After the September 18th Incident broke out, Northeastern University went into exile in Beiping. At the head of the national disaster, the great rivers and mountains in Northeast China were occupied by Japanese imperialism. In addition to attending classes, Miao Kexiu often went to fight against Japan and save the nation, and participated in the activities of the Northeast People's Anti-Japanese and National Salvation Association. Miao Kexiu and others also organized the Northeast Student Army among the students of Northeastern University. Miao Kexiu served as the commander of the student army, mainly conducting military training and preparing to return to the Northeast to organize the Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army.
1932 In May, after taking the graduation examination of Northeastern University, Miao Kexiu resolutely returned to the Northeast to join the Volunteers and embarked on an anti-Japanese journey. During his four-year anti-Japanese career, Miao Kexiu successively served as the chief staff officer and commander of the Northeast People's Anti-Japanese Self-Defense Force, the director of education in the Anti-Japanese Military Academy, the commander-in-chief of the China Young Iron Blood Army, and the commander of the Northeast People's Volunteers. In the harsh environment, he made great contributions to the victory of the Anti-Japanese War and caused great impact on the enemy. The Japanese invaders hated Miao Kexiu's guts and posted a notice offering a reward of $1000000 to capture Miao Kexiu.
1935, Miao Kexiu was unfortunately arrested for being shot in the hip when he was at war with the Japanese army in Yangjiaogou, Shaozihe, Xiuyan, Liaoning. In dealing with him, the Japanese army used the important positions of the Japanese army in Liaodong Garrison as bait to persuade him to surrender, but he insisted that he refused. There was nothing the Japanese could do, so it was convenient for them to kill Miao Kexiu, who was only 29 years old, at the foot of Fenghuang Mountain in Dandong on July 25th, 1935.
While in prison, Miao Kexiu knew that if he was caught, he would die. He wrote letters to teachers, classmates and friends to express his revolutionary determination. In a letter to Wang Zhuoran, a teacher of Northeastern University and an anti-Japanese patriot, he asked the teacher to adopt his wife and children who had disappeared in exile and named his son Miao. The letter wrote: "As the old saying goes, generosity is easy to die, but calmness is hard to die." Both kinds of outlook on life are very pleasant to listen to, first of all, we should look at their true meaning. "In the letter, with warm feelings and touching language, I expressed the awe-inspiring meaning of death.
Miao Kexiu also wrote farewell suicide notes for his good friends Zhang Yaxuan and Song Li, earnestly encouraging them to say, "Brother should be correct in thinking and great in spirit, and don't forget that we are the masters of the new China and the reconstruction of mountains and rivers". The suicide note is full of integrity, showing a young intellectual's great patriotic feelings and determination to die.
Miao Kexiu has been buried underground, and his patriotism is as eternal as pine and cypress. His glorious deeds inspired and inspired a group of enthusiastic young people to go to the battlefield of the Anti-Japanese War. Mr. Huang Yanpei, a patriot, once took a photocopy of Miao Kexiu's suicide note manuscript to the south to publicize the anti-Japanese war and called on everyone to be a college student like Miao Kexiu.
In addition to Miao Kexiu, Northeastern University has successively trained Shipu martyrs who sprayed blood in Yuhuatai, Zhang martyrs who fought the devil in Zhazidong, Wu martyrs who gave their lives, Cong Dezi martyrs and so on. It is precisely because of a group of patriotic students like Miao Kexiu that the glorious patriotic tradition of Northeastern University has been forged. According to incomplete statistics, since its founding, 53 teachers and students of Northeastern University have become martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the independence of the Chinese nation, the liberation of the people and the prosperity of the country.