Interview by Samuel Hui, June 27, 2013
Family History
I was born in a Muslim family (Hui people) located at Jianshui County of Yunnan province on December 25th, 1924. My grand-grandfather was Ma Ju-long, leader of the Panthay Rebellion taken place in Yunnan between 1856 and 1873. He was later nominated as the governor of Yunnan after a truce was made between the Qing dynasty and the local Muslim.
When I was born, my father worked as a local peasant. I have an older brother and a younger brother. Additionally, I had a little sister as well. When I studied at the local elementary school at the Huilong village in Jianshui Country, we all had to learn both mandarin and Arabic because of our religion background. I entered the affiliated senior high school of the Central Political School run by the Kuomintang at Dali of Yunnan province.
During that period of time, I witnessed how Japanese bombers strafing the local population from the sky and killed my fellow countrymen. Because Dali was a very small town by that time, I could imagine how much more terrible the big cities like Kunming and Chungking were bombed. To save my nation, I decided to attend the Central Army Officer School also known as the Whampoa Military Academy.
Military Training
Under the request of General Pai Ch’ung-hsi, the deputy chief of the general staff, all Muslim students from Yunnan province were concentrated at the Kweilin (Guilin) branch of the Whampoa Military Academy. General Pai was not only the warlord in charge of Guangxi province, but a Muslim as well. In Kweilin, a Muslim cadet group was formed to separate us from the regular cadets. However, we received similar training like the other people did expect that we were not fed with pork. Also, we were allowed to do Muslim worship once a week.
At that time, we all believed in the slogan “Strengthening the religion through saving the nation”. For this reason, we considered the war of resistant as our own Jihad against the Japanese invaders just like every other Chinese. I was one of the very few Muslim soldiers who were lucky enough to defend Kweilin from the Imperial Japanese Army during the Ichigo Campaign in 1944.
Ichigo Campaign
After the Imperial Japanese Army took over Hengyang on August of 1944, our school was ordered to evacuate from Kweilin. However, two of the Muslim cadet detachments were ordered to stay behind. To prevent the Imperial Japanese Army from opening a second front at the border region between Hunan and Guangxi provinces, we were ordered to reinforce the defense of Longhu (Dragon & Tiger) Pass on May of 1944.
Equipped with the outdated Russian rifles and mortars, our weapons were not able to compete against the Imperial Japanese Army. Usually, the Japanese shell hit the ground much faster than ours. However, we defend our territory with courage and determination. The skirmish of Longhu Pass was taken place between May 18th and June 22nd. We never went into close combat with the Japanese soldiers. Still, we were able to hold our ground with the supports provided by the US 14th Air Force. The Japanese failed to open a second front from Hengyang.
On November, Kweilin was finally taken over by the Imperial Japanese Army. By that time, we were ordered to fight as guerilla forces behind the enemy line. Not until Japan surrendered, I got my chance to return to Whampoa Military Academy to complete my military education.
Chinese Civil War
After I graduated, I was assigned to the 41st Regiment, 14th Division of the New 6th Army. Then our mission was to retake Manchuria back from the Communist forces led by General Lin Biao. When we fought those Commies in small unit, we always defeated them on the battlefield. Because of my outstanding performance during the Battle of Siping in Jilin province, I was promoted from a platoon commander to company commander by my superior directly in the field. I guess I was the first and only officer of the Republic of China Army officer to receive that kind of treatment. For the others, they usually got promoted after the battle.
The Commie bastards themselves were not so scary when came face to face, but those ex-Manchukuo soldiers trained by the Japanese Kwantung Army were tough. Even though we had American weapons, those ex-Manchukuo soldiers within the Communist army were not only professional, but all taller and stronger than we southerners. The other tough enemy was the Korean Communist led by Kim Il-sung. They truly gave us hard time. To be honest, I do believe that we could win the Chinese Civil War if our leadership made correct political decision. It was a mistake for them to reject those ex-Manchukuo soldiers who wished to join the Nationalist army. Since our military leaders blamed them for being traitors, they eventually joined the People’s Liberation Army.
I also have to point out that we could defeat the Communist in Manchuria if we fought more maneuver. Because 90% of Manchuria was under the control of Lin Biao, it was impossible for us to guard all those major cities within the regions. With the support given to the People’s Liberation Army by the Soviet Union secretly, our cities were captured by the Commies one by one. For this reason, I still have to say that we lost the civil war politically not militarily. I was captured by the Commies during the Fall of Shenyang. However, I was able to escape from the POW camp and retreated to Taiwan with the government I am loyal to. If I was captured again, I would be shot to dead.
How do I feel about the war against Japan?
I think we folks from Yunnan province had played the most important roles in the history of the Republic of China. First, we launched the National Protection War against Yuan Shikai when he tried to declare himself emperor of the Chinese Empire between 1915 and 1916. Without local military leaders like Tang Chi-yao, Tsai O and Li Lie-chun from my home province, Dr. Sun Yet-sen would not be able to stop Yuan’s ambition. Second, we contributed so much to the Second Sino-Japanese War.
Not only were the soldiers of Yunnan province deployed to support the Central Army during the Battle of Tai’erzhuang in 1938, our civilians including women and children also volunteered to construct the Burma Road with all the tools they had. After the construction of the Ledo Road was completed, I remember how popular those military drivers were to the young ladies of Yunnan. Because they were able to collect money from those people taking on their rides, the drivers were actually richer than many military officers and merchants.
I do believe that Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek is a great man in our history even though he had made a lot of mistakes. By unifying the entire nation during the Northern Expedition and defeating the Japanese invaders in World War II, the Chinese people must not forget the contribution of Generalissimo.