In 1935, a news item in Shanghai's "Declaration" shocked the world: "The case of the mysterious Westerners in Shanghai...... Yuan Shu was transferred to the Hubei Provincial Hospital". The Introspection Yuan, a special prison controlled by the KMT's CC department, specializes in "political prisoners". Yuan Shu, a talented man who is quite famous in the literary world, how could he have a relationship with the "mysterious Westerner"? And why was he sent to the notorious Introspection House? What is even more puzzling is why Dai Li, as the director of the Military Command Bureau, only detained Yuan Shu for just eight months and then released him from prison? What's the secret behind this?
Everyone knows that Shanghai Tang in 1935 was treacherous, but they don't know that behind this bustling city, an earth-shattering spy war is being staged. The protagonist of this spy war is the "mysterious Westerner" who gave Dai Li, the director of the Military Command Bureau, a headache.
It is said that in the summer of that year, a bombshell news suddenly came from the Hubei Station of the Military Command: they arrested a Communist Party member named Guan Zhaonan. This was an ordinary arrest operation, but unexpectedly it triggered a series of incredible incidents.
Guan Zhaonan was originally an ordinary member of the Communist Party, but under the coercion and temptation of the military commanders, he actually chose to betray the organization. This betrayal, like the first domino, set off a series of chain reactions. Under the leadership of Guan Zhaonan, the military commanders soon arrested the communist traffic officer Lu Haiphong.
The arrest of Lu Haiphong undoubtedly opened Pandora's box. During the interrogation, Lu Haiphong revealed an astonishing news: Walton, the head of the Chinese branch of the Comintern, was in Shanghai! This news made the military commanders excited, and they immediately launched a large-scale search and arrest operation.
The hard work paid off, and after some careful deployment, the military commander finally arrested Walton in a secret stronghold in Shanghai. However, when they brought this "big fish" back to the interrogation room, they encountered an unprecedented predicament.
This foreigner, Walton, is like a silent stone statue, no matter how the military commander interrogates him, he never says a word. Not to mention any confidential information, even the most basic name, age, and nationality are not willing to disclose half a word. This situation is tricky even for the experienced military commanders.
What made the military commander's spies even more incredible was that this Walton did not carry any documents or materials that could prove his identity. In those days, it was simply unheard of for a foreigner to be so "clean"!
In this way, this mysterious foreigner was called "Strange Westerner" by the military commanders because of his strange behavior. And this case is therefore known as the "Mysterious Westerner Case".
However, the matter is far from over. During a body search of Walton, the military agents found a seemingly ordinary notebook. This humble notebook became a turning point in the whole case.
The agents flipped through the notebook, hoping to find a clue. Just when they were about to give up, a name suddenly came into view - Yuan Shu! How could this talented man, who was quite famous in the literary world, end up in the notebook of a Comintern agent?
The agents of the military command immediately launched an investigation and soon found out Yuan Shu's whereabouts. They quickly sent people to arrest Yuan Shu, hoping to get more information about Walton from him.
However, what the military commander did not expect was that Yuan Shu did not know anything about this case. He claimed that he didn't know Walton at all, and he didn't know why his contact information appeared in the other party's notebook.
This unexpected situation has made the already confusing "mysterious Westerner case" even more complicated. The agents of the military command were in a dilemma: they could not get any information from Walton's mouth, nor could they determine the connection of Yuan Shu to the case.
It was then that an unexpected discovery turned the case around. During the interrogation of Yuan Shu, the military commander discovered that he had some unknown connection with the CCP. This discovery changed the nature of the entire case and made Yuan Shu's situation more dangerous.
As the military commander's interrogation of Yuan Shu deepened, an unexpected fact gradually surfaced. This well-known literati in Shanghai had secret ties with the CCP. This discovery not only shocked the military commanders, but also added new suspicions to the "mysterious Westerner case."
It all started in 1934. That year, Yuan Shu suddenly lost contact with Pan Hannian, the liaison of the Chinese Communist Party. As a cautious underground worker, Yuan Shu was aware that the situation might change, but he did not want to give up his ideals and beliefs. So, he thought of his old friend, Xia Yan, who is also a celebrity in the literary world.
Although Xia Yan is also an underground party member, his identity is more hidden. Yuan Shu asked Xia Yan to help reconnect with the CCP, hoping to continue to contribute to the revolutionary cause. Xia Yan knew the importance of this matter, and immediately forwarded Yuan Shu's handwritten letter to Cai Shuhou, the person in charge of Tek in Shanghai at that time.
When Cai Shuhou received this letter, he was preparing to leave for Moscow to work in the Far Eastern Intelligence Bureau of the Comintern. When he saw Yuan Shu's letter, he immediately realized that this was a rare opportunity. As a well-known figure in Shanghai's cultural circles, Yuan Shu's social network and ability to obtain information are extremely valuable. Cai Shuhou believes that the Far East Intelligence Bureau is in need of talents like Yuan Shu.
As a result, Cai Shuhou made a bold decision: he arranged a new upline connector for Yuan Shu and integrated him directly into the intelligence network of the Far East Bureau of the Comintern. This decision seemed very reasonable at the time. After all, Yuan Shu's identity and ability are fully qualified for this important and dangerous role.
However, Cai Shuhou's decision inadvertently laid a huge hidden danger for Yuan Shu. Because in the process, Yuan Shu did not know that he had become an intelligence officer of the Far East Bureau of the Comintern. He simply followed the instructions, contacted the new liaison, and continued the underground work.
This new liaison was Lu Haiphong, who was later arrested by the military commander and defected. Lu Haiphong, as Yuan Shu's upline, has a lot of information about Yuan Shu. When he chose to betray under the interrogation of the military commander, this information naturally fell into the hands of the military commander.
In this way, Yuan Shu was unknowingly involved in a spy network that was far bigger and more dangerous than he imagined. Originally, he just wanted to continue to do what he could for the CCP, but unknowingly became a member of the Far East Bureau of the Comintern.
When the military commander's spies opened the inconspicuous notebook and saw Yuan Shu's contact information, they didn't know that they had touched the tip of the iceberg of a huge international spy network. For them, Yuan Shu is just a suspect who may have a connection to the "mysterious Westerners".
However, as the interrogation deepened, the military commander gradually realized that things were not simple. They discovered that Yuan Shu was not only connected to the CCP, but also may have been involved in the secret activities of the Comintern. This discovery made the already complex case even more confusing.
In the face of the interrogation of the military commander, Yuan Shu insisted at first that he did not know Walton, and he did not know why his contact information appeared in the other party's notebook. However, when the military commanders came up with more evidence, especially the testimony of Lu Haifeng, Yuan Shu realized that there was no point in continuing to deny it.
Under these circumstances, Yuan Shu made a difficult but courageous decision: he admitted that he was doing things for the Communist Party. This acknowledgment has undoubtedly given a major breakthrough to the military reunification. But at the same time, it also brought great danger to Yuan Shu himself.
Yuan Shu's confession convinced the military commanders that they had caught a big fish. However, what they don't know is that Yuan Shu's admission is only the tip of the iceberg. There are many more mysteries to be solved about the secrets of the Far Eastern Bureau of the Comintern, about the true identity of that mysterious "Westerner" Walton.
In this way, Yuan Shu was involved in a thrilling spy war that far exceeded his imagination. His fate has since been closely linked with that mysterious "Westerner" Walton, and it is also closely related to the revolutionary cause of the whole of China. And that's just the beginning of the whole story.
Yuan Shu's confession brought a major breakthrough to the military commander, but at the same time, it also brought a thorny problem to Dai Li. As the director of the Military Command Bureau, Dai Li knows that Yuan Shu's value is far more than that. He decided to take the case on his own, hoping to gain more valuable information from it.
In August 1935, Dai Li ordered Yuan Shu to be secretly escorted from Shanghai to Wuhan. There, Yuan Shu was imprisoned in the Hubei Provincial Yuan, which was controlled by the Kuomintang Central Control faction (CC faction). This special prison is dedicated to the detention and "reform" of political prisoners. Dai Li's choice to send Yuan Shu here obviously had his own thoughtful considerations.
During this time, Yuan Shu faced tremendous pressure. On the one hand, he had to deal with harsh interrogations by military commanders; On the other hand, he has to be careful to protect those secrets that he believes cannot be revealed. It was a contest of wits and will, and Yuan Shu showed surprising tenacity.
However, Dai Lia is not a person who will only use strong tactics. He is well versed in human nature and knows that pressure alone may not get the desired results. So, after the interrogation went on for a while, Dai Li's strategy changed.
Dai Li began to exert psychological pressure on Yuan Shu. He had some news of the struggle and split within the Communist Party passed on to Yuan Shu in an attempt to shake his faith. At the same time, Dai Li also sent someone to reveal some of the internal situation of the Kuomintang to Yuan Shu, suggesting that if Yuan Shu was willing to cooperate, he would receive preferential treatment.
This strategy of both soft and hard did have a certain impact on Yuan Shu. Over the course of months-long interrogations, Yuan Shu gradually revealed some information about the Communist Party's underground organization. However, Dai Li was keenly aware that most of the information Yuan Shu said was outdated or irrelevant details.
Dai Li realized that although Yuan Shu cooperated on the surface, he was actually still reserved. This made Dai Li feel annoyed, and he couldn't help but have a trace of respect for Yuan Shu. He began to wonder if he should treat this particular prisoner differently.
It was then that an unexpected event turned the whole situation around. In early 1936, a high-ranking Communist Party official named Gu Shunzhang was arrested by the Kuomintang. Gu Shunzhang chose to defect after his arrest, providing the Kuomintang with a large amount of secret information about the Communist Party.
Some of this information involved Yuan Shu. By comparing the information provided by Gu Shunzhang with Yuan Shu's confession, Dai Li found that although Yuan Shu had reservations during the interrogation, he basically did not lie. This discovery made Dai Li's view of Yuan Shu change subtly.
Dai Li began to consider whether he could use Yuan Shu in a more flexible way. He believes that intellectuals like Yuan Shu, if they can win them over, will become a great help to the Kuomintang.
So, after Yuan Shu was imprisoned for about eight months, Dai Li made a surprising decision: he ordered Yuan Shu's release. This decision caused quite a lot of controversy within the military command at that time. Many people believe that Yuan Shu, as a member of the Communist Party, should not have been released so easily.
But Dai Lian has his own considerations. He believed that by releasing Yuan Shu, he could send a signal to the Communist Party that the Kuomintang would grant leniency as long as they were willing to repent. At the same time, he also hopes that in this way, he will plant a seed of gratitude in Yuan Shu's heart, and pave the way for possible rebellion in the future.
In April 1936, Yuan Shu was officially released. When he walked out of the gate of the Hubei Provincial Hospital, he not only regained his freedom, but also embarked on a new road full of unknowns. Dai Li's decision not only changed Yuan Shu's fate, but also laid the groundwork for future historical development.
Yuan Shu's release marks the end of a phase of the "Mysterious Westerner Case". However, the complex network of relationships involved in this case, as well as the fate of Yuan Shu himself, are far from settled. In the years to come, how will Yuan Shu face the dual pressure of the Communist Party and the Kuomintang? And how will he find his place in this thrilling spy war? These problems will be revealed one by one in the subsequent historical development.
With the in-depth investigation of Yuan Shu's case, the true identity of the "mysterious Westerner" Walton gradually surfaced, revealing a little-known spy history. Behind this seemingly ordinary Western name, Walton hides the astonishing identity of a legendary spy.
Walton's real name was Richard Sorg, a member of the German Communist Party and a high-ranking agent of the Soviet Red Army intelligence service. Sorg was born in Baku, Azerbaijan, in 1895, to a German petroleum engineer father and a Russian mother. This family background laid the foundation for his later career as a spy.
In 1919, Sorge joined the German Communist Party and soon became a key member of the party. His talent and enthusiasm attracted the attention of Soviet intelligence. In 1929, Sorge officially became an agent of the Main Directorate of Soviet Military Intelligence (GRU) and began his legendary career as a spy.
Sorge's first important mission was to travel to China. In 1930, he came to Shanghai as a German journalist and began to build his own intelligence network. It was during this period that he became acquainted with a group of Chinese intellectuals such as Yuan Shu and developed them into his own source of intelligence.
During his stay in Shanghai, Sorg not only collected a large amount of intelligence on the situation in China, but also successfully warned Japan of the imminent launch of the "September 18 Incident." This important piece of information greatly enhanced Sorge's position in Soviet intelligence.
In 1933, Sorge was ordered to go to Japan. In Japan, under the cover of being a special correspondent for the German newspaper Frankfurter Zeitung, he successfully broke into the inner circle of the German embassy in Japan. He developed a close relationship with the German ambassador Ojgen Ott and even became a personal adviser to the ambassador.
Sorg's work in Japan was a great success. Not only did he obtain a large amount of classified information about Japan's military and politics, but he also succeeded in giving early warning of Germany's plans to invade the Soviet Union. This intelligence played a key role in the Soviet Union's strategic deployment in World War II.
However, Sorg's success also attracted the attention of the Japanese secret services. On October 18, 1941, Sorge and members of his intelligence network were arrested by the Japanese gendarmerie. In the interrogation that followed, Sorge showed remarkable tenacity and loyalty. Despite the torture he faced, he never revealed any classified information about the Soviet Union.
On November 7, 1944, Richard Sorg was hanged at Sugamo Prison in Tokyo. Until the last moment of his life, he remained faithful to his ideals. Sorge's sacrifice marked the end of an era and also wrote a strong stroke in the history of espionage during World War II.
Returning to the "Mysterious Westerner Case", when the military commander finally confirmed that Walton was Richard Sorg, the nature of the whole case changed radically. This is no longer just a simple espionage case involving the CCP, but a major case involving the international communist movement and Soviet intelligence agencies.
This discovery made Dai realize that they had inadvertently touched a vast international spy network. Yuan Shu is just a small link in this network, and Solger is the core of the whole network. This also explains why Yuan Shu remained silent during the interrogation - he may not know who the "Walton" he came into contact with was sacred.
The revelation of Sorge's identity also made the military commander re-examine the entire case. They began to track down all of Sorge's contacts during his activities in China, trying to reconstruct the full picture of this vast intelligence network. This work continued for a long time, even after the end of World War II.
However, since Sorge had already been executed by the Japanese, much of the key information became an eternal mystery with his death. The military commander was able to confirm that only Sorge had contact with Yuan Shu and others, but it was impossible to know what information was transmitted and where this information eventually went.
Despite this, the findings of the "Mysterious Westerner Case" still had a profound impact on the Nationalist Government. It not only revealed the extent of the Comintern's penetration in China, but also exposed the security loopholes within the KMT. This prompted the Nationalist government to strengthen its prevention of espionage activities, and at the same time to increase its surveillance of intellectual groups.
For Yuan Shu, the revelation of Sorge's identity is undoubtedly a huge shock. He probably never imagined that he would be involved in such a large international spy network. This discovery may also be one of the reasons why Dai Li finally decided to release Yuan Shu - in the face of this complex situation, Yuan Shu's role has become insignificant.
The results of the investigation of the "Mysterious Westerner Case" not only changed the trajectory of Yuan Shu's life, but also added a thought-provoking footnote to a special period in China's modern history. It shows how ordinary people were unwittingly drawn into the whirlpool of international politics in that era of change, and also revealed the little-known secret wrestling behind the contest of great powers.
The aftermath of the "Mysterious Westerner Case" is far from subsiding, and it has had a profound impact on China's politics, society, and even international relations. This case not only revealed the complexity of the international spy network, but also exposed the many shortcomings of the Kuomintang government in intelligence work, and indirectly affected the CCP's underground work strategy.
First, within the KMT, the case triggered a series of rectifications and reforms. Dai Li took advantage of this opportunity to vigorously promote the reorganization of the military command and the improvement of its working methods. He advocated strengthening the infiltration and monitoring of intellectuals, and at the same time stressed the need to improve the professional quality of intelligence personnel. To a certain extent, these measures have improved the efficiency of the work of the military command, but they have also led to further tension in the social atmosphere.
In 1937, the Nationalist Government promulgated the Interim Regulations on the Prevention of Espionage, which was directly related to the "Mysterious Westerner Case". The ordinance significantly expands the government's powers in counter-espionage efforts, making it possible to consider many acts that would otherwise not constitute a crime to be considered espionage. This change had a huge impact on the society of the time, and many intellectuals panicked as a result, and some even chose to leave the big cities to escape possible political persecution.
For the CCP, the impact of the "mysterious Westerner case" is equally far-reaching. Although Yuan Shu was eventually released, the case exposed some of the weaknesses of the CCP's underground organization. In response to this situation, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China decided to adjust the way of underground work. They have strengthened the ideological education of party members, emphasizing the need to be more vigilant, and at the same time improving the means of contact and minimizing direct contact to reduce the risk of detection.
At the international level, the impact of the "Mysterious Westerner Case" cannot be ignored. The case exposed a corner of the Soviet intelligence network in China, which made the Nationalist government more cautious about the Soviet Union. At the same time, the Japanese side has also stepped up intelligence infiltration into China because of this case. They believed that if the Soviet Union could build such a large intelligence network in China, then Japan should also invest more in it.
However, the impact of the case is not limited to the political and intelligence spheres. In cultural circles, the "Mysterious Westerner Case" has sparked a debate about the responsibility of intellectuals. Many people are beginning to reflect on the role of intellectuals in times of national crisis. This discussion has influenced the creation of many writers and artists, resulting in a number of literary and artistic works that reflect this theme.
In the world of education, the case has also had far-reaching implications. The Nationalist Government has tightened its control over universities, especially the departments of foreign languages and social sciences. Some professors who were thought to be possibly linked to the international communist movement were dismissed or transferred, which affected the development of higher education in China to some extent.
For ordinary people, "The Mysterious Westerner Case" is like a realistic version of a spy war novel, which has aroused widespread attention and discussion. Many people began to be suspicious of the "foreigners" around them, and this atmosphere even affected people-to-people exchanges between China and Western countries.
However, the impact of the case was not all negative. It has also contributed to the modernization and professionalization of China's intelligence work. After this case, the military commanders began to draw more on advanced international experience and improve their methods of intelligence gathering and analysis. These advances played an important role in the later Sino-Japanese War.
In addition, the case has also indirectly promoted the development of journalism in China. Many newspapers sent special investigative reporters to cover this sensational case, which was relatively new at the time. The work of these journalists not only enriches the coverage of cases, but also contributes to the professional development of journalism in China.
As time passed, the "Mysterious Westerner Case" gradually faded from the public eye, but its impact has been around for a long time. It has changed the fate of many people and has also left a deep mark on China's modern history. This case became an important window into that special era, reflecting the complex international relations and various contradictions in Chinese society at that time.
After the end of World War II, with the declassification of more relevant materials, people have a new understanding of the "mysterious Westerner case". It is no longer just a simple espionage case, but is regarded as a microcosm of the international political game in China in the 30s of the 20th century. The study of this case has also become an important entry point for understanding the political ecology and social conditions in China at that time.