Li Mingyang

During the Second Sino-Japanese War, Li was appointed as the Commander-in-Chief of guerilla forces in the 5th Military Region. Following the Battle of Xuzhou, he led his forces to retreat to Huaiyin. Han Deqin, then acting Chairman of the Jiangsu Provincial Government, saw Li as a threat to his control of northern Jiangsu, but was forced to accept Li under order from Li Zongren, the Commander-in-Chief of the 5th Military Region.^[6] Li Mingyang was directed to Taizhou, where he stationed his troops and recruited local armed forces.^[7] Around this time, he cooperated with the communist-led New Fourth Army on several occasions, including transportation of military supplies from Wang Jingjiu and transfer of intelligence from Nanking.^[8]

In October 1940, several armed conflicts broke out between the New Fourth Army and the 89th Army of the National Revolutionary Army under Han Deqin. During the battle, Li's troops refrained from engaging in combat, instead passively witnessed the annihilation of Han's forces. Commander of the New Fourth Army Chen Yi later remarked that had Li intervened, the New Fourth Army might have been forced to retreat across the Yangtze River.^[9] On 31 October, Li met Chen Yi and Wu Faxian in a conference held in Qutang, where he agreed to cooperate with the New Fourth Army in future battles against the Imperial Japanese Army.^[10]

In February 1941, as Japanese forces advanced toward Taizhou, Li retreated to rural area of central Jiangsu to continue guerilla campaign against the Japanese. On 6 June of the same year, Japanese military had Li surrounded in Wujiaze of Xinghua. With reinforcement from his subordinate officer Chen Zhongzhu, Li managed to break out of the encirclement.^[11] In the summer of 1943, Han Deqin withdrew from northern Jiangsu and retreated to Fuyang, Anhui. In December of the same year, Military Affairs Commission of the Nationalist government appointed Li as the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Shandong-Jiangsu Military Region.^[12]

On 28 May 1945, Li was captured by Japanese forces while traveling by boat near Tangdian Village in Taizhou. He was first taken to Yangzhou, then transferred to a Japanese military facility in Shanghai.^[2] He was eventually released in July 1945 through negotiations involving his acquaintances within the Wang Jingwei regime. Following Japanese surrender in August 1945, Li traveled to Nanjing to attend the surrender ceremony.^[13]

In early 1946, Li went to Chongqing to meet with Chiang Kai-shek. However, due to prior accusations made by Han Deqin, Li was placed under house arrest upon arrival. He was ultimately spared formal charges after intercession from prominent figures such as Li Liejun, Shao Lizi and Zhang Zhizhong.^[2]

After the war, Li left the military and served as the chairman and general manager of the Yangzi Timber Factory in Shanghai. In 1949, the acting President Li Zongren appointed him as a national policy adviser. Under the president's order, he led a delegation of the Nationalist government to Yangzhou to negotiate with the commanders of the Third Field Army Su Yu and Chen Yi. When negotiations failed to came to a resolution, Li led his troops to defect to the communist side.^[1]

Following the foundation of the People's Republic of China, Li became a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. In 1954, Li joined the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang.^[14]

On 17 November 1978, Li died of illness in Beijing.^[15]