When it comes to famous agents during the war years, everyone will definitely think of Dai Li, who is known as the "King of Agents". As everyone knows, in our Communist camp, there is also a "king of agents": Li Kenong.
Since 1929, Li Kenong has been active in the hidden front, defending the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and collecting and obtaining important information. He participated in major historical events such as the "Luochuan Negotiations", the "Battle of Yan'an", and the "Korean Armistice Negotiations". And, he played an extremely important role in it.
Incognito for decades, Li Kenong has made great contributions to national independence and national liberation. Because of the needs of work, he sacrificed the time to spend with his family, was away from home all the year round, and was very alienated from his family. Once when he came home, his daughter even regarded him as a debtor, and the bitterness was probably only something he could experience.
In 1955, Li Kenong was awarded the rank of general, becoming the only general among the founding generals who did not lead troops to fight.
So, what kind of person is Li Kenong, the "king of agents", and what are his legendary experiences?
Into the Enemy Camp: A lone hero who is indomitable
Li Kenong, a native of Wuhu, Anhui Province. He grew up during the White Terror and was an intelligence worker trained by Premier Zhou Enlai.
Speaking of which, Li Kenong's entry into the intelligence system is also the result of the combined efforts of the right time, place, and people.
In 1927, the Kuomintang launched the "April 12 Counter-Revolutionary Coup" and arrested Communists everywhere. In order to avoid pursuit, Li Kenong left his hometown, disguised himself, and arrived in Shanghai via Nanjing.
At this time, Shanghai was the seat of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the nerve center of the Communist Party, and the revolutionary struggle was in full swing.
After the counter-revolutionary coup, the storm in Shanghai was suddenly tight, and the agents of the Kuomintang military command stirred up trouble in it, infiltrated the party organization, and frantically murdered the Communists.
In order to preserve the revolutionary forces and also to strengthen the political defense of the party, the leaders headed by Zhou Enlai decided to set up a special body. Since the Kuomintang has agents who can engage in intelligence work, why can't we have them?
As a result, the Special Operations Section of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China was established in the midst of bloody rain.
In the year when Central Special Branch was established, Li Kenong arrived in Shanghai, and everything happened just right. However, Li Kenong did not engage in intelligence work as soon as he arrived in Shanghai, he also worked for a period of time in the Huzhong District Committee of the Communist Party of China, and was a propaganda committee member who "played with a pen."
So, how did Li Kenong get into the intelligence system? This has to start with one person.
This person's name is Qian Zhuangfei. Qian Zhuangfei is a member of the Communist Party, mainly engaged in intelligence work, and has successfully infiltrated the Party Affairs Investigation Section of the Organization Department of the Central Committee of the Kuomintang, and is currently the confidential secretary of Xu Enzeng, the director of the Investigation Section.
It should be noted that this investigation section is the predecessor of the Kuomintang spy organization "Central Unification."
One day in 1929, Li Kenong met his old friend Hu Di, whom he hadn't seen for many years, in a studio, and through Hu Di's matchmaking, he met Qian Zhuangfei.
All three were members of the Communist Party and like-minded, and they soon played together. After learning about Qian Zhuangfei's work experience, Li Kenong had a bold idea.
Previously, when he was carrying out revolutionary work in his hometown, he had been briefly exposed to intelligence work, and although it was not for a long time, he also understood the "gold content" of this job.
Qian Zhuangfei's job is close to the heart of the enemy, so there is too much information that the party organization can get and work that can be done.
So, Li Kenong asked Qian Zhuangfei expectantly if he could insert another nail into it. After all, Qian Zhuangfei is not very good at maneuvering alone!
Qian Zhuangfei's eyes lit up. In the past, this kind of behavior was very risky, and it was difficult to get into both, but now is the best time, and why? Because the Kuomintang intends to expand the secret service organization.
Qian Zhuangfei said that in the near future, the Kuomintang will issue a "recruitment notice" through the Shanghai Radio Administration to recruit some "broadcast news editors."
Li Kenong is well-educated and has a good penmanship, and when he applied for the job of "news editor," was there a problem? Of course not!
The three of them looked at each other and smiled, and everything was silent.
Soon, Li Kenong reported his ideas to the Party Central Committee. Chen Geng, then head of the Second Section of the Central Special Branch, agreed with his idea, and Zhou Enlai also had high hopes for it, handing over a stack of outdated documents of our party to Li Kenong as a "stepping stone." ”
"We want to take the enemy's secret service and use it for us. Zhou En said.
After receiving the order, Li Kenong was easily admitted to the Shanghai Radio Administration. Later, according to the arrangement of the script, he sent those expired documents to Nanjing in the name of "seizing Communist Party documents", and successfully reused them by Xu Enzeng.
After that, Li Kenong was active in the heart of the enemy and intercepted a number of important information, including Chiang Kai-shek's plan for encirclement and suppression of the central base area, troop deployment and other important information. Among them, the most heavyweight is the defection of Gu Shunzhang, the head of the Central Special Branch.
The nature of the Central Special Branch is special, and Gu Shunzhang is in possession of the party's top secrets, and he knows the secret residence of the party Central Committee in Shanghai. If Li Kenong hadn't collected this information, handed it over to the Party Central Committee at the risk of exposure, and let the Party Central Committee organs be quickly transferred, I am afraid that the entire Party organization would have been "wiped out".
There are many more dangerous situations like this. During the White Terror, the Communist Party declined, and thanks to this information, the Party organization was able to "survive in a desperate situation" under the encirclement and suppression of the Kuomintang, and escaped disaster after disaster.
The outstanding performance of Li Kenong and others was appreciated by Zhou Enlai, and he also gave Li Kenong, Hu Di and Qian Zhuangfei the title of "Longtan Three Heroes".
In 1932, Li Kenong, who was exposed by Gu Shunzhang's incident, evacuated Shanghai and moved to the Soviet Union. If he couldn't stay in Shanghai, he changed the battlefield and made frequent tricks to keep the enemy awake at night.
Li Kenong, who left Shanghai, continued to engage in intelligence work. After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, the Central Committee established the Liaison Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, with Li Kenong as the director. At this stage, he mainly did united front work and participated in many major operations, and the most worthy of mentioning was the Luochuan negotiations.
Those who are not familiar with history may not know much about the Luochuan negotiations, but everyone should know about the Xi'an incident. Let's put it this way, the Luochuan negotiations are the "prelude" of the Xi'an Incident, and the reason why Zhang Xueliang contributed to the Xi'an Incident is that the Luochuan negotiations have a great credit.
On February 21, 1936, Li Kenong secretly went to Luochuan with three people. In the wind and snow, Li Kenong was in a heavy mood, and the burden on his shoulders made him a little breathless.
When he went to Luochuan this time, the party organization gave him an important task: to negotiate with Zhang Xueliang to strive for a truce between the Northeast Army and the Red Army to jointly resist Japan.
At this time, the three eastern provinces had fallen, and Japan's wolf ambitions were clearly revealed. It's nothing to fight behind closed doors, but at present, if the foreign enemy can't stop fighting internally and unite with the outside world, then what awaits China is the end of the destruction of the country and the extinction of the species.
Therefore, this action is related to China's major plan to stop the civil war and jointly resist Japan, and Li Kenong's nerves cannot be relaxed for a moment.
On the 25th, Li Kenong arrived at Luochuan. He first talked with Zhang Xueliang's confidant Wang Yizhe, and initially reached a verbal agreement on "mutual non-aggression and the resumption of trade between the red zone and the white zone" before meeting Zhang Xueliang.
Zhang Xueliang controls the entire Northeast Army, and he must not be a simple person. During the negotiation, he seemed to be humorous and funny, and he looked like he was easy to speak, but in fact, he hid a knife in his smile and kept digging a hole for Li Kenong.
"Can your Red Army lay down its arms and accept the government's reorganization?" Zhang Xueliang asked arrogantly.
Li Kenong's face was angry. He reminded Zhang Xueliang not to be mistaken about a fact: "I am a negotiator, not a surrender representative." With that, he prepared to leave.
Li Kenong knew that Zhang Xueliang was self-respecting and had a fluke mentality, but his words were actually a temptation. Since this is the case, then he will break Zhang Xueliang's illusions and let him see the bottom line and uncompromising attitude of the Communist Party.
After Li Kenong made his position clear, Zhang Xueliang relented, smiled and overcame the party, and the negotiations continued.
This negotiation paved the way for the "Yan'an talks" between Premier Zhou and Zhang Xueliang, and directly promoted the outbreak of the Xi'an Incident.
Chairman Mao learned of Li Kenong's great achievements, stroked his palms and laughed, praising him for "doing a good job". Zhang Xueliang in his later years also had an appreciative attitude when he mentioned Li Kenong: "This person is amazing!"
However, whether it is the intelligence work during the White Terror or the united front work during the War of Resistance Against Japan, it was a "small test" for Li Kenong, and the highlight of his agent career was the Liberation War.
In September 1941, the Central Intelligence Department was established, and Li Kenong served as vice minister and presided over the standing work. He summed up his years of work experience on the covert front, gathered his contacts, and created intelligence systems in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Xi'an, and other places.
These intelligence systems were excellently developed after the outbreak of the War of Liberation. For a time, the hidden front of the Party Central Committee "blossomed everywhere," and a large number of intelligence workers went deep into the enemy camp and drilled the Kuomintang party, government, and military system into a sieve.
In the Yan'an Campaign in 1947, Li Kenong's intelligence system made great contributions.
In March of that year, the cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party broke down, and Chiang Kai-shek prepared to attack Yan'an. In order to destroy the nerve center of the Communist Party in one fell swoop, Chiang Kai-shek personally went into battle and went to Xi'an to meet with his Northwest Military and Political Commander Hu Zongnan to jointly formulate a battle plan.
Chiang Kai-shek made a bloody investment this time. He planned to gather a total of 250,000 troops from 34 brigades in the northwest to attack the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningbo border region in three directions.
Of course, all this was discussed in secret, and even the mobilization of troops was carried out quietly and secretly, and Chiang Kai-shek wanted to hit the Communists by surprise.
But he never expected that the troop deployment and battle plan discussed by him and Hu Zongnan were all sent to the desk of the leaders of the CPC Central Committee.
In the last second, he was still dispatching troops and giving Hu Zongnan a secret telegram instruction, and the next second, the relevant information was sent to Yan'an non-stop. The Party Central Committee is well aware of his every move.
The hole cards have all been seen, so what else is there to fight in this battle? It is not surprising that Chiang Kai-shek's calculation has failed. In the face of hundreds of thousands of troops, the Party Central Committee took the initiative to evacuate Yan'an and move to northern Shaanxi.
At this time, the covert front launched another big move: Xiong Xianghui, who served as an attendant adjutant and confidential secretary by Hu Zongnan's side, sent important information to the Party Central Committee: Hu Zongnan's "Attack on Northern Shaanxi Operational Plan" and "The Deployment of the Communist Party's Army in Northern Shaanxi".
After receiving the information, the Party Central Committee quickly made arrangements, won three battles in a row, and smashed the Kuomintang's key offensive.
Li Kenong, who fought a beautiful battle, paid more attention to the construction of the hidden front. Under his leadership, the Communist intelligence workers went crazy on various battlefields, and a steady stream of vital intelligence was sent to the central government.
At the same time, they also took to heart the "power of man" mentioned by Chairman Mao, and worked hard to plot against the key figures of the Kuomintang camp and disintegrate the enemy's forces from within.
During the entire Liberation War, Li Kenong and his "lurkers" participated in the planning of the liberation movement in Beiping, Hunan, Chuankang, Yunnan, Tibet and other places, and made significant contributions to promoting the liberation of the whole country.
Chairman Mao once commented that Li Kenong's intelligence work was the most successful during the War of Liberation.
However, success comes at a price. Li Kenong is able to move forward on the hidden front with ease, all at the expense of his health and time with his family.
Li Kenong has worked hard for our party's intelligence work for most of his life, and he is worthy of the country and the people, but he is only sorry for his own family.
Li Kenong's son Li Li once shared a story that is ridiculous but full of sadness......
Giving up the family for the country: the wax torch turns to ashes and tears begin to dry
At the beginning of 1937, Li Li, who was at home in Wuhu, received a mysterious letter. He began to read it with suspicion, but was pleasantly surprised to find that it was a letter sent back by his father.
Li Li's father, Li Kenong, is an extremely good intelligence worker. Because of his work, he often runs around, and Shenlong can't see the head but the end.
The children in the family only knew their father's name, and they didn't know what he looked like. Just this name often changes, after all, it is impossible for Li Kenong to use his real name when he is on a mission.
The letter Li received was signed by Li Kenong's fake name. At this time, six years have passed since Li Kenong last returned home.
For six years, there was no news of my father, and this family letter is really precious. After reading the letter, Li Lizhen put it away. What he didn't know was that it wouldn't be long before he would meet his father.
After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, Li Kenong focused on united front work, mainly active in Xi'an, Nanjing, and Shanghai. Once, on the way to carry out a mission, Li Kenong passed by Wuhu, Anhui Province, and he had not returned home for many years, so he planned to go to his home to have a look.
He walked to the door, knocked politely, and in a few moments the door opened.
The door was opened by a teenage girl. She scrutinized Li Kenong, then slammed the door shut.
From the house, the girl's panicked cry came: "Grandfather, hide!
Li Kenong at the door was in a mixed mood. He knocked on the door again and shouted into the house, "I'm Kenon!"
The old man, who was hiding in the house and was in doubt, quickly opened the door when he heard that it was his son Kenong.
It turned out that the girl was Li Kenong's daughter Li Bing. Li Bing hadn't seen his father for many years, and he didn't remember what he looked like at all, and thought he was collecting debts, which made him eat a closed door.
Reunited after a long absence, the family who had not seen each other for many years was briefly reunited, and Li Kenong went to the "battlefield" again. In December 1937, Nanjing fell, Li Li went to Yan'an with his family, thinking that he would be able to see his father this time
Pro, but coincidentally, Li Kenong was not in Yan'an, but went to Guilin, and the family met again, it was already 1941.
This year, Li Kenong's family took the first family photo in a quiet courtyard.
Since then, the time has been less and more separated. During the Liberation War, Li Kenong was so busy that his feet did not touch the ground. During the Battle of Yan'an, his mother died, and he couldn't give her the last ride, and the funeral was all done by Li Li.
Later, when New China was founded, I thought I could take a breath, but the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea came again. In the later stage, the two sides entered the negotiation stage, and Li Kenong was sent by the central government to negotiate in North Korea.
This negotiation lasted more than two years. During this period, Li Kenong's father died, and he still did not make it to the funeral. After Chairman Mao learned about it, he asked Yang Shangkun to help the old man take care of the funeral. As for Li Kenong, he is far away in North Korea, and he can only face the north every day, sitting in a daze, mourning his deceased father.
His parents died one after another, and Li Kenong suffered a great mental blow, and his health deteriorated.
In fact, as early as 1943, Li Kenong's body was attacked by disease. Overworked and running around, and living in a high-pressure environment, the nerves are tense all the time, even if the iron body can't stand it.
Originally, Premier Zhou, who felt sorry for Li Kenong, planned to let him rest for a period of time after the founding of New China, but he didn't rest for long, and the Korean War broke out.
Then, Chairman Mao appointed Li Kenong to negotiate in North Korea. The negotiations lasted 2 years and 19 days, and the small meetings of the conference were held several times. At the negotiation table, unwilling enemies frequently come up with tricks, which makes people unguardable.
For these open guns and hidden arrows, Li Kenong relied on his superb fighting art and struggle tactics to resolve them one by one. In the end, he fulfilled the tasks assigned to him by the Party Central Committee and safeguarded the victorious achievements of the Chinese and Korean peoples.
Returning from North Korea, Li Kenong returned to the familiar intelligence front. Even though this body has been broken, Li Kenong still sticks to his post and struggles for the construction of New China.
In September 1955, at the award ceremony, Li Kenong was awarded the rank of general. Among the 55 founding generals, he was the only one who did not lead troops to fight.
He has never been on the battlefield, but there are "battlefields" everywhere around him. These "battlefields" are not filled with gunsmoke, but they are more dangerous and thrilling than the front lines where bullets are raining down. He has never led a soldier, and he alone can reach thousands of troops and horses, and win a decisive victory thousands of miles away.
After more than 30 years of life and death on the hidden front, Li Kenong's contribution to the republic is fully worthy of the rank of "general".
On February 9, 1962, snow fell in the city of Beijing. At nine o'clock in the evening, a suppressed cry came from a ward of Peking Union Medical College Hospital, and Admiral Li Kenong passed away.
The 63-year-old founding general floated into the distance on the white and crystal snowflakes. At this time, the war has stopped, the mountains and rivers are safe, and this revolutionary soldier who has burned all his life for the country and the people can finally rest.
The snow is still falling. Li Kenong left, but his spirit and his legendary story remained in the context of the country and engraved into the genes of the nation. The people will remember him, and the country will remember him, he is an eternal legend, an eternal hero.
Information References:
Phoenix.com-Li Kenong: A mysterious general on the intelligence front
Communist Party of China News Network-Li Kenong: The founding general who walked out of the hidden front
Communist Party of China News Network-Li Kenong: The only founding general who has not led troops - walked into the former residence of Li Kenong in Chaohu, Anhui Province