Shi Lang had once served the Zheng family before defecting to the Qing. His appointment as commander-in-chief of the Qing navy came on the recommendation of Yao Qisheng, the Viceroy of Fujian, who had spent years enforcing the sea ban that slowly choked Tungning's economy. Shi Lang sailed with 21,000 men and 240 warships -- a force that outnumbered the Tungning defenders roughly three to one. His opponent was Liu Guoxuan, a veteran admiral who had already repulsed an earlier Qing assault. That first attack had been timed before a hurricane season; the storm drove Shi Lang back. After the hurricane passed, the Qing admiral regrouped and prepared to strike again, this time with Dutch-purchased cannons supplementing his fleet's firepower.

Shi Lang divided his fleet into several smaller squadrons. The main body bore down on Liu Guoxuan's defense fleet, while a small detachment swung around the battle to land directly on the island where Liu had established his base. Liu anticipated the flanking move and positioned archers and cannons on the beaches, backed by infantry. The early stages of the battle went to the Qing: their forces seized Hujing Island and Tongpan Island, establishing footholds in the archipelago. Then the main fleets collided. The Qing ships -- larger, better armed, carrying more ammunition thanks to those Dutch cannons -- smashed into Liu's formation and broke it apart. The Tungning sailors fought on, but within an hour most of their ships had sunk. The survivors continued battling hand-to-hand as ammunition ran out on both sides.

When Liu Guoxuan's flagship exhausted its ammunition, the battle was effectively over. But the end was not clean. Some Tungning ships burned for three days and nights. Many generals and soldiers, unwilling to submit to the dynasty that had overthrown the Ming, chose to drown themselves rather than surrender -- a final act of loyalty to a cause already lost. On shore, Qing soldiers had rushed the beaches under covering cannon fire, overwhelming Liu's coastal defenses and burning his island base. The Qing flag rose from the highest flagpole. Liu himself survived. He intended to take his own life, but Shi Lang stopped him. The two admirals spoke briefly about the battle before Shi Lang released his defeated counterpart.

With Penghu lost and its fleet destroyed, the Kingdom of Tungning had no means of defense. Soldiers deserted in droves. Within days, Zheng Keshuang -- grandson of Koxinga, the legendary warrior who had expelled the Dutch from Taiwan and founded the kingdom -- formally surrendered to the Qing dynasty. The Kingdom of Tungning, which had maintained Ming loyalist governance on Taiwan for over two decades, ceased to exist. Taiwan passed under Qing rule, beginning a new chapter in the island's long history of contested sovereignty. The waters around Penghu, where hundreds of ships had burned and sunk, grew quiet again. Today the archipelago is a popular tourist destination, its calm harbors and temple-dotted islands giving little hint of the carnage that once decided the fate of a kingdom.