In the spring of 1928, Shanghai was under white terror.
30-year-old Zhou Enlai received a report from Chen Geng. In this report, Chen Geng, as a subordinate of the Central Special Branch, asked Zhou En to make a decision: Should he absorb a young man from Guangdong named Yang Dengying to become an agent of our party?
To be honest, this report is a bit special:
First of all, since the establishment of the Central Special Branch in November 1927, Chen Geng has served as the chief of the Intelligence Section (Second Section), and he has developed a lot of agents. Under normal circumstances, there is no need to ask Zhou Enlai for instructions when developing these agents. He can make the decision himself.
Secondly, this young man from Guangdong was not the "seedling" discovered by Chen Geng. He was discovered and recommended by Comrade Chen Yangshan, our key intelligence officer on the front line.
Friends who know our party’s intelligence system should be familiar with the name “Chen Yangshan”. He had been active in enemy-controlled areas for a long time and was one of the backbone forces of the Central Special Branch at that time. Therefore, if Chen Yangshan wanted to develop one or two downlines at work, he did not need to alert leaders at Zhou Enlai's level.
In this case, why did the final report on recruiting new people still reach Zhou Enlai? The reason is simple: neither Chen Yangshan nor Chen Geng dare to make the decision and use Yang Dengying.
Soon, Chen Geng received a reply from Zhou Enlai:
In the struggle on the hidden front, such "inside lines" are indeed needed. I decided to keep this "inside line" and let Chen Geng contact and control it through a single line when necessary!
This was a careful decision made by Zhou Enlai after careful consideration. After many years, everyone will naturally understand its brilliance.
The top priority right now is that after receiving the order, Chen Geng must contact Yang Dengying immediately to discuss lurking matters.
1. Young Master wants to be a spy?
From the cautious attitudes of Chen Geng, Chen Yangshan, and Zhou Enlai, we can easily infer that Yang Dengying is indeed unusual compared with ordinary agents.
Yang Dengying was born in Guangdong Province in 1893. He grew up in a good family and received a good education. When I was 18 years old, my family sent me to Japan to study, and I enrolled in the famous Waseda University.
With a good family background and a good education background, Yang Dengying returned to Shanghai after graduation and naturally became an elite. Because he is proficient in Japanese, he writes for many Japanese news agencies at the same time, and he is familiar with Japan's politics, economy, and culture.
Young Yang Dengying has an important trait: extremely strong social skills.
On the one hand, he was very close to the patriotic youth and supported the student patriotic movement, so he met many communists directly or indirectly, including Chen Yangshan who was active in Shanghai;
On the other hand, because there were fellow villagers here He served in the national army, and Yang Dengying, Chen Lifu, and other senior officials of the national army also knew each other. At the same time, Yang Dengying also had many contacts with gangs on the beach.
In short, in Shanghai at that time, young Yang Dengying was a very "easy to eat" and "easy to get around" figure. He frequently went to various cocktail parties and interacted with people from all walks of life while drinking and drinking. The philosophy of making friends he believes in is very simple: one more friend means one more path, and it is always right to make more friends.
But this "social balance" was quickly broken. On April 12, 1927, Chiang Kai-shek launched a counter-revolutionary coup in Shanghai. This news made Yang Dengying extremely angry, and he publicly condemned it many times.
But the matter has come to this, and it is useless to be angry. Yang Dengying must make a decision: whether to help Chen Yangshan and other Communist friends, or to help the Kuomintang. After much thought, Yang Dengying found Chen Yangshan and said: I am willing to help you secretly.
Chen Yangshan has been in contact with Yang Dengying for so long, so he naturally understands his sincerity. So, he immediately reported the situation to Chen Geng, and finally got Zhou Enlai's personal decision.
Seeing this, I believe friends will have a clear understanding of why they should be so cautious in recruiting Yang Dengying.
It is indeed difficult for a young man who has been in Shanghai for many years, has inextricable connections with the top brass of the national army, and is accustomed to spending a lot of money in his personal lifestyle to be associated with a red agent.
However, Zhou Enlai finally agreed. After all, in the Central Special Branch system at that time, there were too few agents like Yang Dengying who had access to all kinds of people.
So, in May 1928, Chen Geng made an appointment with Yang Dengying in a coffee shop on Xiafei Road, Shanghai.
Chen Geng, who was only 25 years old at the time, used the pseudonym Wang Yong and was active in Shanghai. Yang Dengying understood: meeting Wang Yong was actually contacting the leadership of the underground party organization of the Chinese Communist Party.
This is destined to be a crucial conversation. This is true for Yang Dengying; it is also true for Chen Geng.
During the detailed conversation, Yang Dengying did not hide anything. He told all the relationships between himself and the senior officials of the national army one by one. And sincerely hope that Chen Geng can understand: these relationships were all established before the "April 12" incident.
Chen Geng admires Yang Dengying's sincerity very much. His instruction to Yang Dengying was that he hoped that he would continue to establish close ties with the Shanghai Party Headquarters of the Kuomintang, the Shanghai Songhu Security Headquarters, the patrol rooms of the Public Concession, and the French Concession for future use.
Of course, in order to show his support for Yang Dengying, Chen Geng also promised on the spot: not only will he give him 300 Dayang's activity expenses every month in the future, but he will also cooperate with his work in other aspects as long as he needs it.
When the Central Special Branch was in such a difficult situation, Chen Geng spent 300 yuan on activity expenses every month. Chen Geng’s expectations for Yang Dengying were not low.
2. Chen Geng’s arrangements: with bodyguards and secretaries
After meeting Chen Geng, Yang Dengying became a sharp sword for our army, piercing the heart of the enemy. After that, he basically reported information directly to Chen Geng.
Many friends may see this and think that a social veteran like Yang Dengying should have no problem working as an agent. If you think so, you obviously underestimate the ruthlessness of the enemies during the White Terror. In fact, those years were the period when the backbone of my underground party suffered the greatest losses.
For Yang Dengying, who was an agent for the first time, it was precisely because he understood the ruthlessness of the enemy that he became panicked. He once approached Chen Geng and pointed out his difficulty: he didn't know how to make the enemy trust him. If the enemy wants to ask him about the results of his work to "suppress communism", but he can't produce anything, what should he do?
In response to this, Chen Geng's reply was: Don't worry, we will continue to provide you with our documents, leaflets, and some government publications for you to submit to the Kuomintang. At the same time, Chen Geng also specially arranged some "meeting venues" and prepared some documents to make it look like the Communists had just finished a meeting. When Yang Dengying led the Kuomintang to investigate, although no one could be arrested, these things could prove that he had done something.
Of course, after doing this, Chen Geng also made an important arrangement: assigning Yang Dengying a bodyguard and a female secretary.
It can be said that this arrangement is a real "reassurance pill" for Yang Dengying. After all, having your comrades around you can minimize risks at critical moments.
The bodyguard’s name is Lien Desheng.
Lien Desheng was one of Chen Geng’s most capable assistants at the time and was also an intelligence veteran. He is from Zhejiang. He fled to Shanghai in his early years and joined our party after participating in the workers' uprising. In 1925, he was sent to Moscow to study systematically.
sent Lien Desheng to be Yang Dengying's bodyguard: first, because he was tall and strong, and he really looked like a bodyguard; second, he was bold and careful, and was familiar with the environment in Shanghai; third, because he had worked in As a member of the Central Special Branch, I have seen many big scenes and can stay calm at critical moments.
And this female secretary also has a lot of background.
Her name is An'e. Yes, you read that right, she was the famous female playwright who later became the wife of Tian Han.In fact, among the female underground workers of our party at that time, there were a large number of patriotic literary and artistic young women like An'e.
An'e came from a scholarly family. After joining our party at the age of 20, she was sent to the Soviet Union to study like Lien Desheng. After returning to China in 1929, she also entered the Central Special Branch and became a female general under Chen Geng.
Lian Desheng and An'e, one as a bodyguard and the other as a female secretary, were sent one after another. Yang Dengying's spy career can be described as "even more powerful than a tiger." After that, his official position in the enemy camp became larger and larger.
After 1930, Yang Dengying was appointed by Xu Enzeng as the special commissioner of the National Army in Shanghai. To show the importance he attached to him, Chen Lifu personally went to Shanghai and handed him the letter of appointment signed by Chiang Kai-shek.
From then on, whenever Yang Dengying had new information, he basically did not need to take action personally. He only needed to hand it over to Lian Desheng and An'e, and it would be delivered to Chen Geng as quickly as possible. Later, when Chen Geng talked about this period of history, he confidently said:
"At that time, the Kuomintang's secret service in Shanghai was actually in our hands."
Just by Chen Geng's words, we can fully imagine how awesome the line of Yang Dengying, Lien Desheng, and An'e was at that time!
3. After making extraordinary achievements, he was exposed!
began to lurk in 1928 and was exposed in 1931. Yang Dengying's lurking time was not long among agents, but he made extraordinary achievements several times. Due to space issues, the author only mentions two things so that everyone can understand the importance of his line at that time.
The first thing is to eradicate the traitor Bai Xin.
In August 1929, Peng Pai, then secretary of the Central Committee of Agriculture, rushed to Shanghai for a meeting. On the afternoon of the 24th, the meeting was held in a small building in Huxi District, Shanghai. Zhou Enlai was originally going to attend at that time, but he couldn't go because of something else. Unexpectedly, not long after the meeting started, the enemy surrounded the small building, and many comrades including Peng Pai were arrested on the spot.
After the incident, Zhou Enlai was heartbroken. He immediately called Chen Geng to discuss and arranged two things:
First, the meeting was conducted in secret. Only a few people knew that there must be a traitor among us. In order to avoid other losses, this person must be eliminated;
Secondly, the arrested comrade must be rescued at all costs.
If they wanted to accomplish these two things, Zhou Enlai and Chen Geng thought of Yang Dengying. Under the circumstances, there was no other way but to let Yang Dengying take action.
Given Yang Dengying's position in the enemy camp, it is not difficult to find out who the traitor is. Soon, Chen Geng and Zhou Enlai received a name: Bai Xin.
This person graduated from Huangpu Military Academy and served as Peng Pai's secretary. After "April 12", Bai Xin became more and more frightened as he thought about it, and came up with the idea of rebelling and surrendering to the enemy. He contacted Fan Zhengbo, director of the Intelligence Department of the Shanghai Party Headquarters of the Kuomintang, early on and betrayed the address where Peng Pai and others were meeting.
After it became clear that Bai Xin was a traitor, Zhou Enlai directed the rescue work. Unfortunately, due to the disparity in strength between the enemy and ourselves, although Yang Dengying provided an escort route, the rescue was not successful in the end. On August 30, Peng Pai and others were killed in Longhua.
The hero has passed away, but the traitors must be eliminated. Subsequently, Zhou Enlai issued an "anti-rape order" to Chen Geng against Bai Xin. At this time, Bai Xin was well aware of his situation and did not dare to show his face at all. Chen Geng led the anti-rape team to search all over Shanghai but could not find him. In the end, Bai Xin's location and travel route were determined based on the dual information from Yang Dengying and doctor Ke Lin (a doctor lurking in enemy-controlled areas).
On November 11, 1929, at the entrance of a mansion on Xiafei Road, , Bai Xin was preparing to leave for Nanjing to claim credit. Just as he was about to get into the car, three members of the Central Special Branch shot at him. The shameful traitor fell in a pool of blood. Before the enemy could react, the anti-traitor team had already left.
successfully eliminated Bai Xin, which not only avenged Peng Pai and others, but also avoided greater losses. After all, this person knows a lot. In this matter, the information provided by Yang Dengying made a great contribution.
Yang Dengying’s second greatest contribution was to protect Zhou Enlai.
Premier Zhou experienced many dangers in his life. This time in Shanghai in 1930, thanks to Yang Dengying's intelligence, nothing happened.
In 1930, Zhou Enlai received a letter from his former "disciple" Huang Dihong in Shanghai, saying that he had returned from studying in the Soviet Union and asked his "mentor" if he could arrange a job for him.
Huang Dihong was born in the Whampoa Military Academy. He met Zhou Enlai when he was the director of the political department at the school. It was precisely because of this relationship that when Huang Dihong proposed to meet next to the post and telecommunications office, Zhou Enlai did not refuse at first.
At this time, Yang Dengying hurriedly sent out intelligence: Huang Dihong had rebelled. As soon as he returned to China, he wrote a secret letter to Chiang Kai-shek, saying that he was still in contact with Zhou Enlai and would definitely be able to ask him out. After the matter is completed, I hope that Principal Jiang will reuse him.
At that time, this matter was top secret information, and Chiang Kai-shek directly handed the letter and instructions to his confidant Chen Lifu. Chen Lifu handed the matter over to the spy chief Xu Enzeng. Yang Dengying told Chen Geng: My source of information is Xu Enzeng, it cannot be wrong!
Under such circumstances, Zhou Enlai would certainly not keep the appointment again. Finally, with the support of the Central Special Branch, Huang Dihong's rebellion was confirmed. One evening in early winter, two young men wearing top hats knocked on the door of Huang Dihong's house. The traitor who almost posed a threat to Zhou Enlai was successfully eliminated.
The above two things are only a very small part of Yang Dengying's extraordinary achievements. The more missions an agent performs, the greater the risk of exposure. However, Yang Dengying was exposed not because of his personal skills, but because of the betrayal of Gu Shunzhang, the backbone of the Central Special Branch.
Gu Shunzhang is very clear about the situation of Special Branch . His rebellion caused devastating damage to the Shanghai underground intelligence network. At that time, Chen Geng had actually notified Yang Dengying and asked him to transfer quickly.
Yang Dengying was very moved when he saw that Chen Geng risked his life to inform him at such a time. However, he still wanted to stay and give it a try. He believed that his identity should be able to withstand the enemy's scrutiny.
Chen Geng saw that he couldn't persuade him, so he could only tell him: "If Gu Shunzhang bites you to death, you will bite him back!" Before leaving, Yang Dengying held Chen Geng's hand and said, "Even if I go up the mountain of swords and into the sea of fire, I will not do it." I regret making a friend like you!" After saying that, Chen Geng disappeared into the night and ran to another battlefield.
Shortly after Chen Geng left, at the end of April, Yang Dengying was indeed arrested and imprisoned. Fortunately, in the end, because the enemy could not catch evidence and his old superior released him on bail, he was released. However, he has lost contact with Chen Geng and others since then.
4. After the founding of the People's Republic of China
After the founding of New China, Yang Dengying did not return to his hometown. He was 56 years old at the time and living with his family in Nanjing. Although he is just an ordinary person, he lives a very practical life.
What he didn't expect was that two years later, when the local government reviewed his history, they discovered that he had served as a high-ranking official in the Kuomintang government, so they arrested him. Only then did Yang Dengying reveal his identity at that time and said: Chen Geng can testify for me.
Seeing that what he said was clear-cut, the comrades in the court quickly reported the situation to Chen Geng. Chen Geng was naturally overjoyed to learn that Yang Dengying was still alive. He immediately issued a certificate:
He had contacted me at work before 1931, and he had made great contributions to the party during this period...
At the same time, the person who recommended him to Chen Geng that year After Chen Yangshan learned about his situation, he also wrote to Nanjing to prove that he had made great contributions.
With their two proofs, Yang Dengying was immediately released. Since then, Chen Yangshan and Chen Geng have kept in contact with Yang Dengying and often took care of his life.
In March 1956, Chen Geng specially invited Yang Dengying to a gathering in Beijing. After Chen Yangshan learned about it, he went to the train station to pick him up in person. Everyone was filled with emotion when old friends reunited. Among the crowd, Yang Dengying saw a familiar figure: An'e.
20 They haven't seen each other for many years, but their old friendship is still there. He and An'e have endless things to talk about.And when An'e mentioned the "bodyguard" Lien Desheng, Yang Dengying was heartbroken.
It turns out that after Gu Shunzhang's rebellion, Lian Desheng was transferred to the Central Soviet Area. After the Long March, the main force of the Red Army, he was ordered to stay in the Soviet area and continue to fight. Later, he was surrounded by enemies in 1935 and died heroically at the age of 42.
Being able to see many old friends in Beijing has fulfilled Yang Dengying’s long-cherished wish. Since then, the Nanjing Public Security Bureau has given him a monthly living allowance of 100 yuan. At that time, this could already solve a big problem for his family. On December 19, 1969, Yang Dengying died of illness in Nanjing.
Epilogue:
General Chen Geng passed away in 1961. In the last few years of his life, every time he went to Nanjing for business, he would go to Yang Dengying to reminisce about the past. Today, we no longer know what the old friends talked about. But one thing is for sure, those who fought side by side during those difficult years will never be forgotten.
