At first glance, Xiong Xianghui is handsome and handsome, and his appearance is a typical petty bourgeoisie, and almost no one is willing to associate him with those "Tu Eight Roads" who are fighting guerrillas in northern Shaanxi. However, he was zhou Enlai's "idle chess piece" that Zhou Enlai had placed next to Hu Zongnan, and after several turns, this chess piece was not idle or cold, but hot. He sent several important messages to the Party Central Committee, including Hu Zongnan's general plan to attack Yan'an, which was extremely important to the presidium of Yan'an, and it can even be said that the intelligence saved the presidium of Yan'an.
However, in Xiong Xianghui's 12-year career as a red agent, he almost exposed his identity three times, and once was due to Zhou Enlai's work mistakes. It can be said that Xiong Xianghui was not discovered by the Kuomintang, and a large part of the luck factor was there. Today, we will learn about the legendary Red Agent's 3 dangerous "accidents" in his secret working career.
"Don't go into the tiger's den, get the tiger," Zhou Enlai and Dong Biwu said to Xiong Xianghui before leaving.
Xiong Xianghui's participation in the revolution was a noble betrayal of his own class. He was born into a family of eunuchs, and his father served as the governor of Ye County, Shandong (present-day Laizhou, Shandong), and later became the president of the Criminal Division of the Hubei High Court, and was a middle-level bureaucrat in the Republic of China who had a relatively good official fortune.
Because of his solid family background, Xiong Xianghui enrolled in Tsinghua university in 1935. In stark contrast to Tsinghua today, Tsinghua was one of the centers of the student movement in Beijing, with a strong left-wing trend. Xiong Xianghui participated in the open anti-imperialist patriotic movement several times, and secretly joined the Communist Party in November 1936, publicly as the head of the Tsinghua detachment of the Chinese National Liberation Vanguard.
After the Xi'an Incident, the Kuomintang and the Communists temporarily reached a second comprehensive cooperation. In line with the principle of both struggle and unity, Zhou Enlai advocated "taking precautions, attacking people later, taking a step first, and now starting to play idle chess and bu lengzi", hoping to install a secret party member next to Hu Zongnan.
Zhou Enlai laid out a series of requirements for this secret party member, including coming from a famous family or a family of officials and eunuchs, having a good appearance, having an open political outlook that is neither left nor right, having the temperament of a patriotic and progressive youth, reading both Marxism-Leninism and Sun Yat-sen, and knowing how to adapt to changes. Jiang Nanxiang (leader of the 12.9 Movement and later president of Tsinghua University) recommended his apprentice at Tsinghua University: Xiong Xianghui, a 17-year-old student of tsinghua university's Chinese department.
For Xiong Xianghui, Zhou Enlai and Dong Biwu were very satisfied. They told Xiong Xianghui to "don't be in a hurry, be willing to be idle and cold", and at the same time to "flow together and not dirty, out of the mud without staining", and finally gave Xiong Xianghui eight words: "Do not enter the tiger's den, get the tiger." ”
In the early days of the second Kuomintang-Communist cooperation, our party's evaluation of Hu Zongnan was still relatively positive, and it did not clearly recognize his essence. Many people, including Xiong Xianghui, believe that Hu Zongnan can become a "Xia Boyang" type figure, who can abandon the dark and cast the light and change from white to red. Zhou Enlai's cloth around Hu Zongnan also had this consideration. But the world is unpredictable, Hu Zongnan finally embarked on the anti-communist road, and for Xiong Xianghui, his chess piece became not idle, and his "special task" was gradually clarified, that is, "engaging in intelligence."
On 22 May 1943, the Comintern was dissolved, both for the purpose of facilitating the independent treatment of problems by states in response to the anti-fascist war and for the comintern's own reasons. On 26 May, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China issued a document agreeing to the dissolution of the Comintern.
Chiang Kai-shek smiled happily when he heard the news, and in his understanding, the dissolution of the Communist International meant that the Soviet Union's support for the CCP was reduced, and this was a very good opportunity to attack. Therefore, in disregard of the great premise of the Kuomintang-Communist cooperation in resisting Japan, he secretly sent a telegram to Hu Zongnan to "take advantage of this good opportunity to blitz Yan'an and capture the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region in one fell swoop", and at the same time demanded that Hu Zongnan complete the strategic deployment at the end of June of that year, and his actions must be guaranteed to be absolutely secret.
After receiving the telegram, Hu Zongnan hurriedly arranged the arrangements, but was delayed for nearly a month because of the interference of the mass patriotic and spontaneous organizations in the Gannan area, and finally set the date of the attack on July 9. At this time, the highly classified attack plan was fully known to Hu Zongnan's confidential secretary Xiong Xianghui, who reported the attack plan to Yan'an through indirect means.
Zhu De and Mao Zedong
On July 4, 1943, Zhu De publicly published a telegram satirizing Hu Zongnan, saying that the phenomenon of war was about to erupt and rumors were "spreading on many roads," and that "the Central Committee of the State Government will take the opportunity of international dissolution to carry out the suppression of the Communists." At this difficult time of the War of Resistance Against Japan, if we try to unite, we are afraid that if we launch a civil war and sabotage the great cause of unity in the War of Resistance, we will be trapped in a situation of danger for the country and the nation. ”
The offensive plan was known to our party, and not only did Hu Zongnan make a mistake militarily, but he also fell into an unjust place politically. It was precisely for political reasons that Hu Zongnan proposed to Chiang Kai-shek that if it proceeded according to the original plan, it would not only be attacked by the Japanese army, but also the allies would rebuke it, and would also give the Communist Party's propaganda that "the national army does not resist Japan" argument. Therefore, on July 7 of that year, Chiang Kai-shek agreed to strike the troops, and in history, he also had the reputation of "Zhu Laozong retired from the Hu army with one telegram", and for Xiong Xianghui, a secret agent who broke into Hu Zongnan's side, Mao Zedong even gave the comment that "one person tops several divisions".
Hu Zongnan, known as the "King of the Northwest"
However, the sentence in Zhu De's telegram that "the Central Committee of the State Government will take the opportunity of the dissolution of the international government to carry out the suppression of the Communists" is actually a top secret, and in Hu Zongnan's view, Zhu De could not obtain such information through the so-called "road rumors.".
In Xiong Xianghui's memoirs, he truly recorded the specific situation at that time. He said that when he received this telegram from Mr. Zhu, he was "shocked in his heart", and after sending it to Hu Zongnan, Hu Zongnan read it twice, let Xiong Xianghui read it again, and then frowned and said: This hand is powerful. Then he asked: Who leaked the secret? Is this battle fought? Obviously, Hu Zongnan's first reaction was to have an internal ghost.
Xiong Xianghui was bold and careful, and he did not change his normal state of saying that "it should be found out who leaked the secrets", and added fuel to the fire, saying that "if you do not check clearly, it is not good to explain to the committee." Hu Zongnan asked how to check, and Xiong Xianghui gave the following high emotional intelligence reply:
Including me, make lists, censorship secretly. If nothing happens on the surface, don't hit the grass and scare the snake, lest the person who leaks the secret flee in fear of sin. But from now on, do not let the suspected people participate in the secrets, especially do not let them know whether this battle will be fought, and prevent it from being leaked to the Communist Party again.
One from the left, Xiong Xianghui, middle Hu Zongnan
After this reply, in the eyes of others, it seems that Xiong Xianghui is indeed a loyal and confidential secretary. After that, Hu Zongnan held a staff meeting and called Xiong Xianghui as usual. Later, Hu Zongnan's secret agent, Chanai Ghost, actually found out several "fools" who exaggerated the situation, such as Zhang Difei, director of the Xi'an Labor Camp Training Department, who held a meeting and said, "We want the CPC to 'disband' with the dissolution of the Communist International."; the Central News Agency even sent a telegram directly to Mao Zedong, saying that it would "dissolve the CPC" and "abolish the division of the border areas." Hu Zongnan scolded them as bastards, and the two so-called "bandit spies" were also detained.
But in fact, these two unlucky eggs have nothing to do with the leak, Hu Zongnan messed around, and did not catch the main lord. Xiong Xianghui also continued to safely lurk beside Hu Zongnan and became a sword for the CCP.
Hu Zongnan was Chiang Kai-shek's confidant and fellow zhejiang, and he was also highly valued by Chiang Kai-shek during the Liberation War. On April 11, 1946, Chiang Kai-shek secretly ordered Hu Zongnan to use five days to raid and annihilate Li Xiannian of the Central Plains Liberation Army, which was scheduled for May 4 to May 9. This highly classified information was reported to the Party Central Committee through Xiong Xianghui's hand, and Zhou Enlai immediately thought that Marshall and Xu Yongchang had exposed the conspiracy. This offensive plan did not finalize.
In late May 1946, Hu Zongnan submitted to Chiang Kai-shek a "Battle Plan for Attacking Northern Shaanxi", clamoring for "ploughing the court to sweep the caves" and taking a blitzkrieg against Yan'an. Hu Zongnan knew that the Yan'an area at this time was of little significance in the military sense, and Yan'an's defense was relatively weak, but it had relatively great political benefits.
Xiong Xianghui immediately reported this news to the Party Central Committee. At this time, Xiong Xianghui was selected by Hu Zongnan to study in the United States, just through Nanjing, which also had a very important meeting between Xiong Xianghui and Zhou Enlai. On June 10, 1946, Zhou Enlai received Xiong Xianghui in the reception room of the CPC delegation in Meiyuan New Village, Nanjing. Time flies, the two have not seen each other for eight years, but the two are too late to reminisce, Zhou Enlai frowned tightly as soon as they met, and said: "I accidentally had an accident." ”
It turned out that when Zhou Enlai took a Marshall plane to Yan'an to discuss the issue of the northeast armistice, he accidentally lost a notebook on the plane. At that time, Zhou Enlai put the small book in the pocket of the close-fitting shirt, and slept on the plane for a while because he was too tired at work, and the small book fell out of the shirt pocket. There is not much written in this book, most of which is not important, only one important piece of information: Xiong Xianghui's address in Nanjing. According to the principle of secret work, this address should have been written in his mind, but Zhou Enlai admitted that he was "careless" and wrote a "bear" next to the address.
Zhou Enlai and Dong Biwu
That is to say, the loss of this notebook is very easy to lead to the exposure of Xiong Xianghui's identity. Because of this matter, Zhou Enlai had already sent a telegram to the central authorities to review and request punishment. Xiong Xianghui was shocked after hearing this, and his first reaction was not because of the danger he faced, but because of Zhou Enlai's attitude. This matter was originally known only to Zhou Enlai, who could not do this review, not to find this trouble, not to apologize to Xiong Xianghui, an ordinary party member, but Zhou Enlai did not evade it and took the initiative to make a review and request punishment. Xiong Xianghui also wrote in his memoirs:
He was one of the top leaders of the Central Committee, and he went so far as to confide in me, an ordinary Party member and an ordinary party member. I was deeply shocked by his sincere and honest attitude and great and noble character. I said excitedly: Please rest assured Vice Chairman Zhou that this is a small matter that I can handle. In case something goes wrong, there's nothing remarkable about it. I was ready to die at any time from the moment I took the oath of membership.
Zhou Enlai said to Xiong Xianghui: "Chairman Mao said that you have several divisions. I can't make up my mind to remove several divisions at once," and said, "I caused this accident, I have to take responsibility, I must make every effort to save it, and I can't make mistakes again and again." At this time, the lost notebook had been solemnly returned to Zhou Enlai, and Marshall deliberately packed it in thick paper and put it into a small box sealed with fire paint. But Zhou Enlai still did not dare to completely rule out the possibility that Marshall would take all the notes and then send them to Chiang Kai-shek.
Zhou Enlai and Dong Biwu discussed for more than an hour, imagined various possibilities, and finally proposed a suitable solution: let Xiong Xianghui change his place of residence first, quickly find an excuse to run to Shanghai, go to the calligrapher Ma's apartment to live temporarily, and if there is an abnormal situation, immediately contact the underground party in Shanghai and transfer to the liberated areas of northern Jiangsu with his help.
Before leaving, Zhou Enlai and Dong Biwu repeated to Xiong Xianghui the words they had said in Xi'an in 1943: Goodbye after victory. Xiong Xianghui went home and said goodbye to his family, and he said to his wife: "Once I have an accident, please find another person." After hearing this, her wife angrily told him not to talk nonsense, only hoping that if he arrived in the Liberated Areas of Northern Jiangsu in the future, he would have to find a way to pick her up.
A few months passed, xiong Xianghui also completed various procedures to study in the United States, and the accident did not happen. According to Zhou Enlai's prompting, he flew to Xi'an in early October to "see Hu Zongnan", but he did not expect that this encounter would create the highest achievement in Xiong Xianghui's intelligence career.
In October 1946, the situation of the Liberation War can be described as scorching. Earlier, Li Xiannian led his troops thousands of miles into the Dabie Mountains, and in July entered Shaanxi and Hu Zongnan's circumlocution, and the troops led by Hu Zongnan suffered a heavy blow, and the elite reorganized First Brigade was annihilated, the brigade commander was captured, and Hu Zongnan's face was lost.
At this time, Hu Zongnan once again proposed a plan to attack Yan'an, and Chiang Kai-shek agreed to the telegram, asking Hu Zongnan and Yan Xishan to attack Liu Bocheng's troops and eliminate the main force of the People's Liberation Army. This information was also learned by Xiong Xianghui, who happened to be in Xi'an, and he quickly contacted the central authorities through the original channels, and the central authorities attached great importance to this. Chiang Kai-shek's plan for this attack was also temporarily shelved, and Xiong Xianghui also completed his marriage in Nanjing (the witness was Chiang Ching-kuo) according to the original plan and waited for the ship to go to the United States.
March 1947, Hangzhou. Hu Zongnan summoned Xiong Xianghui in his temporary office and asked him to postpone going to the United States for three months, because "it is time to fight Yan'an, and after this battle, you will leave again." "Why can't Hu Zongnan let go of Xiong Xianghui, the confidential secretary?" Because Xiong Xianghui has a certain knowledge foundation, has dabbled in Marxism and the works of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, and usually writes speeches to Hu Zongnan is also deeply loved by Hu Zongnan, this time the Kuomintang attacked Yan'an, there was not a big military problem, and Yan'an was not the focus of our party's defense, and there were more political considerations.
Chiang Kai-shek demanded that "suppressing the Communists" should be "three points military and seven points political," and Hu Zongnan immediately thought of himself as a confidential secretary. Hu Zongnan was ready to prepare leaflets, propaganda materials, and a letter to the people of northern Shaanxi to put forward a political program that was "more revolutionary than the Communist Party," because the people in the Xi'an Political Department "can only curse the mother and do not understand revolution," and Xiong Xianghui's importance is highlighted. Hu Zongnan trusted Xiong Xianghui in every way, and asked him to secretly transcribe the plan for attacking Yan'an approved by Chiang Kai-shek and the sketch of the allocation of our party's troops.
Xiong Xianghui later wrote to Hu Zongnan a political program that looked more revolutionary than the Communist Party, and it is true that Hu Zongnan did not have the ability and willingness to realize these programs, and this was just a cover for them. Compared with this political program, passing on information to our party is the most important thing in Xiong Xianghui's heart.
That night, Hu Zongnan went out. Xiong Xianghui carefully read the plan to attack Yan'an, kept it firmly in mind, and then burned the copy and threw the embers into the flush toilet to wash them away. On March 3, Xiong Xianghui followed Hu Zongnan to Xi'an, where he looked for an opportunity to find a contact to lay out the attack plan and plan, and told the contact hu Zongnan that his army, division, and brigade commander were still in the dark for the sake of secrecy. That is to say, our Party knew the offensive plan one step earlier than Hu Zongnan's subordinates.
On March 7, Xiong Xianghui found the contact again and delivered the news that the attack was delayed by three days. The contact person told Xiong Xianghui: "When a call came from Yan'an, I have submitted The battle plan for Hu Zongnan's attack on Yan'an to Chairman Mao and Vice Chairman Zhou, and I think it is very timely and useful." Xiong Xianghui regretted that he would follow Hu Zongnan to Luochuan tomorrow and could not continue to provide information. The contact person said: The main strategic situation has been clarified, the details will be checked by others, and I can't imagine that you will come back and achieve unexpected gains. Xiong Xianghui also said: I did not expect that I would come back, and Hu Zongnan could not imagine that he would once again "give gifts" to the party Central Committee through me.
After that, Xiong Xianghui was appointed as the confidential secretary of the military and obtained some new information, such as the specific tactics of the Hu Zongnan operation and the equipment and operators of the newly entered United States to detect the direction of the radio station. Xiong Xianghui could not return to Xi'an to find a contact person, and could only take the risk himself.
He could only violate the usual rules and risk his life to write the intelligence in black and white, and write the pronoun of the contact person, Wang Shijian, and send it to Pan Yuran, manager of the "Research Bookstore" on Xi'an West Avenue. Xiong Xianghui only knew that Pan Yuran was honest and reliable, but he did not know whether he was an intelligence worker or not, which was extremely risky. As Xiong Xianghui himself wrote: Although I know that there are risks, if any link in the middle goes wrong, I may lose my head, but this is the only way I can take.
Xiong Xianghui's transmission of intelligence within the country played a crucial role in the smooth withdrawal of the Presidium of the Communist Party of China in the Yan'an Defense War. Xiong Xianghui was also proud of his credit, writing in his memoirs:
I sincerely thank Hu Zongnan, who made Zhou Enlai's "idle chess, cloth cold" gradually change from idle to busy, from cold to hot, so that I have the honor to participate in the "great historical change" that is "so unexpected".
It is worth mentioning that later, when General Zhang Zhizhong returned to China from the United States, he saw Xiong Xianghui and Premier Zhou sitting together at a party, and he said: "Brother Xiong, you are also uprising!" Premier Zhou smiled and corrected: "Where is his uprising?" He's back in the team! ”
After the founding of New China, Xiong Xianghui, as Zhou Enlai's "soldier," was once again active in foreign affairs work. After China restored his legitimate seat in the United Nations, he served as a representative of the Chinese delegation to the United Nations General Assembly for the first time, went to Mexico in 1972 to become China's first ambassador to Mexico, after 1978 he was appointed deputy director of the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee, vice president of the Institute of Chinese-People Diplomacy, and deputy director of the Office of the Leading Group of the CPC Central Committee on Taiwan Work. In 2001, CCTV specially broadcast a special program based on Xiong Xianghui: "One Person Tops Several Divisions". Zhu Rongji, then premier of the State Council, was quite touched after seeing it, and specially went to the ward to visit this old hero.
In 2005, Xiong Xianghui died at the age of 86.