Then, on May 2, when the main unit led by Tateki TANI and Noriyoshi AKAMATSU left Nagasaki by order of Saigo in two small warships which were got from the Edo Bakufu (Japanese feudal government headed by a shogun), the government officially approved it and on May 6, when they went ashore in southern Taiwan, they skirmished with the Taiwanese aborigines.
そして、5月2日に西郷の命を受けた谷干城・赤松則良が率いる主力軍が、江戸幕府から引き継いだ小さな軍艦2隻で長崎を出航すると政府もこれを追認、5月6日に台湾南部に上陸すると台湾先住民と小競り合いを行う。