Fort; it’s completely overgrown with vines! Puzzling out where these are shouldn’t be tough; there’s one apiece on each side of the park.

Date Captured July 23, 2016 at 09:12 UTC Camera NIKON D3100 Lens AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II Aperture ƒ / 9 Shutter Speed 1/320 sec Focal Length 22.0 mm ISO 200 Exposure Value 14.7  EV Original Size 3600 × 2400

Last on the list is a Japanese colonial era gun tower from World War 2, one of only two remaining on the Dadu Plateau³. Much like the lone gun tower at Taichū Airfield this one was designated a historic site in 2006 but nothing has been done to make it accessible to the public⁴. It is officially known as the Japanese Army 3102 Highland Gun Tower (原日軍3102高地機槍堡), so named for it being at precisely 310.2 meters elevation, or simply the World War 2 No. 5 Bunker (二次大戰五號碉堡). The number “5” was assigned to the gun tower when the ROC incorporated it into the new anti-airborne network in 1977 and I speculate they continued to station troops here into at least the late 1980s. Finding this particular tower is a bit tricky as it is heavily overgrown—but if you scan the roadside just north of the park you should be able to pick it out.

Date Captured July 23, 2016 at 08:42 UTC Camera NIKON D3100 Lens AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II Aperture ƒ / 5 Shutter Speed 1/100 sec Focal Length 18.0 mm ISO 200 Exposure Value 11.3  EV Original Size 3600 × 2400

The next several gun towers are all located immediately to the north; continue the exploration in the next entry from neighboring Daya, Taichung.

Footnotes

1. The wonderful thing about English is how easy it is to dream up new terminology. Even so, it wouldn’t surprise me if there were a better phrase to describe this particular kind of military fortification. Perhaps blockhouse would be more accurate? For now I’m just going with what I saw on a plaque outside one of the other fortifications nearby since it seems most descriptive. ↩

2. This post features a taxonomy of Japanese and ROC fortifications in the region. ↩

3. The other Japanese gun tower is located further south at Wanggaoliao. ↩

4. An amusing aside: while I was clambering around on the embankment next to the road to snap a photo a Taiwanese man walked up and asked what I was doing. At first I wasn’t sure if he was an off-duty guard from the nearby base or something but no, he was just out for a stroll and had no idea what the mysterious structure in the jungle was all about. So there I was, giving a brief lecture about Japanese military history in Taiwan to a local in lieu of there being any sort of informational plaque posted nearby. ↩