(Figure 5-7-1) The Draken family in London after Nazi bombing.
It's been seven years since I left in 1936, the peak of the London blitz has just passed, but Nazi planes still occasionally attack. Although our home in Oxfordshire is in the countryside and less affected, I have to report to headquarters in London every day, so I spend most of my time at our house in London. My father also stays here when he goes to London for meetings.
Many houses in central London were destroyed in the air raids. In addition to the direct hits from the bombs, the fires caused by incendiary bombs were even more devastating, often reducing entire blocks to ashes. Fortunately, our house suffered no damage except for some broken windows.
When we were in London, we often had to take shelter in the basement across the street from air raid sirens. My father, who was always impeccably dressed for decades, maintained his gentlemanly demeanor even when taking shelter from air raid sirens. He was quite disapproving of the way I looked, wearing a helmet, carrying a gas mask, covered in soot, and running around like a headless fly. He would always tap the edge of my helmet with his cane and say, "An English gentleman doesn't wear that thing around the house!"
He was also worried that I wasn't used to living under air raid sirens in London. I told him that I also frequently had to run for air raid sirens in Chungking, but I didn't dare tell him about the Chungking air raid shelter tragedy, which I heard suffocated tens of thousands of people.
When I returned home to Oxford from London over the weekend, I saw military vehicles, tanks, and artillery lined up for miles along the country roads, harbors and waterways were filled with all kinds of ships, planes were taking off and landing at the newly built airfields, and soldiers were training in the fields, most of whom were American. It was said that this was the situation throughout the British Isles. Anyone with a little common sense could guess that the Allies would soon land in France to open a second front; the only questions were when and where.
(Figure 5-7-2) The British countryside is filled with US troops and equipment.
On January 25, 1944, we held a small Chinese New Year party at our home in Oxford, inviting some former Foreign Ministry colleagues who had been stationed in China—a tradition my father had maintained since returning from China. Supplies were still scarce, but much better than the previous year, my father told me. At that time, the entire British population was living under a wartime system, with food and supplies rationed. Although our family was a minor aristocracy, and my father held a high position, we were no exception. This was very different from Chungking, another wartime capital. In China, even though all supplies had to be airlifted via the Hump, high-ranking officials and the upper class lived luxurious lives, while ordinary people teetered on the brink of starvation. Coupled with the corruption within the government, I felt that even if Chiang Kai-shek won the war, he might lose the hearts and minds of the people.
Among the guests at the meeting were some representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who had attended the Cairo and Tehran Conferences. When they discovered that I was also present, everyone started talking about Chiang Kai-shek and his wife and Stalin. Perhaps influenced by Churchill, most of the conversation was derogatory.
"That Chiang Kai-shek!" Father recalled an incident in Kwangchow in 1923: "If Sun Yat-sen was Lenin, then Chiang Kai-shek was Stalin!"
My father always spoke concisely and to the point. Stalin constantly proclaimed Marxism-Leninism, but in reality, he used Lenin as a figurehead to carry out his personal dictatorship. Chiang Kai-shek always claimed to be a follower of Sun Yat-sen's Three Principles of the People, but in reality, he was no different from a warlord. No wonder Soong Ching-ling, Sun Yat-sen's wife, angrily accused him of plagiarizing the fruits of the revolution and being a traitor to the Premier. In China, the image of the Kuomintang as synonymous with corruption is deeply ingrained in people's minds, and Chiang Kai-shek bears the greatest responsibility for this.
After the guests had all left, I went to the fireplace and saw a framed photo on it. It was a picture of me and my father taken in 1929 when Annie and I sailed the " China Pearl" back to England, in front of our house. Most of the photos of Annie that I had were burned during the forced landing in Hong Kong at the end of 1941. I stared at the photo for a long time, and my father said to me, "You can take it!"
I shook my head and put the photo back in its place. I knew I couldn't live in Annie's shadow forever, but I felt a deep sense of loss whenever I saw her photo.
(Figure 5-7-3) Anti-aircraft guns in front of MI6 headquarters.
Upon returning to London, I was required to report to headquarters as usual. The headquarters was now piled high with sandbags, and an anti-aircraft gun stood at the entrance. The bureau was filled with the busy, pragmatic atmosphere of wartime, a stark contrast to the bureaucratic pretense of the pre-war period. Some say that war is the truest test, and the enemy the strictest examiner; I found this to be true in the wartime British government, but this statement may not necessarily apply to the wartime Chungking government.
Major General Stewart Menzies, the director, personally summoned me. He was appointed wartime director of MI6 in 1939 for his achievements in cracking the German cipher machine with Polish experts. Because of the similarity in their work, he was very interested in my cryptographic work in the Far East. He admitted that my achievements on "Deep Purple" had greatly inspired him and the Polish experts. I politely replied that any achievements were the result of the joint efforts of my colleagues in the department.
After the war, I learned that "Deep Purple" was not only a great inspiration to them, but they simply applied the original code directly. Otherwise, it would have been possible to crack all the German codes in such a short time. But he was the director, so I was destined to be an unsung hero.
Director Menzies invited me to lunch and arranged for me to give a briefing to the bureau's officers on the situation in China. The meeting was held in a conference room in an underground air-raid shelter. In the dim light and hazy smoke, I noticed that my classmate Ian Fleming was also present.
After the informative report was completed, a young man who looked shrewd but had a slight stutter was the first to ask a question: "What will be Britain's position in postwar China?"
Before I could answer, the director introduced him, saying, "This is Mr. Kim Philby, an exceptionally talented individual whom I recently recruited from the Special Operations Division (SOE)."
"Kim Philby?"
I'd heard my father mention this person to Colonel Lawrence. It turns out that Kim Philby's father, St. John Philby, and my father were both scholars of Oriental history and intelligence officers. My father loved China, while St. John was fascinated by India and the Arab world. Kim was born in Punjab, India, later graduated from Trinity College, Cambridge, and now works for MI6. I'm very curious how someone new to MI6 could be qualified to sit in this room and receive such a highly classified briefing?
I replied, "Since our country revoked all privileges for China in 1942, it is obvious that postwar China will be a sovereign and independent country. However, can Britain's past status in China continue?"
I noticed that everyone in the room was craning their ears and staring at me intently.
"Uh... I think it's unlikely! First of all, our relationship with China was severely strained during this war, and it's too late to salvage it now; secondly, the United States took advantage of the situation, using their abundant resources to lure the Nationalist government in, and now Chiang Kai-shek looks at Roosevelt like he looks at Santa Claus..."
Many people present laughed knowingly, thinking that the situation was the same in Britain right now.
"The United States will certainly completely replace our position in China after the war, but I don't think that position will last long because we must pay attention to the rise of the Chinese Communist Party." I said, "I am very worried that Chiang Kai-shek's regime will collapse after the war, and then the United States may have to face a communist regime that is inherently hostile to capitalist countries."
"That's completely impossible!" Some people scoffed, saying, "The United States gave Chiang Kai-shek so much military aid."
(Figure 5-7-4) A briefing on the situation in China held in the conference room of the air-raid shelter in the basement of MI6 headquarters.
"Let me tell you a story. In 1925, Chiang Kai-shek led the Kuomintang Northern Expeditionary Army from Kuangchow. It was a Red Army trained by Soviet advisors. They overwhelmed the warlord's superior military force with political and spiritual strength and won in four years."
I said, "This spirit has now been transferred to the Communist army. Chiang Kai-shek, who revolutionized the warlords back then, has now become the target of revolution. If history could repeat itself in 1925, Chiang Kai-shek's regime would be replaced by Mao Zedong in Yan'an within four years after the war!"
An uproar erupted at the scene.
"Since the Americans have replaced us in China, they have naturally become the new focus of Chinese anti-imperialist hatred, a position they no longer have after the Communist Party came to power." I said, "If there is no choice but to face the new Chinese regime, the sooner we begin learning how to deal with the Communist Party, the better!"
"Secondly, I think we should seize Hong Kong and develop it to replace Shanghai after losing it, making it an important channel for China." I continued, "The importance of Hong Kong was clearly demonstrated in this war. You see, after Japan occupied Shanghai, China's imports and exports relied entirely on Hong Kong, which made Hong Kong prosperous for several years. This situation will be repeated after the Communist Party takes control of China."
"Why are you so sure the Communists won't forcibly take back Hong Kong? It would be an easy thing for them!" This time it was Ian Fleming who asked.
"I don't know either, but I just have a feeling it won't happen," I said. "While the Communist Party is closing all doors, it also needs to open a window to the Western world to avoid suffocating itself. If that only window is Hong Kong, we can create even greater benefits than in Shanghai."
Sure enough, the war ended in 1945, and the Chiang Kai-shek regime collapsed in 1949. Britain was the first Western country to establish diplomatic relations with the new Communist regime, and Hong Kong became the only window for mainland China to the West, enjoying half a century of high prosperity. I never expected the prediction to be so accurate. Actually, it was not my prediction but that of the Taoist master Chiu Taochi. He told me the same thing when I was in Peiking in 1928.
"Commander Draken's research on the Communist Party is truly thorough and admirable! I will need to learn from you more in the future!" Kim Philby stood up and shook my hand: "Miss Smedley once mentioned you."
"Do you know Miss Smedley?" Smedley was Sorge's girlfriend when he was in China, and also Annie's close friend. She was a famous left-leaning female writer, and we had many interactions when we were in Shanghai.
"It was Miss Smedley who introduced me to the intelligence agency," Philby said.
"Oh?" To be honest, I don't know why, but I just don't like this guy.
(Figure 5-7-5) After the meeting, Kim Philby made overtures to Paul Draken, but Paul only responded politely.
Here I must first talk about Kim Philby's postwar career. Philby rose through the ranks very quickly after joining MI6, immediately being appointed head of the Soviet branch. In 1950, when Director Menzies stepped down, Philby was even considered the most likely successor. It was at this time that Mr. M appeared, accusing Philby of being a KGB spy. No one believed him, and Philby demanded that Mr. M provide evidence.
However, the intelligence community is very sensitive. Mr. M's accusations immediately dropped a huge bombshell across the Atlantic. Because Philby had served as MI6's liaison in Washington, D.C., and had access to a great deal of classified information from the CIA and FBI, the United States exerted strong pressure on Britain, and Philby's appointment was eventually canceled. He later left MI6 as a result.
After leaving MI6, Philby continued to work part-time in intelligence, and although he vehemently denied being a KGB spy, Mr. M relentlessly pursued him. It should be noted that Mr. M had been an intelligence agent in Russia since World War I, and later became MI6's special envoy to Moscow. He was well aware of the unusual situation at the London headquarters and possessed a wealth of incriminating evidence. As more and more evidence against Philby emerged, the KGB finally smuggled him into the Soviet Union in 1963.
Kim Philby was a member of the so-called "Cambridge Ring," five Cambridge University graduates recruited by the Communists in the 1930s who deliberately infiltrated MI6 during World War II and quickly rose to occupy all the top and important positions. All intelligence that the British Prime Minister could see was immediately copied and placed on Stalin's desk. Because they controlled even counterintelligence, any whistleblowing detrimental to them was blocked, and the source of the intelligence was even traced back, resulting in the exposure and execution of dozens of British spies infiltrating the KGB. Mr. M, for example, nearly lost his life in Moscow. Therefore, he was irreconcilably opposed to Kim Philby and was determined to expose him.
When the truth about Kim Philby's treason was revealed, MI6 was gripped by fear, morale plummeted, and they never recovered. However, by then I had already left. My conclusion about Kim Philby is: "Who told you to piss off Mr. M?"
Kim Philby's KGB spy status is beyond doubt; the Soviet government even issued a set of commemorative stamps in his honor after his death in 1988! As for the "Cambridge Five," it reminds me that Yamamoto Isoroku's top secret of negotiating peace was most likely leaked to Stalin by them, which led the United States to take drastic measures to prevent any possibility of peace talks.
When talking about Kim Philby, I should also mention another person, George Blake, who was working in the code department as a naval lieutenant intelligence officer, mainly responsible for deciphering Dutch coded messages. Because he was of mixed Turkish and Dutch descent, he escaped from a Nazi concentration camp in the Netherlands after the outbreak of war and joined the Royal Navy. Due to his talent for languages, he was transferred to the intelligence unit.
Because we were colleagues and both of mixed Eastern and Western heritage, we hit it off immediately. I encouraged him, as someone who had been through it all, to try and get a transfer to a shipboard position. After the war, the Foreign Office sent him to Cambridge University to study in order to train him to become an intelligence officer with diplomatic credentials. After graduating in 1949, George was assigned to the British Legation in Seoul, South Korea, as an assistant consul.
The Korean War broke out on June 25, 1950, and Seoul fell to the North Korean People's Army on June 28. All the staff of the British Legation, including George, were taken prisoner. They were not released until March 1953 after the signing of the Korean War armistice agreement. George returned to work for MI6. At that time, no one knew that he had defected to become a Soviet spy.
George Blake's defection had an impact no less significant than that of Kim Philby. At least 42 spies working for the West within the high command of the Soviet Union, East Germany, and Poland were killed because of his leaks, including the head of East Germany's State Security Service. As a result, Blake was sentenced to 42 years in prison after his defection was exposed in 1961. Blake miraculously escaped from prison in 1966 and fled to the Soviet Union. The Soviet government awarded him the Order of Lenin and the Red Banner in recognition of his contributions.
Kim Philby, George Blake, and I were all important personnel in British intelligence, involved in classified matters, and all had backgrounds of foreign birth or even Eastern ancestry, making it easy to associate us together. Therefore, when Philby and Blake defected in the 1960s, many people viewed my loyalty with suspicion. Fortunately, I had already left MI6 for the CIA by then, thanks to Mr. M's foresight.
While the Allied victory in World War II was a crucial factor, the Germans' stubborn belief that the cipher machine was unbreakable was also key. Therefore, the Bletchley Park operation had to be treated as top secret; otherwise, if the Germans discovered a vulnerability and changed the coding scheme, the Allies would lose a valuable source of intelligence. For decades after the war, the British government refused to acknowledge the existence of the Bletchley Park codebreaking facility, hoping to maintain this advantage. Bletchley Park is an 18th-century manor house located in Bletchley, Milton Keynes, about 80 kilometers from London. It is connected by rail to Oxford and Cambridge Universities, making it convenient for experts from both universities to work there, which may be the reason it was chosen as the location for a cryptography agency.
(Figures 5-7-6) Paul Draken visits Bletchley Park and meets Alan Turing.
Turing was five years younger than me and had already achieved great success in the scientific field. I must admit that I couldn't understand any of his theories, yet we were doing the same thing. He said their research initially stemmed from a Polish copy of the German Enigma machine, nicknamed "Bombe," a result of Menzies' collaboration with Poland in 1939. We, on the other hand, started with a regular commercial cipher machine. The key wasn't the hardware of the cipher machine, but rather the codebreaking. A mechanically structured cipher machine could be disassembled to understand its principles, but the encoding methods were infinitely varied, with potentially over a hundred million permutations and combinations. Even if it could be deciphered, it would take a tremendous amount of time. Furthermore, intelligence has a time limit; once the opportunity passes, it loses its value—that was the biggest challenge. In the Far East, we reverse-engineered patterns by exchanging intelligence with Japan, while Turing used complex mathematical logic to crack it.
(Figure 5-7-7) Turing's massive code-breaking machine "Bombe" with Director Menzies displaying one of the terminals responsible for intelligence in Shanghai.
In terms of hardware, Turing designed a very large machine, while we tried to replace mechanics with electronics from the beginning. I told Turing about this idea, and he agreed wholeheartedly. Later, the new machine also developed towards electronicization, thus creating the prototype of the modern computer and being hailed as a pioneer of artificial intelligence. In fact, we were slightly earlier than him, but we were fighting alone in the East and did not have the huge human and material resources of Bletchley Park, so we quickly ran out of steam.
Turing's "bombe" concept consisted of many tandem Enigma bombes, each two meters high and wide—enormous and extremely power-consuming. Moreover, to meet all the military's needs in various theaters of war, at least dozens of these "bombe" would need to operate simultaneously. During the visit, Director Menzies specifically took me to a port marked "Shanghai". I was curious about what the Germans could do in Shanghai, but due to insufficient security clearance, I could only observe from afar and not approach.
Bletchley Park was a top secret in Britain at the time. Even as the head of codebreaking in the Far East, I wouldn't have been able to get in without Director Menzies's personal guidance. Incidentally, I knew Turing was gay the first time I saw him; I just have that kind of sensitivity. Turing was later persecuted because of this, as he was not accepted by society and law at the time, and died mysteriously in 1954. Turing's tragedy made him an icon of modern computer technology. No one knows that there was a young man named Yankee in Shanghai back then, but that assistant professor at National Chiao Tung University, Wang An, later founded a very successful computer company in the United States, thus leaving his mark on the history of modern information technology.
(Figures 5-7-8) Before joining the SOE, Noor studied to become a Royal Air Force bomber radio operator.
At that time, there were more women than men in London, as most men were away at war, spending long periods overseas, some killed or missing, leaving behind many women of marriageable age. Finding a partner wasn't difficult. Furthermore, the unpredictability of war led many to embrace the idea of living for the moment, with no tomorrow in sight, making relationships much more open than before the war. It wasn't that I didn't want to, but perhaps because I traveled the world so much, it was difficult to settle down and develop a lasting relationship. Coupled with Chiu Taochi's prophecy of the "curse of the empress and princess," I dared not even consider it. But I couldn't very well ignore my father's good intentions. Then it suddenly occurred to me that my father had been single since leaving the Loulan princess. When he hinted at it again, I bluntly said, "You should find a companion first, so I can feel at ease traveling far from home." Later, he indeed married the widow of a fallen officer, and I had a stepmother younger than me.
Actually, my most recent girlfriend was Noor, whom I met in Paris, but we lost contact for a long time. The last time I heard from her, I learned that her whole family had moved to London. I remember she said she wanted to join the Special Operations Service. Luckily, I had some connections, so I inquired about her on a whim. To my surprise, I got the answer as soon as I asked. Because she was so famous, I learned through private channels that she was sent to Paris as a telegraph operator last June and has since lost contact. A shadow instantly fell over my heart.
Noor's striking beauty made her unsuitable for missions behind enemy lines, as she would be too easily identifiable. My contact said that Noor's upbringing in Paris and fluency in French would be advantageous for infiltration, but he also noted her poor performance during training, her carelessness, forgetfulness, and impulsiveness—a trait consistent with my own perception of her. She wasn't originally on the infiltration list, but due to the significant number of SOE's behind-enemy-lines being dismantled, a severe shortage of personnel forced them to send her.
There was another reason why Noor was sent out. She originally joined to the Royal Auxiliary Air Force and trained to become a bomber communicator. By the time she transferred to the SOE, she already had professional training as a telegraph operator. At that time, women could only serve as couriers if they were agents, so Noor became the first female telegraph operator. Among undercover agents, telegraph operators were the most dangerous. Others could evacuate quickly, but telegraph operators had to stay behind to send messages, leaving traces that could be tracked, and telegraph machines were hard to hide. As a result, telegraph operators had the highest casualty rates, with an average lifespan said to be only six weeks. Under these circumstances, telegraph operators behind enemy lines were always in short supply, which is why Noor was sent on the mission.。
The contack people said, "Commander Draken, We are all in the business. You know that inquiring about enemy-occupied personnel is a major taboo. This is the most I can tell you. It's best if we don't contact each other again." I thanked them and left silently, praying in my heart that my "princess" would return safely.
"Many of these people are old acquaintances of yours. Give me some feedback?" I looked at the list, and it was all graduates of the Mawei Naval Academy. This is not surprising. Chen Shaokuan controlled the Chinese Navy for more than ten years, and the faction was very strict. The so-called Central Navy was entirely controlled by the Fookian faction. After the war, when there was an opportunity to take over such a large number of warships, how could he allow outsiders to get involved? Because of the influence of Shen Honglie and Ouyang Ge, I also had no good feelings towards Chen Shaokuan, so I was quite resistant to this list. If the British had suggested a graduate from Tsingtao or the M.C.S. School, Chen Shaokuan would certainly not have accepted it. The ensuing dispute could have even led to diplomatic problems. After much deliberation, I thought of my group of Chinese classmates at the Royal Naval College, and suddenly a suitable candidate came to mind: "Teng Chaoshiang!" Why Teng Chaoshiang? Because he graduated from the Whampau Naval Academy in Canton, and was less likely to be ostracized by the Fookian faction compared to Tsingtao or M.C.S. Secondly, he had trained at the Royal Naval College in the UK for five years with excellent grades, meeting the professional standards required by the British side. Therefore, I suggested that my classmate directly request Teng Chaoshiang from the Chinese side.
(Figure 5-7-9) The "Chungking" and "Lingfu" were received at the Portsmouth naval port.
Unexpectedly, a year later, the "Chongqing" ship, under the command of Captain Teng Chaoshiang, mutinied and sailed from Shanghai to the north to defect to the Communists. It was sunk by Kuomintang air force bombers in Huludao harbor. The news shocked London and introduced a huge variable into Sino-British naval cooperation. Besides the "Chungking," I played many other roles on the warships aiding China, details of which will be described later.
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