In the complex picture of modern Chinese history, there is a figure who has always been shrouded in a mysterious aura, and he is Dai Li. With his own abilities, he built a complete set of intelligence systems for the Kuomintang, and his influence in the field of intelligence should not be underestimated. He was called "Chiang Kai-shek's sword" by the Communist Party, and in the eyes of Americans, he was "the most mysterious person in Asia". He also earned the reputation of "killing without blinking an eye". However, even his opponents had to admit that he was the well-deserved "king of spies".
Dai Li in the Xi'an Incident
Going back to December 13, 1936, Dai Li, who was busy expanding the Guangdong anti-smuggling force in Guangzhou at that time, received a buzz telegram. The telegram came from the director of the Xi'an Intelligence Station of the Military Statistics Bureau, which prominently read: "Urgent, Nanjing Shen Peilin [1] personally translated (top secret): It is confirmed that at dawn on the 12th, Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng suddenly launched a mutiny, and the rebels surrounded Huaqing Pool. The leader has been kidnapped to the Xincheng Building, and his life and death are unknown. Xi'an Jiang Xiongfeng kowtows."
Surprisingly, the "Xi'an Incident" that shocked China and foreign countries has passed for a day, and Dai Li's intelligence system has just obtained the exact news. In fact, before this, Dai Li had already planted many "spies" around Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng, but no conclusive evidence of betrayal was found. Therefore, although he had reported to Chiang Kai-shek that "Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng had abnormal movements", even he himself could not confirm the authenticity of this matter.
On December 2, 1936, before the "Xi'an Incident", Chiang Kai-shek took a photo with the military and political leaders of the Northwest in Luoyang. From left to right in the front row were Yang Hucheng, Chiang Kai-shek, Soong Meiling, Mrs. Yang Hucheng, Zhang Xueliang, and Shao Lizi (Chairperson of Shaanxi Province).
Due to the vague reminder given by Dai Li to Chiang Kai-shek before, it naturally did not attract enough attention from Chiang Kai-shek. Now that the leader has been arrested and his life and death are uncertain, Dai Li, who is responsible for intelligence work, undoubtedly cannot escape responsibility.
Dai Li immediately took a plane back to Nanjing and then got involved in a heated debate within the Kuomintang. A group of Kuomintang veterans represented by He Yingqin firmly advocated the use of force to suppress Zhang Xueliang. They believed that if this was not the case, "what would be the prestige of the party and the country?"; while another group represented by Soong Mei-ling firmly advocated a peaceful solution, after all, "bullets don't have eyes!"
Dai Li was now a "guilty person" and dared not speak easily. However, soon he got an opportunity - Song Ziwen invited him to accompany Song Meiling to Xi'an to negotiate with Zhang Xueliang.
To be honest, at that time, no one knew Zhang Xueliang's true thoughts, let alone whether Chiang Kai-shek was alive or dead. Those who went to negotiate really had to take great risks. On the plane to Xi'an, Soong Mei-ling even handed a pistol to someone around her and instructed her to use it to kill herself in case of an accident.
But Dai Li knew he had no way out, so he resolutely agreed to go together.
After arriving in Xi'an, Dai Li was disarmed by Zhang Xueliang's men as soon as he got off the plane and was subsequently placed under house arrest. Although Zhang Xueliang received Dai Li with relatively high standards, in fact, Dai Li did not participate too much in the peaceful resolution process of the "Xi'an Incident".
Even so, Dai Li still wrote a suicide note to himself: "Since I arrived here yesterday afternoon, I have been under surveillance and observed the situation silently. I am not far from death. I came here to die as I wished, but I am unwilling to see the leader die. Twelve days after the leader's death, Dai Li was in the basement of Zhang Yu [2] in Xi'an."
This suicide note is quite touching. However, from the various records left by the parties involved in the "Xi'an Incident" such as Zhang Xueliang, Song Ziwen, Jiang Dingwen, etc., it can be seen that Dai Li always acted together with Song Ziwen, and Zhang Xueliang treated him with courtesy. It is difficult to see any signs of "not far from death".
However, this suicide note left a very deep impression on Chiang Kai-shek.
In Xi'an, Dai Li met the imprisoned Chiang Kai-shek. As soon as Chiang Kai-shek saw him walk in, he immediately shouted, "What are you doing here? Get out of here!"
Upon hearing this, Dai Li burst into tears. According to his explanation afterwards, he finally met the leader. Even though he was reprimanded, he felt particularly close to him.
Although Chiang Kai-shek scolded Dai Li, he always remembered those who dared to negotiate in Xi'an during times of crisis - Soong Meiling was his wife, Song Ziwen was his brother-in-law, and Dai Li, who was not related to him, proved his loyalty with practical actions. It should be noted that Chiang Kai-shek valued loyal people the most.
This year, Dai Li is already 39 years old, and what awaits him is a brand new chapter in his life.
II. Dai Li's Early Experience
Dai Li can be regarded as a typical "late bloomer".
On May 28, 1897, he was born in Baoan Township, Jiangshan County, Zhejiang Province. His original name was Chunfeng and his courtesy name was Yunong. The origin of this name is quite storytelling. When he was a child, his mother asked someone to tell his fortune and was told that his son had a good fate but lacked water. Perhaps because of this, Dai Li used 27 pseudonyms in his life, many of which were related to "water", such as the "Shen Peilin" mentioned at the beginning.
Dai Li had a very close relationship with his mother. He was extremely filial and obeyed her words, even believing that her mother had changed his life trajectory.
Dai Li's family was originally well-off, but his father, Dai Shifu, had a fatal bad habit - gambling. Originally, the Dai family owned 200 acres of land, but due to his father's gambling habit, they eventually lost everything. His mother, Lan Yuexi, could only rely on mending clothes to subsidize the family.
When Dai Li was 4 years old, his father unfortunately passed away. His mother had particularly strict requirements for him and sent him to a private school when he was 6 years old. Dai Li was smart and knowledgeable since childhood, often ranked among the top in school, and later successfully entered Zhejiang No.1 High School at that time.
But my father's habit of gambling seems to have continued in Dai Li. Dai Li was also a gambler, and his gambling skills were excellent. He was also good at "cheating". It was precisely because of this that he was expelled from school for gambling and had to join the model camp of the First Division of the Zhejiang Army. However, in the military camp, he was discovered by his superiors for gambling and was expelled again.
After being expelled from the army, Dai Li returned home and, arranged by her mother, married a woman named Mao Xiucong. She then entered a normal school with the second highest score. According to her mother's idea, after graduating from normal school, Dai Li should become an elementary school teacher and live a peaceful life.
However, Dai Li, who had already ventured into the world and seen the world, how could he be willing to stay at home idle? After staying at home for a while, he decided to go out and explore the world again.
During the period of "making a living" in Shanghai, Ningbo, and Huzhou, Dai Li experienced many interesting things.
He once went to Shaolin Temple to practice martial arts. Among the disciples who practiced martial arts with him at that time was a person named Xu Shiyou, who later became the founding general of New China and made outstanding contributions in the military field.
He also went to Huzhou to become sworn brothers with a group of people, among whom two people cannot be ignored. One is Hu Zongnan, who later became a first-level general of the Kuomintang and occupied an important position in the Kuomintang army. The other is Wang Yaqiao, a famous "assassination king", but he died in the hands of Dai Li in the end. For more information on this matter, please refer to the article "The Final Destiny of Assassinating the King" included in relevant books.
At the age of 24, Dai Li returned to Zhejiang and opened a "Spring Breeze Martial Arts Hall". Later, he went to a Shanghai casino to play dice. Due to his excellent gambling skills, he was noticed by the casino owner and they became sworn brothers. The owner was Du Yuesheng, who was a well-known rogue tycoon in Shanghai and had great influence in Shanghai society at that time.
At the age of 27, Dai Li organized a "self-defense regiment" in his hometown and resisted the invasion of the Fujian army during the Soviet-Zhejiang War, demonstrating certain military organizational abilities.
In short, before the age of 30, Dai Li could be said to be a person who wandered around and wasted his time. Although he also met some influential figures in various fields during this period and left some fame, if he continued like this, he would probably find it difficult to leave a deep impression in history.
Until 1925, Dai Li met his fellow villager and colleague Mao Renfeng. Mao Renfeng sponsored him with 20 yuan and advised him to take the Huangpu Military Academy exam, informing him that "graduates of Huangpu Military Academy will have a very bright future."
Dai Li failed to pass the Huangpu Military Academy exam for the first time. Later, he sought help from Dai Jitao, who had called him "uncle" in Shanghai and had served as the director of the political department of the Huangpu Military Academy (later became the head of the propaganda department of the Kuomintang Central Committee). Dai Jitao not only provided financial support for him, but also encouraged him to take the exam again.
In 1926, Dai Li finally succeeded in being admitted to the cavalry department of the sixth phase of Huangpu, but he was already 30 years old at that time. Among his colleagues in the same phase, those who were older were only 22 years old, and those who were younger may have been only 17 or 18 years old. In comparison, he was considered "highly respected" among his colleagues.
During his time at the Huangpu Military Academy, Dai Li began to use the name "Dai Li". Some people speculated that Dai Li used this name to wear a crown, but in fact, it was inspired by the "Fengtu Ji" of the Zhou Dynasty in the Jin Dynasty: "Although you ride in a carriage, I wear a hat. When we meet the day after tomorrow, we get off and bow. I walk. You ride a horse. When we meet the next day, we meet in the present." It implies the friendship between gentlemen, impoverished and humble.
Moreover, the name "Dai Li" means "hidden under the hat", which is quite consistent with his future career as a secret agent.
It was Dai Li's maturity and stability that caught the attention of Chiang Kai-shek, who was then the principal of the Huangpu Military Academy. Although Chiang Kai-shek was 10 years older than Dai Li, the two had several meetings in Shanghai. While at school, Dai Li began to collect various intelligence, especially about the infiltration of the Communist Party, and then passed it on to Chiang Kai-shek through others.
In April 1927, Dai Li was assigned to the first platoon of the first company of the cavalry battalion of the National Revolutionary Army under Xu Zhenya and participated in the Northern Expedition. The main task of the cavalry platoon was not combat, but to scout enemy intelligence before the arrival of the main force. Dai Li completed this task extremely well, and some intelligence was even directly handed over to Chiang Kai-shek, which further deepened Chiang Kai-shek's impression of him.
In the subsequent "April 12th Counter-Revolutionary Coup", Chiang Kai-shek began to vigorously purge Communist Party members within the Northern Expedition Army. Dai Li wrote a letter to Chiang Kai-shek exposing more than 20 Communist Party members in the cavalry camp, thus officially entering Chiang Kai-shek's sight.
Starting from 1927, Dai Li was appointed as the liaison staff officer of the National Revolutionary Army Headquarters, in charge of intelligence work.
This was undoubtedly the first major turning point in Dai Li's life.
III. The rise of Dai Li in the field of intelligence
Starting from 1929, Chiang Kai-shek became aware of serious problems with the "Zhongtong" organization responsible for intelligence work.
During that period, several large-scale "encirclement and suppression" campaigns by the Kuomintang against the Communist Party ended in disastrous defeats. Many of the top-secret operations seemed to have been suspected of being known by the Communist Party in advance. Chiang Kai-shek couldn't help but begin to doubt whether the "Central Unification" had been infiltrated by the Communist Party.
In 1931, Gu Shunzhang, a special operations officer of the Communist Party of China, was arrested and defected. This incident made Chiang Kai-shek suddenly realize that even Qian Zhuangfei, the confidential secretary of Xu Enzeng, the director of the Central Bureau of Statistics, was also a member of the Communist Party of China. It can be seen that the infiltration of the Communist Party had reached a very serious level.
In the following year of 1932, the "January 28th" Sino-Japanese War broke out in Shanghai. In fact, this incident was secretly planned by Japanese female spy Yoshiko Kawashima. However, the intelligence system of the "Central Unification" had gained nothing in advance. Chiang Kai-shek finally made up his mind to start a new intelligence system outside of the "Central Unification".
So, who will be responsible for this arduous task? After some consideration, Chiang Kai-shek thought of Dai Li.
Chiang Kai-shek has always had a clear priority in employing people: "talent + servants" - "servants" - "talents".
As US Ambassador to China Leighton Stuart pointed out in his report to the US Secretary of State, "It seems that Chairperson Chiang's personal preference is to appoint old and reliable old partners to important positions. As for knowing that they are corrupt, corrupt, or lack ability, he ignores them."
Dai Li, who possesses outstanding abilities and is loyal to Chiang Kai-shek, is undoubtedly the best candidate for this position.
On March 1st, 1932, Chiang Kai-shek ordered the establishment of the "Chinese National Rejuvenation Society", abbreviated as the "Rejuvenation Society" (also known as the "Blue Clothes Society"), with Chiang Kai-shek personally serving as the president. On April 1st, Chiang Kai-shek appointed Dai Li as the director of the special affairs department of the "Lixing Society", the core department responsible for intelligence work of the Rejuvenation Society (later, Lixing Society was included in the "National Government Military Commission Investigation and Statistics Bureau", also known as the famous "Military Statistics Bureau").
From then on, Dai Li's secret agent career officially began.
IV. Dai Li's Special Agent Talent and the Development of Military Statistics
The fact proves that Chiang Kai-shek did not misjudge the person, and Dai Li is a genius in intelligence work.
Firstly, Dai Li is good at learning.
At that time, Dai Li only had more than 100 people under his command, and the vast majority of them had never worked in intelligence before. However, there were many highly skilled spies in the "Central Intelligence Agency", and Dai Li tried every means to win them over. After recruiting Gu Shunzhang, who had been strictly trained in Soviet professional institutions, Dai Li specifically asked him to open training classes to teach his subordinates various spy skills and knowledge.
Based on the experience of colleagues and enemies, Dai Li also created many sets of systems and methods of action. In terms of the skills of spies themselves, it covers complete operational techniques (including the deployment, preparation, execution, and aftermath of assassination), shooting techniques (the shooting techniques of various firearms and the design of some special weapons), capture techniques (and invited martial arts experts from all over China with unique skills to train members at a high cost), intelligence techniques (involving various methods of obtaining and transmitting intelligence, as well as undercover skills), and so on.
Secondly, Dai Li is good at punishing.
Dai Li always emphasized one sentence: "Come in standing, go out lying down!" He regarded the Military Statistics Bureau as a big family, believing that comrades are brothers and sisters, and groups are families. In his view, being a spy in the Military Statistics Bureau is a lifelong matter. Once you enter the Military Statistics Bureau, you will belong to the Military Statistics Bureau for your whole life.
Therefore, Dai Li formulated a strict set of "family laws", which would impose corresponding punishments for behaviors such as ineffective command, operational errors, betrayal of the organization, corruption, gambling, and even illegal marriage.
However, Dai Li's punishment is not generalized, but will be treated differently. For example, if military losses are caused by poor command or operational errors, the degree of punishment will be determined based on whether it is subjective intent or objective reasons. Generally speaking, if the error is caused by objective reasons, the punishment is usually symbolic, or even just a verbal warning; but if the error is caused by subjective intent, the punishment will be more severe.
For the act of betraying the organization, Dai Li's punishment was the most severe, usually execution and assassination. People who betray the Military Statistics Bureau often change their names and hide everywhere, but the Military Statistics Bureau's investigation of traitors is long-term and will continue to chase and kill them until they are killed. Therefore, there are not many traitors in the Military Statistics Bureau.
Again, Dai Li is good at rewarding.
Simply punishing without rewards is obviously not enough. During the War of Resistance Against Japan, all Kuomintang troops and government officials only received 80% of their salaries, but military personnel were able to receive full salaries. Due to the danger of their tasks, the allowances for foreign agents were doubled.
At that time, Dai Li set the food standard for his subordinates at one yuan per person per day. This standard was enough to ensure that rice and flour could be eaten freely, and chicken, duck, fish, and meat could be eaten to satiate.
In addition, Dai Li will provide generous compensation to the military intelligence agents who unfortunately died. In addition to a considerable amount of compensation, they will also provide living and education expenses to the orphans. As a result, the cohesion of military intelligence personnel is extremely strong. Even if they are arrested, they often insist on not betraying because they know that even if they sacrifice themselves, their families can still be well taken care of.
After years of hard work by Dai Li, the Military Statistics Bureau gradually developed into a powerful spy army spread throughout China.
The activities of the Military Statistics Bureau and Dai Li's actions
So, what activities did the Military Statistics Bureau under the leadership of Dai Li carry out?
To be honest, Dai Li's Military Statistics Bureau did indeed do a lot of behind-the-scenes work during the Anti-Japanese War.
A large number of high-ranking officials and traitors in the puppet army, as well as Japanese officers, became the targets of assassination by the military intelligence agents dispatched by Dai Li. Some of the more famous assassination incidents are as follows:
In 1940, the Japanese emperor's envoy and aristocrat Takayuki was assassinated by Dai Li's men in Beiping.
In 1932, Zhang Jingyao, the former governor of Hunan, colluded with Itagaki Zhengshilang to join the puppet Manchukuo government and was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the puppet Pingjin Second Army. He conspired to stage a riot in Beiping and supported the Japanese Kwantung Army to occupy Pingjin. On May 7, 1933, he was assassinated by Dai Li's men at the Liuguo Hotel in Dongjiaominxiang, Beiping.
In 1937, Huang Jun, as a recorder of the Executive Yuan meeting, leaked confidential information about the Nationalist Army's preparation to sink Japanese ships to Japan, which led to the failure of the plan. Dai Li organized people to investigate the case, captured Huang Jun, and executed him.
In 1941, Fu Xiaoan, who served as the mayor of Shanghai, was directly killed by Dai Li's men with knives.
Shanghai gangster tycoon Zhang Xiaolin surrendered to Japan. Despite being heavily guarded by bodyguards, he was still assassinated by Dai Li's men in his own home.
In 1939, Chen Lu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the puppet Republic of China Restoration Government, Wang Zhulin, Chairperson of the puppet Tianjin Chamber of Commerce, and Cheng Xigeng, General Manager of the puppet North China Preparatory Bank, were all assassinated by Dai Li's men.
Of course, there is also the most famous series of chases against Wang Jingwei. Wang Jingwei eventually died. There is a saying that Dai Li eventually bribed his maid to poison him.
In addition to assassination activities, Dai Li also organized countless explosions, kidnappings, counterfeit currency manufacturing and other activities against the Japanese and the puppet government. He even established the "Loyalty and Righteousness Salvation Army" to directly fight against the Japanese army and cooperated with the Chinese army in the "Battle of Songhu", which was a fierce battle.
In the "Battle of Songhu", under the instigation of Dai Li, Du Yuesheng also sent his subordinates to form a "special forces" to fight against the Japanese army, with heavy casualties. After learning of Dai Li's death, Du Yuesheng was once so sad that he wanted to jump off a building.
Dai Li also extended his tentacles abroad. In 1941, Dai Li personally went to Myanmar twice to establish an intelligence network, achieving the goal of "wherever there is Chinese blood, there are Dai Li's intelligence agents" in South East Asia. He trained a large number of military intelligence personnel to decipher codes, cooperated with the US, and even deciphered the code for the Japanese army's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, notifying the US side.
According to a data, during the War of Resistance Against Japan, the Military Statistics Bureau collected a total of 1,021,863 pieces of intelligence on the Japanese army, carried out 2,219 sabotages and 5,95 surprise attacks on the Japanese puppet army, sanctioned the Japanese puppet army 5,15 times, assassinated 1,8444 Japanese puppet personnel, injured 5,510 people, captured 5,62 people, destroyed 4,92 Japanese puppet locomotives, 1,627 carriages, 4,79 cars, 4,41 ships, 5,1 artillery and bunker, 7,1 aircraft, 1,578 barracks, 250 bridges, and 1,658 meters of tracks. In the War of Resistance Against Japan, the number of special agents officially registered by the Military Statistics Bureau who sacrificed their lives was 18,000.
Of course, in addition to the Anti-Japanese War, Dai Li was also responsible for helping Chiang Kai-shek eradicate his confidants and dissidents.In 1933, Yang Xingfo, the Secretary-General of the Chinese Civil Rights Protection League, was shot dead on the street by Dai Li's men because he was too close to the Communist Party.In 1934, because he had been publishing articles criticizing Chiang Kai-shek, Shi Liangcai, the general manager of "Shenbao", was assassinated by Dai Li on the Shanghai-Hangzhou Highway.In 1936, Wang Yaqiao, who was a sworn brother of Dai Li, was assassinated by Dai Li's men for repeatedly assassinating Chiang Kai-shek.
In just over a decade, Dai Li established a huge intelligence network. The US Strategic Intelligence Bureau investigation determined that Dai Li had 180,000 plainclothes agents, 70,000 armed guerrillas, 20,000 troops, 15,000 Loyalty Salvation Army, and 40,000 organized pirates along the coast of China, totaling 320,000 actual or potential personnel, all under Dai Li's command. On average, 40,000 people worked for Dai Li 24 hours a day.
Dai Li is considered to be the most powerful and energetic person standing behind Chiang Kai-shek. From top to bottom, the Military Statistics Bureau calls Dai Li "Boss Dai".
Is this joy or sorrow?
The Peak and Hidden Potential of Dai Li's Power
When Dai Li was at his peak, it is probably not an exaggeration to say that he was "below one person, above ten thousand people".
Dai Li was one of the very few people who could meet Chiang Kai-shek around the clock. When Chiang Kai-shek was busy with official business in his office, he didn't even lift his head when he saw Dai Li come in, he just said, "Is Yunong here? Take a seat first."
Chiang Kai-shek gave orders and liked to convey them through "orders". On average, he could fill 10 official boxes per year. However, for espionage work, Chiang Kai-shek only passed them on verbally and rarely gave orders to avoid giving them to others. Dai Li only gave oral reports when reporting work to Chiang Kai-shek, and only took notes of Chiang Kai-shek's instructions without taking notes.
It is precisely because of this that Dai Li assigns work or issues orders with only one sentence: "to be ordered". As for whose order it is, Dai Li never explains, and no one knows whether it is ordered or not.
By the late stage of the War of Resistance Against Japan, Dai Li had already gained great power with his nationwide intelligence network and spy agencies. Anyone who Dai Li called a "traitor" could be immediately arrested and imprisoned. On the contrary, as long as Dai Li nodded and said that a traitor was a "spy" of the Military Statistics Bureau, he could be released from prison.
Stories about Dai Li's have also begun to spread wildly on the streets and alleys, including his story with actress Hu Die, which has become a topic of conversation for many people after dinner.
The reputation outside can be laughed off, but the evaluation of Dai Li within the Kuomintang has made him a little worried.
In the economic field, Dai Li once partnered with Song Ziwen to crack down on smuggling nationwide. The revenue from the confiscation of opium alone exceeded 100 million yuan. At that time, Finance Minister Kong Xiangxi always hated Dai Li and once said, "I hate fabricating rumors the most in my life and deceiving others."
In the military field, Dai Li's special agents have infiltrated every frontline combat unit. The news of the "Nanjing Massacre" was first reported by his ears and eyes in Tang Shengzhi's army. More often than not, the generals of the Kuomintang military believed that Dai Li was reporting on others. For example, after the Changsha fire in 1938, Dai Li called Chiang Kai-shek and said, "The Changsha fire caused huge damage and Zhang Zhizhong was ineffective in handling affairs." He also reported on Gu Zhutong because of the issue of women, and pointed out that "the failure of the Third Theater War was due to poor living conditions and lack of military discipline, resulting in a lack of fighting spirit" (Gu Zhutong was the deputy commander of the Third Theater War), which caused many problems within the army.
Most importantly, Dai Li's power had aroused Chiang Kai-shek's alertness.
Although Chiang Kai-shek trusted Dai Li very much and gave her great power, he always tried his best to prevent her. For example, although Dai Li made so many contributions, Chiang Kai-shek only let him serve as the deputy director of the Military Statistics Bureau, and only gave him the rank of major general, in order to "give power but not high positions" and prevent Dai Li from becoming arrogant.
Although Dai Li was always loyal to Chiang Kai-shek, by the end of the Anti-Japanese War in 1945, his hundreds of thousands of military personnel, loyal and righteous National Salvation Army, and various armed personnel, as well as the ability to independently contact the US, were enough to cause discomfort to Chiang Kai-shek.
Moreover, Dai Li was not someone who wanted to retire after achieving success. From various memoirs and materials, it can be seen that Dai Li had already extended his tentacles to various aspects such as policing, anti-smuggling, and transportation, and intended to serve as the Commander-in-Chief of the Republic of China Navy.
At this moment, the War of Resistance Against Japan ended. As soon as Japan surrendered, Chen Cheng, who was also a close confidant of Chiang Kai-shek and then the Minister of Military and Political Affairs, immediately proposed to disband the Loyal and Righteous Salvation Army. Dai Li panicked upon hearing this and quickly flew to Chongqing to explain to Chen Cheng in person that "it cannot be withdrawn".
The Mysterious Death of Dai Li
On the afternoon of March 17, 1946, the people of Banqiao Town, Jiangning County, western Nanjing, saw a plane struggling to fly in heavy rain.
According to eyewitnesses' recollection, it was around 1 pm when the plane flew very low, swaying, and crashed into Mount Dai. First, there was a burst of fire, then a loud noise, and the plane exploded into a raging fire. The wings and fuselage of the plane were burned, leaving only a section of the tail with a clear number "222" - it was Dai Li's special plane.
Later, the military intelligence agents who arrived at the scene found that all 11 people on board had fallen to their deaths, their bodies were burned black and their limbs were incomplete. After heavy rain, many bodies had been washed away to the mountain ditch and the small temple at the foot of the mountain.
The spy found six gold teeth in the mouth of a corpse, and then determined that the victim was Dai Li based on the remaining broken pieces of clothing.
This year, Dai Li is 49 years old.
According to the investigation afterwards, Dai Li received a telegram from Chiang Kai-shek on the same day and hurriedly took his own special plane No. 222 (American-made C47 transport plane) from Qingdao to Shanghai (why did he fly to Shanghai? There is a saying that he wanted to meet Hu Die in Shanghai first). At that time, there was thunder and lightning in the sky over Shanghai, and the plane had to make an emergency landing in Nanjing, but it crashed into a mountain in Jiangning County on the outskirts of Nanjing.
Because Dai Li's surname is Dai, there has always been a saying that "Dai Li collided with Dai Mountain, and the rain farmer died in the rain", but it is actually "Dai Mountain". However, the ditch on the mountain is indeed called "Qianyu Ditch".
Dai Li's plane crash shocked the entire Kuomintang government. The cause of his death is still a mystery.
The first and most widely circulated theory is about a "Nine Dragons Sword".
Sun Dianying, the "Dongling Thief", stole a Qianlong sword used by Emperor Qianlong when he was robbing graves. He hoped to give it to Chiang Kai-shek through Dai Li, so he first handed it over to Ma Han San, the head of the Tianjin Station of the Military Statistics Bureau. However, Ma Han San secretly gave the sword to the Japanese and then fell into the hands of Kawashima Yoshiko. After the war, Dai Li learned the whereabouts of the sword through interrogating Kawashima Yoshiko and asked Ma Han San face to face to retrieve the sword.
Ma Han San knew that Dai Li would never let him go easily, so he decided to take the initiative and sent someone to plant a time bomb on Dai Li's special plane, which ultimately caused the plane to crash.
This statement appears more credible because in September 1948, Mahan San and three other suspects were secretly executed. However, later Mahan San's family denied this statement.
The second theory is that it was done by someone sent by Soong Mei-ling, because Dai Li had organized the Military Statistics Bureau to assassinate Soong Ching-ling and almost succeeded. The credibility of this theory is not high.
The third theory is that it was done by the Communist Party, because the Communist Party's Wang Ruofei also had a plane crash before, and the Communist Party believed that it was done by the Military Statistics Bureau, so they wanted to retaliate. This theory is also unlikely.
The fourth argument is that the CIA did it. But at that time, the US had no motive to do it.
The fifth theory comes from a lover of Dai Li before his death. She believed that when Dai Li came to her, he complained that "if the old man (Chiang Kai-shek) doesn't want me, I'll die!", so she judged that Dai Li shot the pilot and then committed suicide. However, given Dai Li's attitude towards colleagues and subordinates, there was no reason to bury so many people with him.
The sixth version, which is the commonly accepted version, according to Shen Zui's recollection as a member of the investigation team at the time, was that the accident occurred on a rainy day without any special reason.
Of course, there is also a seventh theory, which is that Chiang Kai-shek ordered Dai Li to be "eliminated".
Judging from the situation at that time, Chiang Kai-shek did start to guard against Dai Li, but considering that the Kuomintang and the Communist Party were about to go to war at that time, it was the time to use people. With Dai Li's loyal ability, it was unlikely that Chiang Kai-shek would kill him.
On April 1st, 1946, the Military Statistics Bureau held a grand memorial service for Dai Li in Chongqing. Chiang Kai-shek personally attended and shed tears - Chiang Kai-shek rarely shed tears in public. Two months later, Dai Li was posthumously promoted to Lieutenant General.
However, the Military Statistics Bureau, which lost Dai Li, could never be restored to the past. After Dai Li's death, his successors Zheng Jiemin and Mao Renfeng were completely incapable of his abilities, and the Military Statistics Bureau quickly fell apart. It was also the decline of the Military Statistics Bureau that gave the Communist Party of China greater space for intelligence activities. Zhou Enlai once said at a meeting, "Dai Li's death can make our revolution succeed ten years earlier!"
On the contrary, Chiang Kai-shek's exclamation after retreating to Taiwan was: 'If Yunong hadn't died, we wouldn't have retreated to Taiwan today.'
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Dai Li's life was full of twists and turns, from early wandering and struggling, to gradually rising in the field of intelligence work, finally reaching the peak of power, and then facing a mysterious death. His story is like a dramatic epic.
His early experiences were diverse. His family background was difficult, and his father's gambling habits led to the decline of the family. However, he was intelligent and ambitious, constantly seeking opportunities to become famous. During his wandering days, his encounters with various figures such as Xu Shiyou, Hu Zongnan, and Wang Yaqiao added color to his life, and he also demonstrated his ability to interact and connect with others.
Dai Li did have extraordinary talent in the intelligence industry. He was able to learn from others, create a series of effective intelligence work systems and methods, and manage his subordinates through a combination of rewards and punishments. Under his leadership, the Military Intelligence Bureau achieved significant results during the War of Resistance Against Japan, carrying out many assassinations of traitors and Japanese aggressors, as well as various other secret operations. This not only helped the cause of resistance against Japan, but also significantly enhanced his own power and influence.
However, with great power came great problems. The growing power led to many problems within the Kuomintang. His interference in military and economic affairs caused dissatisfaction among many people, and his relationship with Chiang Kai-shek became more complicated. While Chiang Kai-shek relied on him, he also remained cautious about his expanding power.
There are still various speculations about the mystery of Dai Li's death, from the theory of being assassinated by Ma Han San to rumors of being ordered to be eliminated by Chiang Kai-shek, all of which reflect his importance. His death had a great impact on the complex and chaotic situation in China.
Dai Li is not a character that cannot be simply defined as good or bad in my opinion. His contributions to the anti-Japanese cause, the anti-fascist war, and the development of Chinese intelligence work cannot be ignored. However, his actions in suppressing opposition and expanding personal power also brought many negative impacts. His life and death reflect the complex and chaotic situation in China at that time, but the most important reason why a commoner could climb to such a high position and become a historical figure on his own is not only his ability, but also his loyalty to the leader, Chiang Kai-shek, from beginning to end.