Japan's preparations for a sneak attack on Pearl Harbor had long been deciphered by Yang Xuancheng, a military intelligence expert during the Chinese War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. So who is Yang Xuancheng? He deciphered the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, so why did the Japanese eventually succeed in the attack?
(Old photo of Yang Xuancheng)
Perhaps when Yang Xuancheng is mentioned, many people only know that he is a lieutenant general in the Republic of China Navy, but they know very little about his deeds.
Yang Xuancheng, a native of Changsha, Hunan Province, crossed to Japan in 1908 to study modern military management at the Naval Non-Commissioned Officer School, and then transferred to the Naval Mine School after graduation.
During his study abroad, Yang Xuancheng was deeply influenced by the anti-Qing zhizhi Huang Xing and joined the League. After returning to China, he served as chief of staff in the Yangtze River Fleet.
After the outbreak of the Xinhai Revolution, Yang Xuancheng responded to the uprising together with the revolutionaries in the fleet.
After the establishment of the Republic of China, Yang Xuancheng successively served as the director of the Vladivostok Guotai Fleet, the director of the Hunan Government Negotiation Department, and a professor at Wuhan University.
After the September 18 Incident, the National Government in Nanjing recruited talents and recruited talents, and at the recommendation of fellow villager He Yaozu, Yang Xuancheng took up the post of military attaché of the Navy as a rear admiral stationed in Japan.
Yang Xuancheng was a clean and honest person, and he was also very loyal to the organization, and at that time, the Nationalist government implemented a system of contracting for the office expenses of diplomats, and Yang Xuancheng never thought of reducing the enrichment of activities.
(Yang Xuancheng in his youth)
Since Yang Xuancheng's intelligence was very timely and effective, Chiang Kai-shek was very satisfied with him. After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, he was appointed head of the intelligence group of the first headquarters, and soon after he was appointed director of the second department (intelligence agency) of the military headquarters. Its work is mainly to form intelligence departments, train intelligence talents, and preside over the collection of operational intelligence against Japan. Therefore, he was also called "the head of China's military intelligence" by posterity.
Yang Xuancheng soon established an organization of highly skilled intelligence personnel. At the same time, he also handled the high-level military intelligence he had in the process of collecting and sorting out, so that the Kuomintang reduced casualties in the process of resisting Japan.
Especially during World War II, the Soviet Union attached great importance to Yang Xuancheng's intelligence and took the initiative to propose to China that the two sides cooperate and exchange intelligence on operations against Japan.
Long before the outbreak of the Pacific War, Yang Xuancheng's intelligence department monitored a new code radio station in the Japanese military. However, this code was very weak, intermittent, and soon there was no news.
Yang Xuancheng was a wary man, and after deciphering, he found that the code radio station was mainly a link between the Japanese Pacific Navy and air force.
In Yang Xuancheng's view, the code was too weird, so he asked intelligence personnel to monitor the code radio station day and night.
(Old roosevelt photo)
On the eve of Pearl Harbor, Yang Xuancheng discovered that this mysterious coded radio station was constantly sending signals to the air force and navy in the Pacific. With a wealth of experience and an understanding of the world situation, he realized that Japan must be waging war against an important U.S. military base in the Pacific.
Yang Xuancheng immediately reported this information to Chiang Kai-shek, who believed that the situation was serious, and on the one hand hurried to hold a meeting of allied troops stationed in Chongqing, and at the same time telegraphed the Pentagon.
However, this message made the Allies suspicious. The Americans felt that Chinese intelligence had always been backward, so it did not attract attention.
In the early morning of December 7, 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor without a declaration of war, destroying most of the strength of the U.S. Pacific Fleet in one fell swoop, and the Pacific War broke out.
After the incident, Roosevelt regretted it. After secretly inquiring, he learned that the information came from Yang Xuancheng, so he proposed to Chiang Kai-shek that he hoped that China would send an admiral and an intelligence expert who was proficient in English and Japanese to become his personal intelligence adviser.
Of course, only Yang Xuancheng can meet this condition, so the relevant personnel of the Nationalist Army and Yang Xuancheng joked that Roosevelt was simply a turnip recruitment, and he directly named it.
For Roosevelt's request, Chiang Kai-shek was naturally reluctant to let Yang Xuancheng go, so he politely rejected Roosevelt.
In World War II, whether it was the Sino-Japanese War or the Allied forces, Yang Xuancheng was always able to draw Japan's military moves through intelligence analysis. Because his intelligence work is very influential in the world, coupled with his intelligence achievements are also obvious to all. Therefore, at the signing ceremony of Japan's surrender, he was appointed as the second person in the Chinese delegation and attended the scene.
At the same time, Yang Xuancheng was also the intelligence officer who received the most medals, not only the Nationalist government gave him many medals, but also the United States, Britain, the Soviet Union, and France also awarded him medals. Gave him a lot of rewards.
(Reference history: "The Mystery of World War II")