Chapter 167 Chiang Kai-shek's domestic enemy

Dai Li and his subordinates have always been very vigilant about intrigue within the KMT regime.One of the most dramatic events occurred in 1943 when the Generalissimo went to Cairo.A group of young generals plotted not only to overthrow Chiang Kai-shek, but also to depose He Yingqin, Dai Li, Kong Xiangxi, the Chen brothers, and other senior officials known for their corruption and malfeasance.Dai Li's agents got wind of the plan before it was implemented.Between 200 and 600 officials are said to have been involved in the plot.As a result, 16 generals were shot. At the peak of his power in 1944, Dai Li, in addition to serving as the chief of the Military Control Bureau, also controlled the following institutions: the second department of the military command department, the sixth group of the attendant room, the security group, the special inspection department of the military commission, and the unification of water and land transportation of the military commission Inspection Office, Security Inspection Office of Ordnance Industry Administration, Ranger Army of the Military Commission, "Loyalty and National Salvation Army" of the Military Commission, police stations, police training units, checkpoints in all provinces, cities and localities in the entire Kuomintang-controlled area, Southwest Transport Police Department of the Military Commission , military attaches and assistant military attaches of each embassy, ​​and the Chinese Police Society.

By the spring of 1944, Dai Li not only foresaw a civil war with the Communists, but he was actively preparing for the re-establishment of the central KMT regime in North China by recruiting officials from the defeated Japanese puppet government to fight the Communists.According to the U.S. State Department: "According to reliable sources, General Dai stated that the Communist Party issue is more important to China than the Japanese issue." Of greatest concern to the U.S. military was the possibility that Melles' troops at SACO could be used against the Communists.There was a growing awareness in Chongqing that Melles joined Dai Li in blaming OSS for collusion with the CCP because of his personal feud with OSS.This intensified the above concerns.In mid-July, for example, Melles accused OSS of airdropping submachine guns to "communist plainclothes personnel" in Shanghai.He also insisted that a close reading of Dai Li's intelligence files confirmed that American diplomats such as John Carter Vincent "were sacrificing the interests of the Chinese Nationalist Party and were not doing their best to protect the interests of the United States ... .”

Such fears of Sino-U.S. interference in China's civil war were exacerbated by Yenan's accusations against the Kuomintang of using U.S.-funded arms for anti-Communist activities. Before the end of the summer of 1944, if the Communist Party complained that "the United States used aided munitions for its anti-communist activities", it was almost certainly fabricated, and the purpose was to pre-empt this from happening.But in the summer of 1944, the U.S. Navy in China benefited from the added value of the tonnage flying over the Himalayas and began to receive several tons of airlifts per month... The U.S. Navy in China worked closely with Dai Li’s secret police, and Wedemeyer believed that they secretly provided supplies .According to the official history of the US war:

The committee reported on August 22 that there was no "satisfactory evidence" that members of the U.S. Navy in China had been deployed among the Nationalist or "Loyalty and National Salvation Army" units against the Communists; If acted, (Americans) could be used to engage in combat." But the committee went on to note that American equipment was used "at least defensively" against the Communist Party, and that the equipment armed Dai Li under procedures other than the arms aid agreement, And there are no extant reliable records of the transfer (weapons to Dai Li).