Yang Jingyu
Encyclopedia
Commander-in-Chief
A commander-in-chief is the commander of a nation's military forces or significant element of those forces. In the latter case, the force element may be defined as those forces within a particular region or those forces which are associated by function. As a practical term it refers to the military...
and political commissar
Political commissar
The political commissar is the supervisory political officer responsible for the political education and organisation, and loyalty to the government of the military...
of the New First Army of the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army
Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army
The Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army was an anti-Japanese guerrilla army in the Northeast part of China after the occupation of Manchuria by Japan in 1931. It was organized by the Manchuria branches of the Chinese Communist Party . However, it lost direct contact with the CCP headquarter in...
, in the guerrilla war in Manchuria
Manchuria
Manchuria is a historical name given to a large geographic region in northeast Asia. Depending on the definition of its extent, Manchuria usually falls entirely within the People's Republic of China, or is sometimes divided between China and Russia. The region is commonly referred to as Northeast...
against the Japanese campaign to pacify Manchukuo
Pacification of Manchukuo
The Pacification of Manchukuo, was a campaign to pacify the resistance to the newly established puppet state of Manchukuo between the Anti-Japanese Volunteer Armies of Manchuria and later the Communist Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army and the Imperial Japanese Army and the forces of the...
during the Second Sino-Japanese War
Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany , the Soviet Union and the United States...
.
Background
Yang joined the Chinese Communist Youth LeagueCommunist Youth League
The Communist Youth League of China also known as the China Youth League is a youth movement of the People's Republic of China for youth between the ages of fourteen and twenty-eight, run by Communist Party of China. The league is organized on the party pattern. Its leader is its First Secretary...
in his home town in 1926, and joined the Communist Party of China
Communist Party of China
The Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China...
in 1927. After the Autumn Harvest Uprising
Autumn Harvest Uprising
The Autumn Harvest Uprising was an insurrection that took place in Hunan province and Jiangxi province, China on September 7, 1927, led by Mao Zedong, who established a short-lived Hunan Soviet....
he organized local farmers in Queshan into a Revolutionary Armed Force unit. Later he did other underground work in Kaifeng
Kaifeng
Kaifeng , known previously by several names , is a prefecture-level city in east-central Henan province, Central China. Nearly 5 million people live in the metropolitan area...
and Luoyang
Luoyang
Luoyang is a prefecture-level city in western Henan province of Central China. It borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the southeast, Nanyang to the south, Sanmenxia to the west, Jiyuan to the north, and Jiaozuo to the northeast.Situated on the central plain of...
.
In 1929, he was sent to northeast China
Northeast China
Northeast China, historically known in English as Manchuria, is a geographical region of China, consisting of the three provinces of Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang. The region is sometimes called the Three Northeast Provinces...
, where he held the post of Communist Party of China Fushun
Fushun
Fushun is a city in Liaoning, China, about 45 km east from Shenyang, with a population about 2,138 090 inhabitants at the 2010 census and an area of 11,271 km2, including 713 km2 of the city proper. Fushun is situated on the Hun He . It was formerly called Fouchouen in French...
special branch
Special Branch
Special Branch is a label customarily used to identify units responsible for matters of national security in British and Commonwealth police forces, as well as in the Royal Thai Police...
secretary. Imprisoned by the regime of Zhang Xueliang
Zhang Xueliang
Zhang Xueliang or Chang Hsüeh-liang , occasionally called Peter Hsueh Liang Chang in English, nicknamed the Young Marshal , was the effective ruler of Manchuria and much of North China after the assassination of his father, Zhang Zuolin, by the Japanese on 4 June 1928...
, he was rescued during the chaos following the Mukden Incident
Mukden Incident
The Mukden Incident, also known as the Manchurian Incident, was a staged event that was engineered by Japanese military personnel as a pretext for invading the northern part of China known as Manchuria in 1931....
. After the rescue from prison, he successively held the offices of Harbin district party committee secretary, municipal party committee secretary, and Manchurian Acting provincial party committee secretary of the Central Military Commission.
In 1932, he set up the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army 32nd Army as a guerrilla force, and Shixian county in Jilin
Jilin
Jilin , is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the northeastern part of the country. Jilin borders North Korea and Russia to the east, Heilongjiang to the north, Liaoning to the south, and Inner Mongolia to the west...
province as his guerrilla base.
In September, 1933 he was appointed commander-in-chief and political commissar of the Independent Division of the First Army of the Northeastern People's Revolutionary Army
Northeastern People's Revolutionary Army
After the Empire of Japan invaded and occupied the Northeast in 1931, the Chinese Communist Party organized small anti-Japanese guerrilla units, and formed their own Northeastern People's Revolutionary Army, dedicated to social revolution, but these were dwarfed by the Anti-Japanese Volunteer...
. In 1934, the Independent Division became the First Army of the Northeast People's Revolutionary Army, with Yang as commander-in-chief of the army and the Anti-Japanese United Front Army Headquarters.
In February 1936, Yang was appointed Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army First Army commander and political commissar, in June he was appointed Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army First Route Army commander-in-chief concurrently political commissar. Zhou Baozhong
Zhou Baozhong
Zhou Baozhong was a commander of the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army resisting the pacification of Manchukuo by the Empire of Japan....
commanded the 2nd Route Army, and Li Zhaolin
Li Zhaolin
Li Zhaolin 李兆麟 , known earlier as Li Chaolan 李超兰, was the founder and leader of the 3rd Route Army, a division of the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army in the Second Sino-Japanese War....
the 3rd Route Army. This army was open to all who wanted to resist the Japanese invasion and proclaimed its willingness to ally with all other anti-Japanese forces. This policy won over some of the shanlin
Shanlin
The term shanlin 山林 means literally "mountain and forest" in Chinese and was frequently used to describe bandits in Manchuria from the time of the Qing dynasty, because they knew the local wooded and mountainous terrain very well. Most operated in a fairly small district and took pains to maintain...
bands, including former National Salvation Army
Anti-Japanese Volunteer Armies
After the Japanese invasion of Manchuria, and until 1933, large volunteer armies waged war against Japanese and Manchukuo forces over much of Northeast China....
units. After the Marco Polo Bridge Incident
Marco Polo Bridge Incident
The Marco Polo Bridge Incident was a battle between the Republic of China's National Revolutionary Army and the Imperial Japanese Army, often used as the marker for the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War .The eleven-arch granite bridge, Lugouqiao, is an architecturally significant structure,...
a number of Manchukuoan troops deserted to the Anti-Japanese Army.
Resistance
The Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army conducted a protracted campaign which threatened the stability of the Manchukuo regime, especially during 1936 and 1937. By the beginning of 1937 it comprised eleven corps in three armies, estimated by the Japanese to be about 20,000 men. Lacking the troops and materielMateriel
Materiel is a term used in English to refer to the equipment and supplies in military and commercial supply chain management....
to conduct full-scale conventional warfare
Conventional warfare
Conventional warfare is a form of warfare conducted byusing conventional military weapons and battlefield tactics between two or more states in open confrontation. The forces on each side are well-defined, and fight using weapons that primarily target the opposing army...
, the army's strategies were primarily to form pockets of resistance in occupied areas to harass the Japanese troops and undermine their attempts at administration, and to put up small attacks to divert resources from Japan's advance into China or against the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
after the border clashes of Chengkufeng (1938) and Battle of Khalkhin Gol
Battle of Khalkhin Gol
The Battles of Khalkhyn Gol was the decisive engagement of the undeclared Soviet–Japanese Border Wars fought among the Soviet Union, Mongolia and the Empire of Japan in 1939. The conflict was named after the river Khalkhyn Gol, which passes through the battlefield...
(1939).
Yang twice commanded western marches that threatened Japanese lines of communication
Lines of Communication
"Lines of Communication" is an episode from the fourth season of the science-fiction television series Babylon 5.-Synopsis:Franklin and Marcus attempt to persuade the Mars resistance to assist Sheridan in opposing President Clark...
to Tieling
Tieling
Tieling is a prefecture-level city in Liaoning province of the People's Republic of China.The population is 3 million at the 2nd of 2004. Tieling is a city where coal mining is an important industry.The mayor of Tieling is Li Wenke...
and Fushun
Fushun
Fushun is a city in Liaoning, China, about 45 km east from Shenyang, with a population about 2,138 090 inhabitants at the 2010 census and an area of 11,271 km2, including 713 km2 of the city proper. Fushun is situated on the Hun He . It was formerly called Fouchouen in French...
in Liaoning
Liaoning
' is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the northeast of the country. Its one-character abbreviation is "辽" , a name taken from the Liao River that flows through the province. "Níng" means "peace"...
Province. From the latter half of 1938, Japan concentrated large numbers of its troops in Manchukuo with the mission of encircling Yang's army and placed a 10,000-yuan bounty
Bounty (reward)
A bounty is a payment or reward often offered by a group as an incentive for the accomplishment of a task by someone usually not associated with the group. Bounties are most commonly issued for the capture or retrieval of a person or object. They are typically in the form of money...
on his head. By September 1938, the Japanese estimated that the Anti-Japanese Army was down to 10,000 men.
By 1940, the war was stalemate
Stalemate
Stalemate is a situation in chess where the player whose turn it is to move is not in check but has no legal moves. A stalemate ends the game in a draw. Stalemate is covered in the rules of chess....
d although Japan held most of the Manchurian coastal areas and the open country
Open Country
Open Country is a designation used for some UK access land.It was first defined under the 1949 National Parks Act , and was land over which an appropriate access agreement had been made...
along the railroads, small forces of Chinese guerrillas fought doggedly on from the mountains and woodlands. The Kwantung Army then brought reinforcements into the northeast with a plan for "maintaining order and mopping up anti-Japanese elements". They cut off the supply lines
Military Supply Chain Management
Military supply chain management is a cross-functional approach to procuring, producing and delivering products and services. The broad management scope includes sub-suppliers, suppliers, internal information and funds flow.-Supply:...
to the troops of the United Front, the Chinese soldiers persevered, frequently launching attacks that compelled the enemy to divert its main force from punitive expeditions against the Chinese forces.
Last stand
Yang led more than 40 engagements in Jilin Province, despite critically lacking supplies and being closely encircled by the Japanese in January to mid-February 1940. He at last organized the army to disperse into small units and break out of the encirclement. It is said that his detachment of 60 people was betrayed by a staff officer to the Japanese on February 18. After the last two soldiers at his side was KIAKilled in action
Killed in action is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their own forces at the hands of hostile forces. The United States Department of Defense, for example, says that those declared KIA need not have fired their weapons but have been killed due to...
, Yang continued fighting alone, starving and worned, for another 5 days. He was eventually cornered in a small forest in the Haojiang County (蒙江县), and was killed during a fierce firefight by multiple shots from machineguns. It was reported that the Japanese troops dared not to approach Yang's body for a long time after his death.
Unable to understand Yang's source of perseverance (Yang had not eaten for over 6 days), the Japanese ordered an autopsy
Autopsy
An autopsy—also known as a post-mortem examination, necropsy , autopsia cadaverum, or obduction—is a highly specialized surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse to determine the cause and manner of death and to evaluate any disease or injury that may be present...
after cutting off and preserving Yang's head. When they cut open Yang's stomach, they found only tree bark, cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
batting
Batting (material)
Batting is a layer of insulation used in quilting between a top layer of patchwork and a bottom layer of backing material. Batting is usually made of cotton, polyester, and/or wool....
and grass
Grass
Grasses, or more technically graminoids, are monocotyledonous, usually herbaceous plants with narrow leaves growing from the base. They include the "true grasses", of the Poaceae family, as well as the sedges and the rushes . The true grasses include cereals, bamboo and the grasses of lawns ...
root
Root
In vascular plants, the root is the organ of a plant that typically lies below the surface of the soil. This is not always the case, however, since a root can also be aerial or aerating . Furthermore, a stem normally occurring below ground is not exceptional either...
s within — not a single grain of rice
Rice
Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...
. It was said that the Japanese commander at the scene, Ryuichiro Kishitani (岸谷隆一郎), was so shocked at the revelation that he "went silent, and appeared aged a lot within the next day". Kishitani committed seppuku
Seppuku
is a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment. Seppuku was originally reserved only for samurai. Part of the samurai bushido honor code, seppuku was either used voluntarily by samurai to die with honor rather than fall into the hands of their enemies , or as a form of capital punishment...
after Japan's defeat, but wrote in his will
Will (law)
A will or testament is a legal declaration by which a person, the testator, names one or more persons to manage his/her estate and provides for the transfer of his/her property at death...
that "His Majesty
Hirohito
, posthumously in Japan officially called Emperor Shōwa or , was the 124th Emperor of Japan according to the traditional order, reigning from December 25, 1926, until his death in 1989. Although better known outside of Japan by his personal name Hirohito, in Japan he is now referred to...
might be wrong in launching this war
Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany , the Soviet Union and the United States...
. China has steely soldiers like Yang Jingyu, and it would not fall."
After Yang's death
The Japanese initially buried Yang's beheaded body carelessly in the wild. It was then rumored that the Japanese commander-in-chief in the area, General Shōtoku Nozoe (野副昌德), was having nightmares and feared that it was Yang's ghost. Panicked, Kishitani ordered his men to rebury the body properly with full cemetery ritual and military respect, honoring Yang — though an enemy — "a true warrior".Yang's death was a great blow to his remaining troops, who turned their sorrow into anger. Over the next few months, Japanese forces reported increasing attacks by "fierce, mad insurgents".
After the end of the Second World War, Yang's severed head was recovered by the People's Republic of China, rejoined to his body and reburied with full military honor. The Haojiang County was also renamed to Jingyu County in his memory. Many traitors who betrayed Yang and contributed to his death was tracked down and executed.
External links
- Yang Jingyu
- 杨靖宇 Chinese Wikipedia biography with photo
- A Look Back: The Anti Japanese War
- The volunteer armies of northeast China