In the long river of world history, assassination operations are often the product of political and social turmoil, and Wang Yaqiao in modern Chinese history is undoubtedly a legendary assassination figure.The Assassin's Historical Imprint and the Appearance of Wang Yaqiao
The ancient profession of assassin has left a deep impression on the scroll of history. When it comes to assassins, many people immediately think of Jing Ke, who became famous for trying to change the fate of the country with his own efforts. On the stage of modern Chinese history, there was also an assassin who had similar aspirations to Jing Ke - Wang Yaqiao.
Against the backdrop of the ever-changing era, countless ordinary people were like flat boats in Wang Yang, unable to control their own destinies. Wang Yaqiao was one of them, but he was different from ordinary people. Just like "Tokyo Rose" Hu Suyu, Wang Yaqiao was also a small individual in the tide of the era. However, he did not go with the flow, but continued to fight for his own destiny and even the fate of the country. Shen Zui, a backbone of the Kuomintang Military Statistics Bureau, once said, "Everyone is afraid of the devil, but the devil is afraid of Wang Yaqiao." This statement is enough to prove Wang Yaqiao's reputation at that time.
Wang Yaqiao's early life and political awakening
Wang Yaqiao was born on February 14th, 1889 in Modian Township, Hefei, Anhui. Surprisingly, this figure, who was later known as the "King of Assassination", was one of the top ten candidates in the Qing Dynasty's imperial examination. He was born into a poor family. His grandfather and father were both farmers who worked for landlords and suffered from long-term bullying by officials and landlords. This difficult living environment gave Wang Yaqiao the spirit of resistance and made him empathize with the suffering of the poor.
In 1911, the Xinhai Revolution broke out, overthrowing the Qing Dynasty. This significant historical event had a profound impact on Wang Yaqiao. At the age of 22, he made a shocking move that was considered earth-shattering at the time. He gathered a group of fellow villagers and announced the establishment of the "Hefei Revolutionary Army" in Hefei, revoking all officials of the Qing court, establishing a "military government" and declaring independence. Wang Yaqiao considered himself a follower of Mr. Sun Yat-sen's ideas, but Mr. Sun sent Sun Pinyin, a member of the Alliance, to take over Hefei. After Sun Pinyin arrived in Hefei, he also established a military government and declared independence, which led to conflicts between the two "military governments". Wang Yaqiao advocated immediately cracking down on local tyrants and evil gentry, opening up warehouses to benefit the people, while Sun Pinyin advocated temporarily not touching the interests of this class. The two sides could not reach an agreement, and in the end, the "Sun government" took the initiative to arrest the "Wang government". The key members around Wang Yaqiao were all shot dead. Fortunately, Wang Yaqiao went to the countryside to gather the team and escaped. This event had a huge impact on Wang Yaqiao's life, not only highlighting his political views, but also forcing him to embark on his first escape.Wang Yaqiao in the Turbulent Years: 1911-1923
From 1911 to 1923, Wang Yaqiao's life was in turmoil. He traveled to Hefei, Anqing, Nanjing, Shanghai and other places. During this period, he demonstrated extraordinary organizational and activity abilities. He founded associations and organized armies, with rich and diverse experiences. While making many friends, he inevitably offended many people. During this period, there are three things worth exploring in depth.
On one hand, in 1913 in Shanghai, Wang Yaqiao met Jing Meijiu, a professor at Peking University who advocated anarchism, and subsequently joined the "Anarchist Research Group". This experience had a profound impact on Wang Yaqiao, who already had an independent spirit of resistance, shaping his unique worldview. In his eyes, whether it was a government official or a warlord leader, as long as they were representatives of power, they should be eliminated. For example, because he was dissatisfied with Duan Qirui's dictatorship, he strongly suggested that Sun Yat-sen "bomb the Beijing government and kill Duan Qirui", which fully reflected his zero-tolerance attitude towards power.
Secondly, in 1921, Wang Yaqiao was hunted down for offending someone. After returning to Shanghai, he took over the "Anhui Tourism Association" from his friends. Once, an Anhui worker was owed wages by a capitalist and was beaten after unsuccessful demands. Upon learning of this, Wang Yaqiao quickly took action and sent someone to forge 100 axes at the blacksmith's shop. Then, he led 100 big men with sharp axes and rushed straight to the capitalist's doorstep. The capitalist was terrified and quickly apologized and paid the wages. Since then, Wang Yaqiao has become famous in Shanghai, and the gang he leads is also known as the "Axe Gang". This incident not only shows Wang Yaqiao's hatred for injustice, but also highlights his prestige among the lower class.
Thirdly, around 1923, Wang Yaqiao was ordered by warlord Lu Yongxiang to recruit soldiers and buy horses in Huzhou. During this period, he and Dai Li formed a brotherhood and became sworn brothers. However, Wang Yaqiao did not expect that this brother would have a decisive impact on his fate in the future. Dai Li had an important position in the Kuomintang Military Statistics Bureau, and his complex relationship with Wang Yaqiao became one of the key factors in the subsequent development of the story.
The collision between Wang Yaqiao and the Shanghai Bund forces
Wang Yaqiao's "Axe Gang" has a high prestige and influence in Shanghai. Its power is so strong that even the tycoons in Shanghai at that time were afraid of it.
In 1932, due to various complex reasons, Wang Yaqiao obtained the right to use the China Merchants Group's "Jiang'an" ship in Shanghai. However, the original manager of the "Jiang'an" ship, Zhang Yanling, refused to deliver the ship. Zhang Yanling had such courage because he was the nephew of Zhang Xiaolin. Zhang Xiaolin, Du Yuesheng, and Huang Jinrong were known as the three largest rogue tycoons in Shanghai at that time. Du Yuesheng had extensive influence and influence in Shanghai, and his story can be learned in detail in the article "Positive and Negative of the" Shanghai Emperor ". Faced with Zhang Yanling's provocation, Wang Yaqiao was not afraid. He sent someone to blow a big hole in the wall of Zhang Xiaolin's backyard at night, causing Zhang Xiaolin to be extremely frightened. Zhang Yanling had no choice but to ask Du Yuesheng for help, after all, he was Du Yuesheng's disciple. Du Yuesheng knew how powerful Wang Yaqiao was and ordered Zhang Yanling to hand over the "Jiang'an" ship to Wang Yaqiao without hesitation. It is said that Zhang Yanling was still unwilling. Du Yuesheng saw this and cursed, "If you don't hand over this ship today, don't step out of my doorstep!" Huang Jinrong had also warned his disciples and subordinates, "Don't provoke Wang Yaqiao, this person doesn't care about his life."
Wang Yaqiao's courage and means are not limited to this. He doesn't even take "Northeast Young Marshal" Zhang Xueliang seriously. After the "September 18th Incident" in 1931, Zhang Xueliang was criticized by the people for being a "non-resistance general". He brought his family and subordinates to Shanghai for recuperation. In order to ensure Zhang Xueliang's safety, Du Yuesheng brought him to live with his family. However, not long after Zhang Xueliang moved into the Du Mansion, Wang Yaqiao placed a bomb with the fuse removed at the entrance of the Du Mansion and proposed three conditions to Zhang Xueliang through Du Yuesheng: first, immediately return to Northeast China, reorganize the military forces, and fight to the death with the Japanese; second, if he refused to fight, he would return to Northeast China to commit suicide to thank the world; third, if he refused to die, he would donate all his property, purchase military weapons, and support the Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army outside the customs. Wang Yaqiao demanded that Zhang Xueliang meet at least one of these conditions, otherwise, the next bomb would have a fuse. As the leader of the 300,000 Northeast Army, Zhang Xueliang, under the persuasion of Du Yuesheng, after careful consideration, finally chose to go abroad for investigation. This incident fully demonstrates Wang Yaqiao's insistence on national righteousness and his fearless character.
Wang Yaqiao's assassination operation: the interweaving of anti-Japanese and anti-Chiang
The reason why Wang Yaqiao is famous is not only because he is the leader of the "Axe Gang", but more importantly, because of his series of thrilling assassination operations. The targets he assassinated were not ordinary people, and there was a clear main theme behind these assassination operations - anti-Japanese and anti-Chiang Kai-shek.
Wang Yaqiao's first assassination operation that attracted widespread attention targeted Xu Guoliang, the director of the Songhu Police Department. At that time, Wang Yaqiao defected to warlord Lu Yongxiang. Due to the complex interests disputes between warlords, Lu Yongxiang had to get rid of Xu Guoliang. On November 10, 1923, Xu Guoliang was shot dead by Wang Yaqiao's men at the bathroom door opposite the "Big World" in Shanghai. As the police chief in charge of 7,000 Shanghai police officers, Xu Guoliang's death shocked the society at that time and also showed people Wang Yaqiao's courage and means. If this assassination was carried out on orders, then the subsequent assassination operations more reflected Wang Yaqiao's own political intentions.
Wang Yaqiao had outstanding performance in resisting Japan. In 1932, the "January 28th" Sino-Japanese War broke out in Shanghai, and the Japanese army provoked at will in Shanghai. The 19th Route Army of the Kuomintang rose up in rebellion. As the leader of the gang, Wang Yaqiao gathered 3,000 gang members to assist the regular army in Taicang. Although the "January 28th" Incident ultimately ended in the victory of the Japanese army, Wang Yaqiao did not stop the anti-Japanese actions. In April, Japanese Foreign Minister Shigemitsu came to Shanghai and decided to hold the "Sino-Japanese War Victory Celebration Ceremony" in Hongkou Park on "Tianchang Festival" (the birthday of the Japanese Emperor). It was a great shame for the Chinese people to hold a celebration of the victory of the aggressors on Chinese soil. At that time, Chen Mingshu, Vice President of the Administrative Yuan and Commander-in-Chief of the Beijing-Shanghai Garrison, actively sought countermeasures and tried to destroy the celebration. However, due to time constraints and strict Japanese precautions, only Japanese and Koreans were allowed to enter the venue that day, making the task extremely difficult. But Wang Yaqiao, with his extensive network and wisdom, successfully found a breakthrough. He contacted An Changhao, a Korean revolutionary exiled in Shanghai, and An Changhao also found 24-year-old Korean youth Yin Fengji. Yin Fengji can speak fluent Japanese. On April 29th, he successfully mixed into the Hongkou Park venue with a thermos containing a time bomb and a lunch box containing a hand grenade. The time bomb exploded on time, and Yin Fengji was worried that its power was not enough, so he even threw a hand grenade. The explosion caused significant casualties. General Shirakawa, the commander-in-chief of the Japanese army during the "January 28 Incident", died from his injuries, and Shigemitsu lost a leg. This famous assassination operation made Wang Yaqiao famous and many people took notice of him, even Chiang Kai-shek paid attention to him.
The complex relationship and intensification of contradictions between Wang Yaqiao and Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek actually noticed Wang Yaqiao very early on. Both of them followed Mr. Sun Yat-sen in their early years, and theoretically their ideas should be the same. However, in 1927, Chiang Kai-shek launched the "April 12th Counter-Revolutionary Coup", which resulted in a serious disagreement between Wang Yaqiao and Chiang Kai-shek. Wang Yaqiao advocated cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, and continued the Northern Expedition to overthrow the warlords, while Chiang Kai-shek's actions clearly violated his beliefs.
After "April 12th", Chiang Kai-shek established the National Government and set the capital in Nanjing. Originally, Wang Yaqiao was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the Jinpu Railway, but at the ceremony of setting up the capital, Wang Yaqiao, who spoke on behalf of the workers, publicly opposed Chiang Kai-shek's policies. He called on everyone not to forget the last wish of Premier Sun Yat-sen, to unite all forces to carry out the Northern Expedition to the end, and led the crowd to shout "Down with the warlords! Stop the massacre!" This action completely angered Chiang Kai-shek. Chiang Kai-shek immediately secretly ordered Wen Jiangang, the director of the Nanjing Police Department, to arrest Wang Yaqiao. However, both Chiang Kai-shek and Wen Jiangang underestimated Wang Yaqiao's strength. When Zhang Xiang, the captain of the Nanjing Police Department's investigation team, led his team to surround Wang Yaqiao's residence, they found that As a result, all members of the investigation team were disarmed and could only watch as Wang Yaqiao left before retrieving his weapons.
Since then, Wang Yaqiao began to actively oppose Chiang Kai-shek, and his opposition was not just limited to verbal protests. In 1928, he sent someone to assassinate Zhang Qiubai, Chairperson of the National Construction Commission and Director of the Anhui Construction Department; in 1930, he also sent someone to assassinate Zhao Tieqiao, the General Office of the China Merchants Group, who reported to Chiang Kai-shek. However, these two assassinations did not initially attract Chiang Kai-shek's attention, or rather, Chiang Kai-shek did not know that Wang Yaqiao was the mastermind behind the scenes.
In 1931, Wang Yaqiao planned two assassination operations that shocked the whole country. He orchestrated and sent someone to assassinate Chiang Kai-shek in Lushan, but missed due to the assassin's shooting in the chaos. Later, he arranged for someone to assassinate Minister of Finance Song Ziwen at the train station. However, the assassin mistook the person, and Tang Youlu, Song Ziwen's secretary, became the scapegoat. Due to his excellent secrecy, Chiang Kai-shek did not know that these operations were carried out by Wang Yaqiao at the time. After Wang Yaqiao planned the Hongkou Park bombing, Chiang Kai-shek tried to make peace with him by sending someone to send him to 40,000 Ocean and promising him the rank of Lieutenant General in the army. However, Wang Yaqiao firmly refused and responded, "Even if Jiang Guangtou had millions of soldiers, he did not resist Japan. We common people resist Japan and do not need to thank them."
In 1932, Li Dun, a United Kingdom man, led an international investigation team to investigate the Japanese invasion of Northeast China. However, the investigation results were obviously biased towards Japan, which made Wang Yaqiao indignant and decided to send someone to assassinate Li Dun. Unfortunately, the assassination plan ultimately failed, and the person sent to assassinate was arrested and confessed that the mastermind behind the assassination of Chiang Kai-shek and Song Ziwen was Wang Yaqiao. Chiang Kai-shek was shocked and angry after learning this. After calming down, he contacted Wang Yaqiao through Dai Li, Hu Zongnan, and Hu Baoyi in 1933, attempting to reconcile. These three people had sworn brothers with Wang Yaqiao when they were in Huzhou. Wang Yaqiao proposed conditions for reconciliation: first, to release those arrested in Nanjing, Suzhou, Shanghai and other places because of him; second, to give him 1 million yuan to disband his subordinates. It is said that Chiang Kai-shek agreed to these conditions, but also proposed a condition: to require Wang Yaqiao to shoot any member of the "anti-Chiang faction" in Southwest China at that time (including Hu Hanmin, Li Jishen, Chen Mingshu, Li Zongren, Chen Jitang) to show sincerity. Wang Yaqiao was greatly angered after hearing this and believed that Chiang Kai-shek was trapping him in injustice, so he firmly refused. Thus, Chiang Kai-shek and Wang Yaqiao completely lost the opportunity for reconciliation.Chiang Kai-shek's bounty and Wang Yaqiao's continued resistance
In 1933, Chiang Kai-shek offered a bounty of 1 million yuan for the capture of Wang Yaqiao, a staggering figure. In contrast, two years later, Chiang Kai-shek offered a bounty of 100,000 yuan each for Mao Zedong, Zhu De, and Xu Xiangqian; 80,000 yuan for Lin Biao; 60,000 yuan for Peng Dehuai; and 50,000 yuan each for Zhou Enlai and Bo Gu. In other words, the total bounty of Mao Zedong and seven other Communist leaders was only half of Wang Yaqiao's bounty, which shows how much Chiang Kai-shek feared Wang Yaqiao.
However, the higher the bounty, the more determined Wang Yaqiao was to resist. On November 1, 1933, after the Sixth Plenary Session of the Fourth Central Committee of the Kuomintang, representatives and committee members took a group photo. Sun Fengming, a journalist from "Morning Light Society" who was qualified for an interview, took out the pistol hidden in the camera and fired three shots at Wang Jingwei in the front row. One of the bullets hit Wang Jingwei's spine, which could not be removed and eventually became one of the causes of Wang Jingwei's death nine years later. The person who planned this sensational assassination was Wang Yaqiao, who was taking refuge in Hong Kong at the time, and Wang Jingwei was only his "second target". The "first target" was originally Chiang Kai-shek, but Chiang Kai-shek happened to leave at that time. Before Chiang Kai-shek could recover from the horror of the assassination, Tang Youren, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kuomintang, was assassinated by Wang Yaqiao because he was presiding over negotiations with Japan in Shanghai. Chiang Kai-shek was completely angered. He called in the spy chief Dai Li (once Wang Yaqiao's sworn brother) and ordered, "Catch Wang Yaqiao at all costs, otherwise cut off your own head!"
The Fall of Wang Yaqiao
In 1936, after several failed arrests, Dai Li, who was almost helpless, finally got an opportunity. At this time, Wang Yaqiao had no place to stay in Hong Kong, so he went to Wuzhou, Guangxi. After losing the clue, Dai Li came up with a sinister plan. He knew that Wang Yaqiao was extremely loyal to his subordinates, so he decided to start with them. Dai Li sent someone to kidnap Wang Yaqiao's subordinate Yu Likui from Hong Kong, but Yu Likui remained steadfast and refused to reveal Wang Yaqiao's whereabouts. Dai Li found a new breakthrough - Yu Likui's wife Yu Wanjun. Under the temptation of Dai Li giving her 100,000 yuan and promising to release Yu Likui after catching Wang Yaqiao, Yu Wanjun confessed Wang Yaqiao's whereabouts.
Yu Wanjun then went to Wuzhou, Guangxi, and managed to find Wang Yaqiao. She deceived Wang Yaqiao by saying that after Yu Likui was arrested, the mother and son had nowhere to stay in Hong Kong, and hoped that Wang Yaqiao could find a place for her in Wuzhou. Kind Wang Yaqiao believed it and immediately arranged a place for her. On October 20, 1936, the legendary life of "assassinating the king" came to an end. That night, because she had promised to let Yu Wanjun's servant bring a note to Yu Likui in prison, Wang Yaqiao went to Yu Wanjun's home alone. As soon as she entered the door, the spy hiding behind the door sprinkled lime on his face, and then more than ten spies rushed over, attempting to capture Wang Yaqiao alive. However, Wang Yaqiao had extraordinary skills after all. After breaking free from the crowd, he pulled out a pistol. The spies decided to shoot him. In the end, Wang Yaqiao was shot five times and stabbed three times, dying on the spot. In order to silence him, the spies later killed Yu Wanjun.
It is worth mentioning that when Wang Yaqiao was killed, it was less than two months before December 12, 1936. On this day, Zhang Xueliang, who had been frightened by Wang Yaqiao and fled Shanghai, launched a military remonstrance in Xi'an and kidnapped Chiang Kai-shek. The anti-Japanese national united front that Wang Yaqiao had been looking forward to finally formed shortly after his death.
Viewpoint
Wang Yaqiao was a difficult-to-describe figure. He was neither a politician nor a military strategist in the traditional sense, nor did he hold a decent official title. However, during the dark period of modern Chinese history, he supervised government officials internally and fought against foreign enemies externally to avenge himself in his unique way. His methods were not through words or words, but through guns and bombs. According to the materials later reported by the Military Statistics Bureau to Chiang Kai-shek, before Wang Yaqiao was assassinated, he had already contacted Yan'an and was preparing to join the Communist Party. When Zhou Enlai mentioned Wang Yaqiao's death, he deeply regretted and said, "If we had brought Mr. Wang Yaqiao to Yan'an earlier, he would have made such a great contribution to the later Anti-Japanese War and liberation cause!" To some extent, Wang Yaqiao's personality determines his behavior. He has a clear sense of national righteousness and right and wrong, but is accustomed to being alone. He demonstrated his value to the country and politics with his individual strength, which is not only the key to winning people's applause, but also the reason for his tragic ending. His life, like a shooting star in the night sky, although short, left a brilliant and tragic light, leaving an indelible mark in modern Chinese history.