On October 4, 1947, Lao Jiang and his wife flew from Nanjing to Beiping, and the purpose of his trip was to award awards to Beiping agents.
That night, the Secrecy Bureau (formerly known as the Military Command) held a grand ceremony to award medals, and Lao Jiang personally awarded Zhao Rongde, chief of the Bei parallel yuan electrical inspection section, a Baoding medal, and also issued a number of secret agents of the Secrecy Bureau with bonuses ranging from 2,000 to 10,000 yuan in silver dollars.
Earlier, the secret agents of the Secrecy Bureau seized the CCP's secret radio station in Beiping, and thus pulled out a number of underground radio stations in the northwest, north China, and northeast China. Wang Ju, a former vice minister of state security, said in a reminiscence: "44 cadres were arrested, and 123 people were implicated. ”
Although there were not many arrested cadres, most of them were strategic intelligence officers lurking in the upper echelons of the Kuomintang and had provided a large amount of high-level intelligence for Yan'an, including 2 lieutenant generals and 20 major generals. There are also two special people implicated - Chen Lian, the daughter of Chen Bray, a confidant of the old Jiang, and Yuan Yongxi, the son-in-law.
Mao Renfeng, the head of the secret service, arrogantly claimed: "Half of the CCP's intelligence has been destroyed."
This incident was known as the Beiping Radio case, and the northern red intelligence system was greatly damaged. When Gu Shunzhang defected, the red intelligence system was also seriously threatened, but because of the early knowledge of the intelligence and the emergency response measures, the personnel did not suffer much loss.
The Beiping Radio case is undoubtedly the biggest disaster in the history of red intelligence. After the incident, Li Kenong was extremely sad and even seriously ill.
Li Kenong
How did the greatest catastrophe in the history of red intelligence happen? Why is it so widely implicated? Did he really have a great deal of influence on the red intelligence system, and was it really as Mao Renfeng said, "bring down half of the CCP's intelligence world"?
Before this catastrophe, Zhou Enlai had already foreseen that the situation would not be good. One day in September, he received a report from the Beiping Underground Radio: "Sun is determined to cooperate, please send the person in charge to consult with Yu Xinqing." (Sun Lianzhong, director of the Baoding Appeasement Office)
After reading this telegram, Zhou Enlai's eyebrows tightened and he was rarely angry. Instead of replying, he summoned Luo Qingchang and asked him to convey his harsh criticism of Li Zhengxuan, director of Beiping Radio, and ordered the dispatchers to evacuate immediately. It is obviously a good thing that the enemy officers are willing to cooperate, but why did Zhou Enlai get angry and criticize?
This should start with Yu Xinqing, who was feng Yuxiang's old minister, and his public identity at that time was that he was vice chairman of the design committee of the Baoding Appeasement Office, a lieutenant general, and a person who Sun Lianzhong trusted. He engaged in counter-plotting work in Sun Lianzhong's department.
By the summer of 1947, the War of Liberation had entered the counter-offensive phase. Our Jichajin Field Army launched the Baobei Campaign and the Qingcang Campaign, which dealt a major blow to Sun Lianzhong twice. Sun Lianzhong, who had originally dismissed Yu Xinqing's proposal for peace talks, took a 180° turn in attitude and revealed to Yu that he was willing to contact the CCP.
Yu Xinqing was very happy to learn of Sun Lianzhong's change of attitude, and immediately found The Beiping underground intelligence officer Wang Yeqiu (who was openly a major general in the 11th Theater) and asked him to use the Beiping underground radio station to report to Yan'an. However, Wang rejected it because he believed that this violated the discipline of intelligence work and reported the matter to his superiors.
According to the analysis of northern Shaanxi, although Sun Lianzhong was a big official, he no longer had many troops in his hands. Moreover, this person was very timid, and most of his troops were under the surveillance of Lao Jiang's concubine troops, and it was likely that they would be surrounded and annihilated if there was any change. At that time, the conditions for Sun's uprising were not ripe, and he was more likely to use the peace talks to delay time and preserve his strength. Therefore, northern Shaanxi is relatively cold about this matter.
But Yu Xinqing was very enthusiastic about the matter, and he found Chen Rongsheng, an underground party member (publicly identified as the director of foreign affairs in the 11th Theater). Without hesitation, Chen Rongsheng handed over the contents of the telegram to Li Zhengxuan, director of the Beiping Underground Radio Station, and sent it to northern Shaanxi.
Intelligence efforts require not only single-line contact, but also avoid horizontal contact as much as possible. Yu Xinqing belonged to the rebel system and should not have any connection with the intelligence system, but he was able to contact the underground radio station that was extremely confidential in Peiping. Zhou Enlai had a wealth of underground work experience, was extremely keen in consciousness, and had a premonition that sooner or later such illegal operations would cause major incidents, so he was angry and criticized.
The risk of plotting against the system is extremely high, and once they are exposed, it is very likely to affect the intelligence system. Moreover, if Yu Xinqing was caught in Sun Lianzhong's trick of "luring the snake out of the hole", the consequences would be unimaginable.
However, in order to promote Sun Lianzhong's uprising, Yu Xinqing was very active. Although he had good intentions, he did bad things. Without informing the organization, he held a reception in Beiping, invited the consuls of various countries in Beiping to attend, and publicly announced: "General Sun Lianzhong will mediate the relations between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party with a third force." ”
Zhou Enlai
As soon as this remark came out, it immediately attracted the attention of all parties. The US media said: "Beiping has the trend of 'Xi'an Incident'. "Beiping was full of wind and cranes for a while. Old Jiang originally planned to go to the Shenyang front through Beiping to supervise the battle, but he was also shocked when he heard the news. He postponed his trip to Shenyang and asked Zheng Jiemin, director of the Secrecy Bureau, to find out whether Sun Lianzhong had "communism" behavior.
The Secrecy Bureau requested that Sun Lianzhong be closely monitored, but sun Lianzhong's personnel came and went very much, and it was difficult to find valuable clues for a while. The agents changed their minds, starting with monitoring radio signals.
In fact, before this, the military operations of the Nationalist army were always leaked in advance, and the agents of the Beiping Station of the Secret Bureau were looking for the ccp's underground radio. However, the situation in Beiping is very complicated, there are many private commercial radio stations, and after the large number of officials from all sides entered Beiping, they established radio stations to contact Nanjing.
Zhao Rongde, chief of the electrical inspection section of the Beiping Station of the Secrecy Bureau, was very embarrassed, and if he found the head of the important officer, he would not be able to keep his black gauze hat.
It just so happened that Old Jiang gave the order, and the Secrecy Bureau transferred a batch of advanced radio detection equipment and several jeeps to realize motion detection. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the military command and the United States set up a "Sino-US cooperation institute" under The Gele Mountain in Chongqing, and trained a large number of technical personnel for the military command, and Zhao Rongde was one of them.
These radio detection vehicles roamed the streets of Beiping almost 24 hours a day, but the Beiping underground radio station did not realize that the danger was approaching. In addition, it was another special period at that time, Hu Zongnan launched a large-scale attack on Yan'an, and the central government decided to take the initiative to withdraw in order to trap Hu Zongnan's troops.
It is difficult for the central authorities to obtain timely information from the outside world during the transfer process. At this time, the Beiping underground radio station not only sent a large amount of wartime intelligence to northern Shaanxi, but also reported and distributed some public information in society. As a result, radio stations work far more than the confidentiality time, often working for three or four consecutive hours, up to a maximum of 7 hours. This objectively facilitates the detection of secret service stations.
Eventually, the secret service agents determined that there was an abnormal signal in the area between Wangfujing Street, South Chizi Street, and North Chizi Street, and began to send reports at 6 o'clock every morning. However, the area was densely populated and full of hutongs, and the radio detection equipment at that time could not accurately reach the specific location.
According to the traditional radio positioning methods, there are two methods: the first is to divide the power outage when the radio is working, as long as the stop to whose radio station is suspended can determine the target; the second time the radio station has been regarded as a high-power electrical appliance, as long as the household with ultra-high electricity charges is found, the target can also be determined.
But both approaches have drawbacks — they can't be sure they have solid evidence, and they can easily alarm their targets. Gu Zhengwen, who was then the head of the Beiping Special Service Group of the Secrecy Bureau, wanted to see a person, Duan Yunpeng.
Duan Yunpeng was once a famous snitch in the Pingjin area, and learned the unique skill of flying cornices in Beiping, and once stole the official residence of Okamura Ningji, the commander-in-chief of the Japanese army invading China, and some famous shopping malls in the Pingjin area. Later, he was arrested by the military command and absorbed and used.
Radio training
Gu Zhengwen asked Duan Yunpeng to climb up to the roof every day before dawn to monitor the movement of this area. However, due to the fact that there were too many houses, Duan Yunpeng squatted for more than 10 consecutive days without finding anything. In the end, the agents discussed narrowing the scope: first, the newspaper was not at dawn, and the lights must be lit at home; second, the newspaper must be sent, and a tall antenna must be set up at home.
After some further rehearsals, the agents found that there was a strange antenna in the courtyard of No. 24 Jingzhao East Hutong at the intersection, which was not only high, but also very long. Gu Zhengwen decided to drive the radio detection car to the vicinity, and at the same time arranged for Duan Yunpeng to specially squat at this house.
After several days of observation, Duan Yunpeng found that the household turned on the lights at about 6 o'clock every day, and a man would take out a wooden box and put it on the table after washing, and then put on headphones. Although he had his back to the window and couldn't see exactly what he was doing, he looked like he was sending a newspaper. At the same time, the radio detection vehicle also heard a teleportation sound.
Almost certainly, this is where the radio station is located. However, the cunning Gu Zhengwen did not immediately take action, he wanted to catch the "live radio". If an arrest is made at the time of the radio report, it will inevitably alarm the receiver. The best time to arrest is a brief moment just after the telegram has been sent. This will not only not alarm the receiver, but also use the station, there is a lot to do.
Early one morning, Duan Yunpeng gave a signal to the agents when he saw that the man who sent the report was preparing to put away the wooden box. The agents outside the door broke through the door and grabbed four people in the courtyard, namely Li Zhengxuan and his wife Zhang Houpei, Meng Liangyu and his wife Li Yuping.
The agents also seized a large number of telegram manuscripts, many of which were written by the intelligence personnel lurking in Peiping. One of them was a review written by Li Zhengxuan on the illegal issuance of reports, which was tantamount to exposing Yu Xinqing.
Li Zhengxuan and Meng Liangyu defected shortly after their arrest and confessed many important intelligence officers. In particular, Li Zhengxuan's memory is very good, and the list he wrote to the military commanders is two pages. Subsequently, the secret agents of the military command also went along with the vine to destroy the red radio stations in Beiping, Shenyang, Chengde and other places.
Of course, Li Zhengxuan's rank is not high, his knowledge is limited, and he alone will not lead to the destruction of the entire intelligence system. There is a more crucial figure in the Beiping Radio case named Wang Shijian, who is the director of the Xi'an General Station. He developed a large number of intelligence officers and established an intelligence system centered on Xi'an and connecting Beiping, Shenyang, Baoding, Lanzhou and other cities, known as the Wang Shijian system.
After Li Zhengxuan's rebellion, the military command agent ordered him to make normal contact with Xi'an, paralyze Wang Shijian, and buy time for the destruction of radio stations everywhere. It was not until the 4th day after the incident that the secret agents of the military command went to Xi'an to arrest an intelligence officer that Wang Shijian noticed the abnormality. However, he was still not sure whether there was an accident with Beiping Radio and decided to check it out in person. He bought a plane ticket and was about to board the plane when he was arrested by agents.
Martyr Of Sheshyan
After Wang Shijian was arrested, he also surrendered himself to the enemy and confessed more intelligence personnel, which spread to the entire northern intelligence system. The agents found that the landlord of the No. 24 courtyard of Jingzhao East Hutong was special. His name is Yuan Yongxi, he is the chief of the Beiping Civil Affairs Bureau, and he is also the son-in-law of Chen Bray, and he and his wife Chen Lian are both underground party members. Military command agents arrested Yuan Yongxi and his wife together.
In the Peiping Radio case, the traitors inflicted far more damage on the organization than the enemy.
Of course, the red agents have never lacked hard bones, and the arrested 5 people, including Ding Xingzhi, chief of the Military Justice Department of the Commander's Department of the 11 theaters, Xie Shiyan, chief of the Major General Department, Zhu Jianguo, acting major chief of the operations section, Kong Fanrui, chief staff officer, and Zhao Liangzhang, lieutenant staff officer of the Beiping Air Force Command, were tortured by the enemy, never betrayed the organization, and were eventually killed by the enemy, and they were called the "Five Martyrs of Beiping."
In addition, there are also some people who are lucky to escape. Chen Rongsheng, who had initially helped Yu Xinqing to send the newspaper, had been ordered to evacuate before the incident, and Wang Yeqiu and the secret agents of the military command had passed by and escaped in a thrilling way. There is also Zhao Wei, a major staff officer of the Northeast Security Command, who went to Beiping to return to Shenyang after sending intelligence on an adventure, and found that the situation was abnormal and escaped with tact.
Yu Xinqing was imprisoned, but Old Jiang, fearing offending the Northwest Army system, did not dispose of him, and Li Zongren released him after he came to power. Chen Lian and his wife resolutely refused to admit their identities, and were later handed over to Chen Bray by Lao Jiang for "strict discipline." According to Wang Ju's recollection, the organization originally planned to exchange Wang Shijian for Shen Drunk, the director of the captured General Affairs Office of the Military Command, but this failed to materialize. Wang Shijian went to the other side and later worked in the enemy secret service system.
Immediately after the incident, the central authorities took countermeasures. Zhou Enlai sent a telegram ordering the intelligence departments to immediately sever all kinds of horizontal ties and give stricter instructions to other intelligence personnel. Quickly find out the truth about the destruction of Beiping Radio and study the rescue of intelligence officers.
Most of these affairs were handled by Li Kenong, who, according to Wang Ju recalled, was seriously ill due to excessive grief and anxiety. Both eyes were swollen like peaches, and his throat was dumb, and he could not speak for more than ten days. His wife said he couldn't eat, couldn't sleep, and had a bad heart. Even so, Li Kenong continued to work to avoid further damage to the intelligence system.
Later, Li Kenong also took the initiative to write an inspection report to the central authorities and requested punishment. Zhou Enlai believed that even armed struggles have times of failure, not to mention covert struggles, as long as we earnestly learn lessons and do a good job in the aftermath. In order to encourage Li Kenong, he finally decided that "there is no need to discuss the matter".
The Beiping Radio case did cause great damage to the red intelligence system, but it was not as serious as the head of the secret service said that "half of the world was damaged.".
The Wang Shijian system is only one of many intelligence systems, and parallel to it are the Pan Hannian system, the Wu Kejian system, the Liu Shaowen system, and so on. Even in Xi'an, the center of Wang Shijian's system, there were several hidden forces directly led by the Central Intelligence Department. The Red Spy Network is still functioning.
At that time, the War of Liberation had entered the stage of strategic counter-offensive, the central government's dependence on intelligence was becoming less and less, and later historical facts also proved that the destruction of the northern intelligence system did not affect the process of the War of Liberation.
Looking back, the occurrence of the Beiping Radio case is actually difficult to avoid. At that time, many of the intelligence personnel and rebels developed in Peiping were from the 11th Theater, and they were already very familiar with it, and this kind of personal connection was difficult to cut. In addition, the intelligence system developed and controlled by Wang Shijian was too large, and many unnecessary horizontal links occurred in the middle. That's why the scope of the impact is so wide.
The Beiping Radio case is a bloody lesson that deserves our profound reflection. It is precisely because some people ignore organizational discipline and wave their beliefs after encountering danger that they have caused great harm to the organization. At any time, the emphasis on discipline and faith will never go out of style.
As the saying goes, failure is the mother of success, and it is through the lessons of blood again and again that the organization is becoming more and more perfect and powerful. This is also the greatness of the martyrs who sacrificed their lives, who, with their own blood and lives, laid the foundation for the glorious achievements achieved today. Just as the martyr Xie Shiyan wrote in prison, "How many heads and how much blood, continue to become a poem of democracy and freedom."
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