Lieutenant-General Nogi's southern column, consisting of 6,330 soldiers, 1,600 military coolies and 2,500 horses, landed at Fangliao on 10 October 1895.

[1] The following description of the battle was given by James W. Davidson: Two companies of infantry were also sent along the beach road, but finding none of the enemy in that direction they marched towards Ka-tong-ka.

A body of water, which nearly surrounded the village, greatly hindered the Japanese in attacking at close range, and the enemy were so well protected that it was only a waste of ammunition to fire from a distance.

At last they could bear it no longer, and with a yell of terror they threw themselves over the wall and made a mad rush for the scrub and jungle to the north.

This affair was a serious one for the Japanese, who lost 77 men (16 killed and 61 wounded) including three officers—by far the greatest loss yet sustained by them in Formosa.