Draft:Mi Yingjun

Mi Yingjun (Chinese: 米英俊, October 1917 – 4 October 1943) was a Hui Chinese Communist revolutionary and a member of the Chinese Communist Party. A native of Shengjiazhuang, Tai'an, Shandong (now part of Feicheng), he organized a Hui armed resistance group in southern Feicheng during the Second Sino-Japanese War. His unit was later incorporated into the Eighth Route Army. He and his men were active for an extended period in the areas around Tai'an, Feicheng, and Dongping County, fighting against the Japanese occupation forces and their collaborators. Mi was wounded and died on 4 October 1943 during the fighting at Tuwushan.[1][2]

Biography

Mi Yingjun was born in October 1917 into a Hui family in Shengjiazhuang Village, Tai'an County, Shandong Province (now part of Anjiazhuang Town, Feicheng).[3]: 24  At the age of nine, he began studying at a private school in Chenjiabu and later attended Cuiying Middle School. He learned painting and playing musical instruments from an early age and was skilled in martial arts.[4] He accompanied his grandfather to two martial arts competitions in Shandong Province and won first prize on both occasions.[5] After graduating from junior middle school in 1935, he was employed as an instructor at the Tai'an County National Martial Arts Academy. Following the outbreak of the Marco Polo Bridge Incident in 1937, Mi resigned from his teaching position, returned to his hometown in Feicheng, and began promoting resistance against Japan.[2]: 193–194 

In late 1937, after Jinan and Tai'an were occupied by the Japanese army, the area around Shengjiazhuang was repeatedly subjected to Japanese raids and looting. With the assistance of the Shandong Western People's Anti-Japanese Self-Defense Corps, Mi established an 18-man Hui anti-Japanese guerrilla group. The group was poorly equipped, possessing only one Mauser pistol; most of its other weapons consisted of locally made firearms and improvised artillery.[2]: 195  In 1938, Mi led his guerrillas in successfully ambushing a Japanese military transport convoy traveling from Tai'an to Dongping in southern Feicheng. This was their first victory.[6]: 172  He subsequently operated along the roads between Bianyuan and Anjiazhuang, attacking and harassing Japanese troops and collaborationist forces, causing them to become reluctant to leave their fortified positions.[7]

As a result of these guerrilla operations, the Hui armed group rapidly expanded. In 1939, its strength reached more than 100 men, and it was formally incorporated into the Independent Regiment of the Sixth Detachment of the Eastern Advance Anti-Japanese Vanguard Column of the Eighth Route Army's 115th Division, as its Hui Company, with Mi Yingjun as company commander.[4] Mi subsequently led his troops in offensive operations in Feicheng, Jieshou, and other areas, achieving a number of victories.[7] That year, the Eastern Advance Detachment of the Eighth Route Army's 115th Division stationed troops in Shengjiazhuang, supplied the Hui Company with ammunition, and presented Mi with On Protracted War, a work by Mao Zedong.[2]: 195  In March, Mi joined the Chinese Communist Party.[8]

In the spring of 1940, the Hui Company unexpectedly encountered Japanese and collaborationist troops conducting a search operation at Momoshan. After inflicting heavy casualties on the enemy, the Hui Company pursued them, captured their strongpoint, and induced some collaborationist troops to surrender. The battle greatly enhanced the reputation of the Hui Company.[7] In 1941, collaborationist troops established a strongpoint at Sunjiazhuang. When the Eighth Route Army prepared to attack it, the Hui Company was assigned the main assault. Mi led a 30-man suicide squad from the company in an assault on the fortification. After three attacks, they finally captured the position at night.[5][2]: 195 

In October 1941, following the beginning of the Japanese Army's pacification campaign, the Eighth Route Army faced increasing difficulties in the Tai'an–Feicheng area. The Hui Company moved west of the Yellow River for training and replenishment. After 1942, it returned to the Tai'an West area. In July 1942, Communist forces attacked Japanese troops in Cangqiu Town, Dongping County. Mi led the Hui Company in a frontal assault on the southern gate of the town. After the gate was breached, Mi charged into the town and engaged Japanese and collaborationist troops in close-quarters combat, making a major contribution to the capture of Cangqiu.[3]: 24 

In October, Japanese forces launched a search operation at Momoshan. After assisting the First Company of the First Regiment of the Eighth Route Army's Eastern Advance Detachment in annihilating the Japanese troops that had gone out on the operation, the Hui Company completely destroyed the Japanese and collaborationist forces stationed at Jiangzhuang in the afternoon. In the summer of 1943, Mi was promoted to deputy commander of the Feicheng County Independent Battalion. That year, he led the battalion in capturing several Japanese and collaborationist strongpoints in succession.

On 4 October 1943, Japanese troops stationed in Changqing launched a search operation at Tuwushan in Changqing County. Mi subsequently led the Independent Battalion in blocking the Japanese advance. At the entrance to Tuwushan, he was hit and seriously wounded by a concealed Japanese machine gun and died shortly afterward at the age of 26. His remains were buried in Changqing County. A memorial service was held for him in Pingyin County in 1944. At the memorial service, the Hui Company formerly commanded by Mi, together with other Hui anti-Japanese forces under Communist leadership, were reorganized into a unit named the Mi Yingjun Hui Detachment in his memory. After the establishment of the People's Republic of China, Mi was posthumously recognized as a revolutionary martyr. In 1963, his remains were reinterred at the Mount Tai Martyrs Cemetery in Tai'an.[4][9]

Character and military leadership

Mi Yingjun was known for his courage and repeatedly took part in combat personally, including engaging Japanese troops in hand-to-hand fighting. The unit under his command was likewise known for its tenacity and courage in battle. When cooperating with other units, it often undertook the main frontal assault. Mi was particularly skilled in night operations, and his unit became known as the "Night Tiger Company" (Chinese: 夜老虎连). Its repeated capture of Japanese and collaborationist strongpoints also earned it the nickname "specialists in pulling out nails" (Chinese: 拔钉子专业队), referring to its reputation for eliminating fortified enemy positions.[2]: 196 

Mi was a Muslim.[2]: 195  A small number of Han Chinese served in his Hui Company. To prevent religious and ethnic conflicts, he prohibited the Han members of the company from eating pork. At the same time, when providing food and other support to Han Chinese soldiers in local areas, he would bring them pork to improve their living conditions. He also instructed Hui soldiers to respect Han customs and avoid conflict.[2]: 195–196 

Mi also publicly denounced the Japanese army for hanging pork at the Xijieqiancun Mosque as an insult to the Hui community, using the incident to encourage anti-Japanese sentiment among local Hui people.[4]