People are always surprised: During the War of Liberation, Yan'an knew very well Chiang Kai-shek's military deployment. Could it be divine help? In fact, this is not the case, all of this is the credit of a red female agent named Shen Anna .
Join the Revolution
Shen Anna, formerly known as Shen Wan, was born into a bureaucratic family in Taixing County, Jiangsu Province. Anna Shen practiced calligraphy and studied classical poetry under the guidance of her father since she was a child, which laid a solid foundation for her to enter the Kuomintang in the future.
In the winter of 1932, due to family financial difficulties, Shen Anna dropped out of school because she ran out of tuition. At this time, in order to support herself, Shen Anna entered Bingxun Shorthand School to study. While studying at school, Shen Anna's second sister, under the guidance of CCP members Shu Yuexin and Hua Mingzhi, participated in underground work and was responsible for confidential intelligence work.
At this time, the Kuomintang Zhejiang Provincial Government decided to recruit a stenographer in the stenography school, and Shen Anna was selected because of her excellent grades. But this opportunity, which others thought was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, was rejected by Ana Shen. Because it was during the White Terror period, Shen Anna was greatly disgusted with the Kuomintang's persecution of progressive young people.
Later, after Wang Xuewen, the head of the underground party, learned the news, he hoped that Shen Anna could break into the enemy and contribute to the party's intelligence work. Under the persuasion of Shu Yuexin and others, Shen Anna officially broke into the Kuomintang in January 1935.
At this time, the main force of the Red Army was fighting everywhere under the encirclement and suppression of the Kuomintang army, and Shen Anna's accurate intelligence provided an opportunity for the Red Army to get rid of the encirclement.
Wuhan to seek the Party
In early 1938, Shen Anna and her husband Hua Mingzhi discussed that her husband Hua Mingzhi would continue to work at the Railway Bureau, while Shen Anna would take a leave of absence with pay to go to Wuhan to seek the Party.
So why did Shen Anna make the decision to find a party organization? It turns out that Hua Mingzhi had long lost contact with the party organization after the "August 13th" incident. For this reason, Shen Anna decided to look for the party organization alone. The couple agreed that once they found the organization, they would send a telegram to Hua Mingzhi.
After staying in Changsha for two months, Shen Anna arrived at the Wuhan Eighth Route Army Office. Here, Anna Shen expressed her strong desire to request the organization to assign work. However, after discussion with Dong Biwu and others, they decided to let Shen Anna continue her old career and work within the Kuomintang.
Dong Biwu said to her kindly: "We all know your situation. As for your job, you should go work within the Kuomintang." In this way, Shen Anna once again broke into the Kuomintang and became a red agent.
broke into the Kuomintang Central Party Headquarters
In January 1939, Shen Anna was identified as the stenographer for the of the Fifth Plenary Session of the Fifth Central Committee of the Kuomintang and was responsible for keeping relevant documents of the meeting. This provided Shen Anna with an opportunity to obtain information.
At this conference, Shen Anna reported the meeting in a timely manner in accordance with the requirements of the organization. In addition, she also handed over the reactionary documents concocted by Chiang Kai-shek to Dong Biwu. Later, these documents were compiled into the pamphlet "Where Does Friction Come from" by the Yan'an authorities and published, which dealt a heavy blow to the arrogance of the Kuomintang reactionaries.
In the autumn of 1939, due to Shen Anna's outstanding performance, the Southern Bureau decided to accept Shen Anna to join the party and designated a special contact person for her, considering that Shen Anna had met the conditions to join the party.
The man who held Chiang Kai-shek's pulse
In April 1946, with Japan's unconditional surrender, the Kuomintang's central organs began to move back to Nanjing from Chongqing.
Throughout the War of Liberation, Shen Anna followed the instructions of the Southern Bureau and participated in all the Central Plenary Sessions of the Kuomintang and all important meetings. At the meeting, Shen Anna concentrated on recording the words and deeds of Bai Chongxi , Chiang Kai-shek and other Kuomintang military and political officials. It was like holding Chiang Kai-shek's pulse. Every beat of his was clearly recorded by Shen Anna.
On April 14, 1948, the Kuomintang's "Central Daily News" published a photo of Chiang Kai-shek holding a meeting in the auditorium.In the photo, Chiang Kai-shek is holding his hands on the podium and speaking seriously. Behind the rostrum, two stenographers, a man and a woman, were busy converting Chiang Kai-shek's words into shorthand symbols. The female stenographer close to Chiang Kai-shek is red agent Shen Anna. Chiang Kai-shek never dreamed that the "Communist Party" he was talking about was actually hiding beside him.
In May 1949, Shanghai was liberated, and Shen Anna and his wife finally returned to the embrace of the party. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Shen Anna and Hua Mingzhi entered the National Security Bureau and Shanghai National Security Bureau respectively until their retirement.
