Yan Youwen was a CCP ace sleeper agent, lurking in the Kuomintang, and in November 1939, he was sent by the Ministry of Social Affairs of the CCP to infiltrate the troops of the Kuomintang northwest warlord Ma Hongkui. Later, Yan Youwen was transferred to the Fu Zuoyi Department of the Jin Army. He successively served as secretary to General Fu Zuoyi, director of the Information Division of Major General, director of the Struggle Daily, and deputy director of the Political Work Division of the General Headquarters of the "Suppression of Bandits" in North China. According to the instructions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Yan Youwen has been lurking in the Kuomintang for a long time. During the entire Anti-Japanese War, Yan Youwen, an ace agent, has always been an "idle chess player". Not enabled.
CCP secret agent Yan Youwen
It was not until the eve of the outbreak of the Liberation War that the Central Intelligence Department used Yan Youwen's "cold chess piece". Yan Youwen provided a large amount of intelligence for our party, made great contributions to the war of liberation, and was commended by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.
Yan Youwen also represented Fu Zuoyi in peace talks with the CCP. On January 22, 1949, Yan Youwen, in his capacity as deputy director of the Political Work Division of the General Headquarters for the Suppression of Bandits in North China, officially announced the Beiping Peace Agreement and Fu Zuoyi's proclamation. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Yan Youwen became director of the General Staff of Fu Zuoyi, Minister of Water Resources, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and director of the Grain and Oil Production Bureau of the People's Republic of China Ministry of Agriculture. But his true identity has been kept under great secrecy. It wasn't until 1993, 31 years after his death, that Yan Youwen's true identity was declassified and known to his children and the public. In the history of the CCP, there are not many red agents, but Yan Youwen is the only agent who has not been declassified for 31 years after liberation.
Luo Qingchang, then director of the Intelligence Office of the Social Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China
In 1962, Yan Youwen, who was the director of the Grain and Oil Production Bureau of the Ministry of Agriculture, died of esophageal cancer in Beijing at the age of 48. Yan Youwen was buried in the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery. His identity has still not been "declassified".
The tomb of Yan Youwen and his wife
The tombstone is engraved with the inscription:
Comrade Yan Youwen, a native of Wanrong County, Shanxi Province, was born on July 6, 1914. He was a member of the National Committee of the Chinese National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, director of the Grain and Oil Production Bureau of the People's Republic of China Ministry of Agriculture, and a member of the Communist Party of China. Comrade Yan Youwen suffered from esophageal cancer in April 1961 and died on 25 September 1961 at the age of 48 after long-term treatment in specialized hospitals in Shanghai and Beijing. In the early days of liberation, Comrade Yan Youwen served as deputy director of the Political Department of the Suiyuan Military Region and director of the Office of the 23 rd Corps, and in September 1951 he went to the Korean front with the Chinese People's Volunteers. He participated in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, and served as deputy director of the Secretariat of the General Office of the North China Administrative Committee in 1952, deputy director of the Farmland and Water Conservancy Bureau of the Ministry of Water Resources in 1954, and director of the Grain and Oil Production Bureau of the Ministry of Agriculture in February 1961.
Comrade Yan Youwen is conscientious and responsible, conscientious, approachable, and tireless.
Ministry of Agriculture of the People's Republic of China
This inscription is very strange, and there are several wordings that make people think about it: since he is a member of the Communist Party, it is common sense that he should indicate the time of participating in the revolution and the time of joining the party, but there is no one in the inscription. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Yan Youwen's successive positions were clear, but the part before the founding of New China was replaced by the vague phrase "I have done a lot of work for the revolution in the past."
General Fu Zuoyi and Yan Youwen took a group photo
Yan Youwen's family faced this unusual inscription, and there were many question marks in their hearts, but there was nowhere to explain it. Yan Youwen has six children. At the time of his death, the eldest was 24 years old and the youngest was only 8 years old. They were all "revolutionary cadres" when they entered their family backgrounds, and it was stipulated at the time that the Kuomintang generals and their relatives who revolted before 1949 should fill in this way. They didn't expect that a few years later, their father's identity would become a mystery that their own family could not solve.
After the liberation, a reporter interviewed Yan Youwen's family and wrote: The mystery is concentrated in the political trial of the family when they joined the party and were promoted to a cadre. From Yan Youwen's wife to his youngest daughter, "As soon as I arrived at the political trial, I was stuck. From the 60s of the last century until before the reform and opening up, in those years when politics was emphasized and class struggle was the key link, Yan Youwen's wife was not only unable to join the party, but also became a "reactionary military officer's wife." The third graduated from the Kazakh military industry and could have worked for the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense, but was assigned to a collective enterprise as a maintenance fitter. The conclusions of the political trial are generally not disclosed to the parties, and the Yan family does not know the inside story. It was not until the sixth child applied to join the party in the army that the army sent letters to the Ministry of Agriculture many times to transfer the political review, but still could not find a clear answer, and the answer was that "Comrade Yan Youwen's historical question is not clear."
The children of the Yan family found the United Front Work Department. The files of the Kuomintang uprising officers should all be here, but Yan Youwen's name could not be found in the roster of the United Front Work Department. This is where the thread breaks. The familiar father seemed to be shrouded in a heavy fog. It was not until 1993 that the Yan family's children's quest for fatherhood reached an inflection point.
Liu Guangren, a secret member of the Communist Party of China and deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau after liberation
Liu Guangren, the former deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau, was the leader of Yan Youwen's second daughter. What did the old underground party realize after learning about the situation of the Yan family before the liberation of Beiping, but there was no way to verify it. In fact, Liu Guangren is no stranger to Yan Youwen. When he was engaged in underground work in Beiping, he publicly identified himself as a reporter for the "Pingming Daily," while Yan Youwen was Fu Zuoyi's secretary and concurrently served as the director of the Information Department of the "General Suppression" in North China. Because "Pingming Daily" is Fu Zuoyi's newspaper, Yan Youwen still has a lot of photos about Liu Guangren, but neither side knows the true identity of the other.
In 1993, at a gathering of veteran cadres in the public security system, Liu Guangren met Wang Yu, a former colleague and also an old underground worker, and talked about Yan Youwen's descendants in a chat. Unexpectedly, Wang Yu's emotions suddenly became excited, he sighed, and then said to Liu Guangren: "It's been more than 40 years, Yan Youwen should be able to decrypt it." You must help me contact Yan Youwen's children. ”
Yan Youwen: Wang Yu, the CCP's secret one-line contact
The mystery uncovered by Wang Yu proves Liu Guangren's guess: Yan Youwen is a hidden warrior lurking in the depths of our party. And Wang Yu is the contact person who has a top-secret one-line contact with Yan Youwen.
In August 1945, the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression was won. Just a few days after Japan surrendered, Wang Yu, who worked in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningbo Border Region Security Office (referred to as border security), received an urgent task from his superiors: to go to the Suiyuan Fu Zuoyi army to find an underground party member named Yan Youwen.
At this time, the party organization had lost contact with Yan Youwen for almost 7 years. Will Yan Youwen still be the Yan Youwen of the year? The leader of the border guard reminded Wang Yu that Yan Youwen might turn bad, but with the organization's understanding of him, it is more likely that he is still a good party member and loyal to the party's beliefs.
Yan Youwen was born in 1914, and Fu Zuoyi were fellow villagers, both from Ronghe County (now Wanrong County) in Shanxi Province. In 1933, 19-year-old Yan Youwen was admitted to Shanxi University. Because he is diligent, intelligent and studious, his grades, especially in Mandarin and English, are always among the best, and he is very loved and valued by teachers. In 1934, some progressive professors at Shandong University and some prominent figures in society, such as Du Renzhi, Zhou Beifeng, Zhang Youyu, and Xing Xiping (i.e., Xu Bing), formed a "Chinese and Foreign Language Association" to edit and publish the journal "Sino-Foreign Forum" and introduce some political, economic, and military works in international leftist newspapers and periodicals. Du Renzhi and Zhou Beifeng arranged for their favorite student Yan Youwen, who was studying, to be the editor and secretary of the "Forum" here. Yan Youwen studied and worked at the same time, although he was a little tired, his spirit was very comfortable.
Xing Xiping, a member of the Communist Party of China, served as deputy mayor of Beijing after liberation, and director of the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee
In order to survive, the society also hired Feng Sizhi, who was close to Yan Xishan, as the president and director of the "forum", and hired Fu Zuoyi, the honorary vice president. The "Sino-Foreign Forum" has been running for more than a year, and its circulation has increased month by month, and its influence has gradually expanded. It's a pity that there was a traitor in the society, Bo Youcheng, who told Yan Xishan the secret, the society was disbanded, and the "Forum" was suspended. After the liberation, Bo You suffered the punishment he deserved, and was suppressed when he suppressed the counter-revolution. In 1937, the "July 7" incident occurred, Yan Youwen in the climax of the anti-Japanese salvation wave, Yan Youwen chose to put pen to paper, under the recommendation of Du Renzhi and Zhou Beifeng, came to the Fu Department to do clerical work After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, Yan Youwen originally planned to go to Yan'an to participate in the revolution, and later according to Xing Xiping (Xu Bing), he went to the troops of the patriotic general Fu Zuoyi to engage in anti-Japanese work.
Du Renzhi, a member of the Communist Party of China and deputy director of the Compilation and Publication Committee of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and secretary of the party group after liberation
Yan Youwen was talented and sharp, and he was soon appreciated by Fu Zuoyi and became Fu's personal secretary. In 1938, during the cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, Pan Jiwen, a special commissioner of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, assisted the political work in Fu Zuoyi's troops. It was this fellow and "relative" who, while doing a good job in political work and encouraging Fu Zuoyi's troops to resist Japan, cultivated and developed Yan Youwen as a secret member of the Communist Party of China.
Pan Jiwen, a special commissioner of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and an introduction to Yan Youwen's party membership
In February 1939, the Kuomintang set off its first anti-communist upsurge. In April, Chairman Mao Zedong sent Nan Hanchen, Xiao Ke, Zeng San, and Xu Fanting to Wuyuan to discuss with Fu Zuoyi many times about cooperation in resisting Japan.
Nan Hanchen, a secret member of the Communist Party of China and the first governor of the People's Bank of China after liberation
In May, Fu Zuoyi personally presided over the "Discussion Meeting on the Founding of the Anti-Japanese Nation" held in Baichuanbao, which strengthened the confidence in the victory of the anti-Japanese resistance and carried out a general mobilization of the whole people. Chen Cheng also adhered to Chiang Kai-shek's will and sent a telegram to Fu Zuoyi: He said that the former head of the Organization Section of the Political Department of the 35 th Army was a Communist Party member, and the current head of the Organization Section was also a Communist Party member. After Yan Youwen saw this telegram, he urgently reported it to Comrade Lu Zhihao, head of the organization section.
Lu Zhihao, a secret member of the Communist Party of China and deputy director of the United Front Work Department of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Party Committee after liberation
Under the pressure of Chiang Kai-shek, Fu Zuoyi had no choice but to send the safety gifts of CCP members from various military and political organs back to Yan'an. Comrade Pan Jiwen did not come before the retreat and made proper arrangements, and lost organizational contact with Yan Youwen.
Wang Yu's task was to restore the connection between the party organization and Yan Youwen. But where is Yan Youwen? Any position in Fu Zuoyi's army? Wang Yu didn't know anything.
Wang Yu disguised himself as a leather merchant, purchased a batch of leather goods, hired a camel caravan, and marched to Guisui (now known as Hehot), where Fu Zuoyi's troops were located, looking for them all the way. However, he encountered military operations on the way, and was stranded for nearly two months, but returned in vain. After the Spring Festival in 1946, Wang Yu came to Baotou again in disguise. When he was worried that Yan Youwen was nowhere to be found, one day at a restaurant, Wang Yu heard a Kuomintang officer with an accent similar to his own, so he stepped forward and climbed up to his fellow countryman.
This person's name is Xue Qilu, and he is the secretary of the confidential office of Fu Zuoyi's army headquarters. Wang Yu was smoking and toasting, and the two chatted closer and closer, and soon called each other brothers. Wang Yu reported his pseudonym "Zhang Zhigong", and fabricated a younger brother Zhang Zhizhong who worked in Suiyuan, saying that his younger brother had sent a letter to his family instructing him that the family wanted to send him a letter, but he could ask Chief Yan Youwen to forward it.
Wang Yu pretended to ask Xue Qilu about his brother's whereabouts, and "piggybacked" about Yan Youwen. "Zhang Zhizhong" out of nothing, Xue Qilu naturally didn't know, but he gave Wang Yu the information he needed the most: "Yan Youwen, he is Chief Fu's secretary!" ”
"Struggle Daily" with Yan Youwen as president
Wang Yu was overjoyed when he heard this, and he let go of his means to envelop Xue Qilu, and it was easy to treat and give gifts. A few days later, Xue Qilu brought Wang Yu into the office of Yan Youwen, the heavily guarded headquarters of Fu Zuoyi.
There were still a few people in the office, and Xue Qilu was also beside him, Wang Yu could only tell him about finding his younger brother according to what he had said before. Yan Youwen looked Wang Yu up and down, said "I don't remember such a thing", and then lowered his head and continued to read the newspaper, no longer paying attention to Wang Yu.
Wang Yu had no choice but to retreat. Although they didn't recognize each other this time, when they met Yan Youwen, the mission was already half successful. A few days later, Wang Yu inquired about Yan Youwen's home address and brought two boxes of pastries to visit him directly.
Yan Youwen's mother led Wang Yu into the house. For this Wang Yu, who inexplicably came to find his younger brother through himself, Yan Youwen was very vigilant. Yan's mother was present, and Wang Yu was not easy to reveal her identity, so she still kept chattering about finding her younger brother. When Yan's mother turned around and left the house, Wang Yu asked, "Pan Jiwen, do you know you?"
As soon as he heard Pan Jiwen's three words, Yan Youwen was immediately a little excited. Immediately, Wang Yu took out a secret letter from Pan Jiwen to Yan Youwen sewn from the collar, Yan Youwen read the letter, took a step forward with emotion, held Wang Yu's hand and said: "How many years, I have always looked forward to this day!" After 7 years of losing his relationship with the organization, Yan Youwen finally returned to the embrace of the organization through Wang Yu. The two agreed that the cloth shop opened by Wang Yu would be used as a secret point of contact.
Before Wang Yu came, when the central leaders explained the tasks, they specially instructed that, first, establish a top-secret one-line contact with Yan Youwen, and not allow any relationship with any local organization; Second, it is necessary for Yan Youwen to understand and grasp important strategic political and military intelligence, and to understand and grasp the relationship between Fu Zuoyi and Chiang Kai-shek. "Don't do anything else" so as not to increase the risk of exposure. In the enemy-occupied area, only Wang Yu was in contact with Yan Youwen. Even in the liberated areas, only a few high-level leaders of the border security and the Central Social Department knew the identity of Yan Youwen, and further up, they directly contacted Zhou Enlai and Mao Zedong. Later, Yan Youwen's relationship was transferred to the Central Ministry of Social Affairs, and this intelligence line was even compressed to Yan Youwen-Wang Yu-Luo Qingchang (then director of the First Office of the Central Social Department, in charge of intelligence work) and Li Kenong (then director of the Central Social Department), which shows that the central government attaches great importance to and protects this intelligence line. This has also become an important reason why Yan Youwen's true identity is difficult to be known to the world in the future.
Yan Youwen's handwriting
At that time, Yan Youwen was already the deputy director of the Political Department of the 12th Theater of the Kuomintang, with the rank of colonel, and concurrently served as the director of the newspaper "Struggle Daily", the organ of the 12th Theater. The more favorable condition is that he is Fu Zuoyi's personal confidential secretary, and he is deeply appreciated and trusted by Fu Zuoyi. The military and political meetings presided over by Fu Zuoyi were all recorded by Yan Youwen, and Fu Zuoyi's important telegrams, documents, and speeches were drafted by Yan Youwen. Fu Zuoyi once said to the people around him: "Only what Youwen writes is consistent with my thoughts, and the language he uses is the same as what I want to say." Fu Zuoyi would not have imagined that an underground member of the Communist Party of China would become the person who knew his thoughts best.
Yan Youwen and Wang Yu had several secret talks in the cloth shop, and gave a detailed account of Fu Zuoyi's military strength, battle plan, the situation of generals at and above the division level, and the contradictions between Fu and Chiang. Yan Youwen specifically mentioned that Fu Zuoyi had been pulled onto Chiang Kai-shek's civil war chariot, and his troops were likely to attack the Suidong Liberated Area. Moreover, Fu Zuoyi has absolute authority in his troops, has flexible command and dispatch, and has very strong combat effectiveness.
This is a crucial and time-critical piece of information that should be sent back to northern Shaanxi immediately. But Guisui is more than 2,000 miles away from Yan'an, and it takes more than ten days to walk even on horseback. Wang Yu decided to report the information to our Suidong troops first.
Wang Yu took the official letter stamped with the official seal of the confidential office of the Kuomintang 12th Theater Command, and passed through the defense area of the Kuomintang troops all the way without hindrance. He found a certain unit of the North China Field Army stationed in Fengzhen, Suidong. But after hearing this, the leader of the unit who received Wang Yu shook his head and said, "Your material is too high an estimate of Fu Zuoyi's military strength. ”
Wang Yu could not reveal his source of information, nor could he convince the leader, but fortunately, the deputy political commissar of the army recorded Wang Yu's information in detail. Later, Wang Yu met Li Kenong, then minister of the Central Social Department and one of the "Three Heroes of Longtan." Referring to the distrust and underestimation of intelligence by the leaders of a certain unit stationed in Fengzhen after contacting Yan Youwen and obtaining intelligence, Li Kenong said: "Our intelligence work is mainly to serve the armed struggle, and sometimes one piece of intelligence can be better than thousands of troops. Skilled leaders understand this. ”
In June 1946, Chiang Kai-shek tore up the armistice agreement and launched a full-scale attack on the liberated areas, and the Suidong Campaign began, with Fu troops occupying Jining, Fengzhen, Yanggao, Zhangjiakou and other places. Li Kenong once summed up in a heavy tone: The initial defeat in the North China battlefield was due to the lack of attention to intelligence. However, in the later stage of the campaign, the North China Field Army avoided its edge, retreated strategically, and did not engage in large-scale battles with Fu Zuoyi's troops. A few years later, Luo Qingchang, director of the Investigation Department of the CPC Central Committee, commented: Yan Youwen's intelligence played an important role in preventing our North China Field Army from even greater losses.
Yan Youwen took a group photo with Zhou Enlai and Fu Zuoyi
Since Fu Zuoyi did not have a conflict with our army, Fu Zuoyi found his "pen stick" Yan Youwen and wrote an open letter to Mao Zedong, saying: "We want to show our attitude to Jiang Gong and the United States." ”
If it was just a manuscript, Yan Youwen would have been able to catch it, but such an open letter really embarrassed him: if he wrote it according to Fu's intention, he would publicly slander and slander his party and leader; Not writing or writing that doesn't suit Fu's mind will make Fu suspicious of himself. So, I had to ask Wang Yu to ask the central government for instructions. At this time, Wang Yu's public identity was the owner of a shop in Baotou. The funds for opening this store were still provided by Fu Zuoyi, the secretary of the confidential office, Xue Qilu and others.
It turned out that in the process of searching for Yan Youwen, Wang Yu would talk about business from time to time according to his identity as a leather merchant in order to win over Xue Qilu. Xue Qilu really felt that Wang Yu was good at doing business, so he took out 20 taels of gold for him to help with the operation. Wang Yu took it by the way, and patted his chest and said that he would double it in the coming year. With this store, Wang Yu took Xue Qilu as a backer, holding the certificate of the confidential room of the Kuomintang 12th Theater Headquarters, and traveled back and forth between Guisui and Baotou in a big way, maintaining close contact with Yan Youwen. Yan Youwen informed Wang Yu of his problem, and Wang Yu truthfully reported to Yan'an. This time, Yan Youwen received direct instructions from Zhou Enlai: This letter should be written, and it should be scolded harshly, so that Fu Zuoyi and his officers and soldiers should be elated and carried away, so that our commanders and fighters will read it and hate to eat the enemy on the battlefield.
On 20 September, Fu Zuoyi's army organ newspaper "Struggle Daily" published "Fu Zuoyi's telegram to Mao Zedong," and the next day, the Kuomintang's Nanjing "Central Daily" reprinted the full text, Fu Zuoyi's telegram exhorting Mao Zedong to accept the lesson to lay down his arms to join the government and promote constitutionalism. The language of the article is sharp, and between the lines it is extremely sarcastic, ridiculing, and sarcastic.
Yan Youwen ghostwrote "Fu Zuoyi's Telegram to Mao Zedong" according to Zhou Enlai's instructions
After the publication of the article, it had the same impact as the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China had hoped for. Mao Zedong asked Yan'an's "Liberation Daily" to reprint it in full, saying that "Qiwen is appreciated." After seeing the telegram copied by the radio personnel, Commander-in-Chief Zhu De asked the Jinsui and Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Regions to read it out to the cadres at and above the company level: "Please be a general who is not as good as a radical general, and it is nothing more than people who scold us for going through a 25,000-mile long march." ”
In 1949, after the peaceful liberation of Beiping, Fu Zuoyi and Deng Baoshan went to Xibaipo to visit Mao Zedong, and Yan Youwen accompanied them. Fu Zuoyi saw Mao Zedong and said to Mao Zedong: "I am guilty. Mao Zedong said: "You have done a great deed, and the people will not forget you." Subsequently, someone introduced Yan Youwen behind Fu Zuoyi. Mao Zedong smiled and said with a pun in Hunan dialect: "Comrade Yan Youwen, your article is very well written!" ”
Mao Zedong met with Fu Zuoyi in Xibaipo
At the end of 1947, Fu Zuoyi was promoted to commander-in-chief of the "Suppression Chief" in North China, sitting in Beiping, not only with his own 200,000 descendants, but also with the command of 400,000 Chiang-affiliated troops in North China. Mastering Fu Zuoyi's ideological trends is equivalent to mastering the military dynamics of the entire North China region. Yan Youwen, the inner line lurking beside Fu Zuoyi, plays a crucial role.
Almost at the same time that Yan Youwen followed Fu Zuoyi into Beiping, his one-line contact, Wang Yu, also received an order to travel from Yan'an to Donghuangni Village, Pingshan County, Hebei Province, near Xibaipo. At that time, it was the seat of the Central Intelligence Department of the Communist Party of China. Yan Youwen's intelligence line was transferred from the border security to the Social Department of the CPC Central Committee, under the direct leadership of Minister Li Kenong, and the director of the Intelligence Office, Luo Qingchang, made specific contacts.
In May 1948, Li Kenong found Wang Yu and sent him to Beiping to contact Yan Youwen. At that time, the Party Central Committee had already begun to brew a strategic plan for the Liaoshen Campaign, and at the same time was considering a general battle with the Kuomintang in North China. Yan Youwen's task was still to gather intelligence at the strategic level: Fu Zuoyi's political movements, the Kuomintang's military strength and battle plans in North China, and Fu's relationship with Chiang.
Li Kenong, head of the Social Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China
Wang Yu entered Beiping for the first time. Li Kenong, a legendary figure in the history of the Chinese Communist Party's intelligence, was very worried, and not only personally lectured on the precautions for carrying out intelligence work in big cities, but also told Wang Yu: "When I go to Beiping this time, I want to return the gold of Xue Qilu, the secretary of Fu Zuoyi's confidential office, to others." But not 20 taels, but 40 taels, we have to keep our word. Make him trust you even more. ”
Back then, Wang Yu boasted that he doubled the gold to Xue Qilu, and if he didn't honor it when he saw him in Beiping this time, he really couldn't explain it. As soon as Wang Yu entered Beiping, he called Xue Qilu first. 40 Xue Qilu was of course very happy when the two pieces of gold were offered, so Wang Yu was invited into Fu Zuoyi's headquarters.
After connecting with Yan Youwen, Yan Youwen arranged for Wang Yu to live in the Beiping Hotel. It is a safe foothold for Kuomintang spies and gendarmes that the Kuomintang spies and gendarmes dare not easily inspect here. At this time, Yan Youwen was still Fu Zuoyi's secretary, but he had been promoted to the rank of general, and concurrently served as deputy director of the North China "General Suppression" Office, deputy director of the Political Work Department, director of the Information Department, and spokesman of the press department. He gave Wang Yu a press card for Pingming Daily.
Every Saturday, Yan Youwen will preside over a press conference at Yilan Hall in Beihai, and Wang Yu will attend with a press card. The top-secret information was secretly transmitted through the most public event, the press conference.
Yan Youwen presided over a press conference at the Yilan Hall in Beihai and handed over the information to Wang Yu to pass on
Liu Guangren, an underground party member who also used his identity as a reporter for "Pingming Daily" as a cover, also had a lot of contact with Yan Youwen at that time. It's just that Liu Guangren didn't know that this press officer was actually his own person. At that time, it was many of his colleagues when he worked at Pingming Daily, and Liu Guangren only learned their true identities after the founding of New China. In this Kuomintang Beiping newspaper, there are more than 20 reporters and editors who are underground members of the Communist Party of China. According to the statistics of the Pingjin Battle Memorial Hall, there were 3,000 people in the Beiping underground party at that time, and more than 5,000 people on the periphery.
Before the war broke out in Pingjin, underground CPC members from all walks of life had infiltrated every corner of the Fu Zuoyi clique, including Fu Zuoyi's daughter Fu Dongju, a secret CCP member. Fu Dongju was sent by the CCP to do his father's work, although he and Yan Youwen did not have a work relationship, and the two sides did not know each other's details. But each was working for peace in Beiping, and Yan Youwen, a hidden soldier who was declassified more than 40 years after the victory in the Battle of Pingjin, like Fu Dongju, played a key role in it.
Fu Dongju, an underground member of the Communist Party of China and the daughter of Fu Zuoyi
In October 1948, the victory of the Liaoshen Campaign was decided. After the Northeast issue is resolved, it is time to start solving the North China issue. The central government's initial strategic plan was to first seize Guisui, conquer Taiyuan, liberate the entire territory of Suiyuan and Shanxi, and then concentrate all of the North China People's Liberation Army and the main force of the rested Northeast Field Army to deal with the Fu Zuoyi clique. To formulate a new strategy for Fu Zuoyi, it is time to use Yan Youwen again. Li Kenong sent Wang Yu to infiltrate Beiping again, and obtained Fu Zuoyi's battle plan within two weeks, and no more than three weeks at the latest.
At this time, there was already a lot of rumors in the city of Beiping, and the Kuomintang secret service was almost frantically searching for CCP intelligence officers throughout the city. Wang Yu once mentioned in his recollections that before leaving, Li Kenong specially took care of him: this time he entered Beiping, and he had to be mentally prepared for the possibility of being arrested. "In case of arrest, don't fall into the hands of the Kuomintang military commanders and the central commanders. If you are caught by Fu Zuoyi's spies, your identity will be exposed, and he will not dare to kill you. It must be remembered that under no circumstances can Yan Youwen be exposed, even if he is sacrificed, he cannot be exposed. ”
Just over a week later, Wang Yu returned from Beiping to Donghuangni Village, bringing back Fu Zuoyi's detailed battle plan. At this time, the Liaoshen Campaign had been declared a complete victory. On November 3, the day after the liberation of Shenyang, Fu Zuoyi received an urgent telegram from Nanjing to attend the Supreme Military Emergency Conference. On this trip, Fu Zuoyi wanted to report on this battle plan. He could never have imagined that Chiang Kai-shek had not yet heard his report, and that the whole plan would be thoroughly understood by Mao Zedong. The information provided by Yan Youwen affected the whole body and had an impact on the war situation in North China and even the whole country.
"The General's Choice" published in the early days of liberation
The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) has also continuously adjusted its operational policy on the spotlight on the basis of Yan Youwen's intelligence. On October 31, Mao Zedong pointed out in a telegram to the Northeast Field Army: "After the battle on the Shenying Line is over, it should rest for about a month, and start dispatching about early or mid-December to attack the Pingjin area, and prepare for the second half of the third year of the war, that is, from January to June next year......"
Until the late night of November 9, the central government's determination to solve the North China problem was to conquer Taiyuan first, and then liberate Pingjin. The order issued to the North China Field Army: "Strive to seize Taiyuan at an early date and keep Fu Zuoyi's troops in the Pingping, Tianjin, and Bao areas, so as to wait for our main force in the northeast to enter the pass and cooperate with the forces in North China to completely annihilate the enemy." ”
However, in the early morning of the 16th, six days later, the Central Military Commission suddenly made a decision and sent a telegram to Lin Biao, Luo Ronghuan, and Liu Yalou at 4 o'clock, ordering them to "enter the customs as soon as possible to prevent the enemy from escaping." At 5 o'clock, he sent a telegram to the North China Field Army to withdraw from the siege and return to Sui, and slow down the attack on Taiyuan, so as to confuse and stabilize Fu Zuoyi. For the same reason, the attack on Du Yuming's corps, which had already been encircled on the Huaihai battlefield, was also suspended.
The central authorities called Lin Biao, Luo Ronghuan, and Liu Yalou in a telegram
If there were no such strategic adjustments after that, then Fu Zuoyi might have preserved the main force and even abandoned Pingjin and retreated to the south, which would have unforeseen consequences for the national liberation process. Yan Youwen's intelligence played a key role.
In 1997, after Yan Youwen's identity was declassified, Luo Qingchang, then director of the Central Investigation Department, published an article in the Beijing Daily, entitled "Dan's Heart Shines on Posterity: Remembering Comrade Yan Youwen, a Comrade-in-Arms," in which he outlined the main content of this information: Fu Zuoyi planned to meet our Fourth Field Army and North China troops in the Pingping, Tianjin, and Tang regions, and he was using the 600,000 troops under his command to make such a deployment and deployment. This battle was won, and the whole of North China was his world. This battle could not be won, and he considered two ways to retreat: one was to go south from Tanggu by sea and join Chiang Kai-shek in the south; The other is to retreat to the area of Suiyuan and Houtao, join up with the Ma family's troops, and resist stubbornly. Fu also believed that the entry of our Fourth Field Army would not be very fast, and that it would not be able to enter the customs until May 1949 at the earliest. The information obtained this time, verified from other sources, is completely reliable.
Luo Qingchang, director of the Central Investigation Department, published an article in Beijing Daily titled "Dan's Heart Shines on Posterity"
On November 23, 1948, the main force of the Northeast Field Army entered the customs in advance in three ways, and suddenly surrounded the Kuomintang troops in Tangshan, Tanggu, and Tianjin, blocking Fu Zuoyi's sea retreat. Subsequently, the North China Field Army suddenly appeared in the area west of Zhangjiakou and launched a fierce attack, cutting off Fu Zuoyi's way to flee west.
On December 14, the People's Liberation Army completed the encirclement of Beiping. Hundreds of thousands of Kuomintang troops in North China became turtles in the urn. During the siege, Fu Zuoyi was full of worries, vacillating between war and peace, and his mood was extremely unstable. His representatives went out of the city to conduct secret negotiations with the People's Liberation Army, while on the other hand, Chiang Kai-shek's envoys also flew to Beiping in turn, and even took Chiang's "hand order" to order him to withdraw south.
In this context, Li Kenong once again sent Wang Yu into Beiping to ask Yan Youwen to provide Fu Zuoyi's ideological dynamics at any time.
The Binh Minh Daily reported on the peace talks
Beiping has been surrounded by the People's Liberation Army into an iron bucket, and Fu Zuoyi's 100,000 defenders have also sealed the outside from the city. Before Wang Yu reached the city gate, the first blockade line of the Kuomintang in Haidian was detained. The result of the search and interrogation was only a press card from the "Pingming Daily", but the defenders had no intention of releasing him. In a hurry, Wang Yu said sharply: "To tell you honestly, I am from the 'Suppression General' Headquarters, and I have important information to report to the city!" ”
Wang Yu borrowed the phone of the defenders, directly dialed Yan Youwen, and after reporting his name, Yan Youwen immediately sent a car to take him to the Beiping Hotel. After learning of his mission, Yan Youwen reported in detail Fu Zuoyi's mood swings and recent information.
From the end of December 1948 to mid-January 1949, all the Kuomintang troops stationed in Tianjin, Tanggu, Zhangjiakou, and Xin'an were annihilated. In particular, in the Xin'an Campaign, Fu Zuoyi's "trump card" 35th Army was completely annihilated, which dealt a huge blow to Fu's military strength and his personal psychology.
The CCP announced a list of 43 war criminals, and Fu Zuoyi was among them
On December 25, the Party Central Committee announced 43 first-class war criminals headed by Chiang Kai-shek, and Fu Zuoyi's name was among them. After seeing the news that he was listed as a war criminal, Fu Zuoyi grabbed a toothpick, stuffed it into his mouth angrily, and chewed it fiercely. Suddenly, he stood up, swept all the teacups and papers on the table to the ground, and muttered, "It's over, it's all over!" The double pressure of military and politics made Fu Zuoyi almost collapse. He recalled the representatives of the peace talks, prepared to relieve himself of military power, and flew to Nanjing. At the same time, Yan Youwen was asked to prepare a statement calling for a peaceful settlement in Beiping.
According to the instructions brought by Wang Yu, Yan Youwen persuaded Fu Zuoyi. At that time, Fu Zuoyi had a sad face all day long, couldn't eat, couldn't sleep, and was restless. When Fu Zuoyi was helpless when the army was pressing, Yan Youwen, in accordance with the party's instructions, followed Fu Zuoyi's left and right, launched a political offensive against Fu Zuoyi, sent Fu the statement issued by the Chinese communists, read and spoke paragraph by paragraph, and put forward some advice on Fu's thoughts and misgivings. ”
The biggest impact on Fu Zuoyi was that he was listed as a first-class war criminal by the CCP. Yan Youwen put forward another conjecture about this, and he told Fu Zuoyi: Chiang Kai-shek will definitely be suspicious of you if you do not lead your troops to retreat south. If you lose North China and go to the South, Jiang will not spare you. The Communist Party is in peace talks with us, and at this time the Communist Party is tying you to Chiang, presumably to dispel Chiang's suspicions.
Mao Zedong's letter to Fu Zuoyi
Sure enough, a few days later, the secret envoy of the People's Liberation Army sent a telegram personally drafted by Mao Zedong, confirming Yan Youwen's speculation. The telegram told Fu Zuoyi: "As soon as we make this announcement, your position in front of Chiang and Chiang's troops has been strengthened. You can say that you are determined to fight and there is no way out. Secretly negotiate with us and liberate Beiping peacefully. This completely dispelled Fu Zuoyi's doubts, and the secret peace talks were restarted.
However, in order to leave a way back for himself, Fu Zuoyi was still prepared to flee south. During the siege, a plane was parked at the secret airport in Dongdan Park, ready to take off at any time. In addition, he also opened an airstrip at the south gate of the Temple of Heaven to build a more secret airport. The incident was discovered by Liu Guangren, a secret CCP member and reporter, and sent the information out of the city in time. That night, two shells accurately hit the construction site of the secret airfield. This explosion made Fu Zuoyi completely lose his illusions.
During this period, Yan Youwen provided a report almost every day, reporting Fu Zuoyi's ideological trends, ambivalence, and specific manifestations one by one. These circumstances have played an important role in grasping Fu Zuoyi's psychology in a timely manner and taking corresponding countermeasures in a timely manner.
In the last negotiation between Fu Zuoyi and the PLA, Yan Youwen was appointed as the negotiator and made a detailed record of the negotiation process. Back in Beiping, Yan Youwen handed over the record of the conversation with Ye Jianying to Fu Zuoyi for reading. Fu Zuoyi pondered for a long time after seeing it, and finally said: "It seems that the only way out is to lay down your weapons. ”
On January 22, 1949, Yan Youwen held a press conference at the Water Pavilion in Zhongshan Park, and read out the agreement on the peaceful liberation of Peking on behalf of Fu Zuoyi.
The "Mass Daily" reported information on the liberation of Beiping
At 12:30 p.m. on January 31, the vanguard of the fourth column of the Northeast Field Army, lined up in a neat line, marched into Xizhimen in high spirits. The ancient capital of Beiping was declared peacefully liberated.
The People's Liberation Army entered the city of Beiping
After the peaceful liberation of Beiping, on February 2, Fu Zuoyi, together with Deng Baoshan and Yan Youwen, went to Xibaipo to meet Mao Zedong. In Xibaipo, Yan Youwen met his direct leader Luo Qingchang for the first time, and the central government demanded that Yan Youwen's identity remain secret and continue to assist in the reorganization of Fu Zuoyi's troops and the peaceful uprising in Suiyuan under a covert identity. Yan Youwen happily accepted the task. At the "Suiyuan Peace Agreement" finally reached, it was this secret CCP member who signed on behalf of the Kuomintang troops.
After returning to Beiping from Xibaipo, Fu Zuoyi's spirit was greatly boosted, and he actively cooperated with the reorganization of the troops and promoted the peaceful liberation of Suiyuan. At the same time, he asked Yan Youwen to draft a political manifesto for him and telegraphed the whole country, willing to implement new democracy and build a new China under the leadership of Chairman Mao. The peace declaration was issued on April 1, 1949, when the World Peace Conference was held in Prague.
The People's Daily published an article announcing the peaceful liberation of Beiping
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Yan Youwen was reorganized with Fu Zuoyi's troops, and later participated in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea. After returning to China, Mao Zedong asked Fu Zuoyi for arrangement, and Fu Zuoyi took the initiative to ask to be the minister of the Ministry of Water and Power, and named Yan Youwen to be transferred to the Farmland and Water Conservancy Bureau of the Ministry of Water Resources as deputy director. According to the organization's arrangement, Yan Youwen's true identity has not been disclosed.
Mao Zedong signed a letter of appointment to Yan Youwen
In 1960, Yan Youwen was transferred to the Ministry of Agriculture as director of the Grain and Oil Bureau. At the time of three years of natural disasters, the pressure on Yan Youwen, who was in charge of grain production, can be imagined. He traveled all over the country for many years, became ill from hard work, and died on September 25, 1962. When he was dying, Yan Youwen left his last words to his wife Ding Yanqiu, who was guarding the bedside: "There is something to find an organization", but his identity was still not revealed, and he died suddenly at the age of 48.
Introduction to Yan Youwen by the Party History Office
In the short life trajectory of 48 years, Yan Youwen has always maintained a dual identity. One is the Kuomintang uprising generals, the political cadres of the People's Liberation Army, and the senior leaders of government departments. When he worked in the Ministry of Water Resources, he had frequent contact with Soviet experts, and in his 40s, he spent several months studying Russian and was able to converse fluently with Soviet experts. During the natural disaster, there were many children in the family and there was not enough food to eat, and Yan Youwen, a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and a bureau-level leader, had special testimony, but he never allowed his family to use it. He said: "I am in charge of grain production, and there is not enough food in the whole country, so what reason does our family have to eat special supplies?" ”
It wasn't until 1993 that another hidden identity was revealed, and his children thought of their father's last words that "something is going to be organized". This Yan Youwen, a staunch Communist Party member, has a solid heart, silently dedicated, sticks to his beliefs all his life, never expresses but is infinitely loyal.
After Yan Youwen's death, Wang Yu took the children of the Yan family to meet Luo Qingchang, the former head of the Central Investigation Department. When he saw Yan Youwen's descendants, this veteran soldier of the CCP's intelligence front and Yan Youwen's direct leader back then, was emotional. Despite their old age, they told the six siblings about their father, and they were choked up several times in one day.
Luo Qingchang
Luo Qingchang mentioned the 16-character principle of the hidden front: "conceal and be capable, lie in ambush for a long time, accumulate strength, and wait for the opportunity", and said to Yan Youwen's children: "What is lean, it is a soldier like Yan Youwen, who has been 'white-skinned and red-hearted' for so many years, and he is a model of the hidden front. ”
After this meeting, Luo Qingchang came forward to confirm Yan Youwen's identity. At the turn of the spring and summer of 1993, the Ministry of Agriculture sent official letters to the six children of the Yan family: "Yan Youwen joined the Communist Party of China in 1938 and has been engaged in the party's secret intelligence work in Fu Zuoyi's department for a long time. It played a major role at the critical moment and made outstanding contributions to the peaceful liberation of Beiping. ”
Wang Yu and Luo Qingchang's proof finally solved the mystery of Yan Youwen. However, the certificate is limited to their children's unit. The TV series "The Second Front" broadcast in 1997 actually portrayed Yan Youwen as a villain. Luo Qingchang was furious, but he was not old, and on July 10, 1997, he published "Dan's Heart Shines on Posterity" in the "Beijing Daily" to correct Yan Youwen's name.
Dan's heart shines on future generations
Yan Youwen has been "lurking" all his life, dedicating his life to the Communist Party and winning the respect of the people. Zhou Enlai once asked intelligence officers to "not say anything about suffering, and not to cry out when there is anger; Take into account the overall situation, work hard and bear grudges", Yan Youwen's life is a true portrayal of these 16 words. This is the real reason why Luo Qingchang highly praised Yan Youwen as "a model of the hidden front".