Lin Piao Chinese Marshal significantly contributed to the twenty-two-year Communist struggle for power in China and held important military positions as the closest adviser to MAO ZEDONG after the Communist took control of the country in 1949. To his credit, Lin could claim victories over Japanese invaders in World War II, defeat of the Nationalists for control of China, reinforcement of the North Koreans in their routing of UN (mostly U.S.) forces, and support for North Vietnam in its efforts to defeat American- supported South Vietnam. Lin’s abilities to organize and train large numbers of men with limited resources and his cautious, deliberate approach to combat resulted in the Communist takeover of China and their long-term control of the country.
Born on December 5, 1907, in Hubei Province, to owners of a factory, Lin graduated from the Whampoa Military Academy in 1926. He rapidly rose through the officer ranks during the Northern Expedition of July 1926-April 1927, achieving the rank of major in less than a year. In August 1927, Lin bolted from the Nationalist army and joined the Communist military uprising, taking his regiment along as he changed sides. Lin had been interested in socialism since his student days and had joined the Chinese Communist Party in 1925.
During the next few years Lin participated in several key bat- des against the Nationalists that kept the Red Army viable. By the 1930s, Mao considered Lin a trusted subordinate and supported his election to the executive committee of the provisional Chinese Communist government. During the Long March of 1934-35, Lin led several attacks to cover the withdrawal of the Red Army.
During the temporary unification of the Communists and the Nationalists during World War II to fight their common enemy Japan, Lin, as a division commander, won China’s first victory over the invading Japanese in the northern part of the country. On March 2, 1938, Lin was wounded and evacuated to Russia for treatment. While recuperating in Moscow, he acted as China’s repre¬sentative to the Soviet Union.
Lin returned to China in early 1942 and recruited and trained an army of one hundred thousand. He, however, avoided combat as he waited for Japan to surrender so he could turn his massive army against the Nationalists. In March-June 1946 Lin won a significant victory over the Nationalists, which gained for the Communists control of Manchuria. By May of the following year, Lin had increased his army to a half million men and moved it south, along with other Communist forces. On January 22, 1949, Lin captured Peking and then continued his march to the Yangtze.
With the final defeat of the Nationalist army and the estab-lishment of the People’s Republic of China on September 21, 1949, Lin assumed a series of high positions in both the government and the military. In late 1950, when UN forces occupied North Korea and threatened the Yalu River region, Lin led a Chinese army of •Volunteers” into Korea. During a counteroffensive from November 25, 1950, to January 15, 1951, Lin swept the UN force, mosdy com-posed of U.S. soldiers and marines, out of North Korea and occu¬pied the southern capital of Seoul as he inflicted what has been described as one of the greatest land defeats in U.S. history.
Republic, and in 1955 Mao promoted him to the rank of field marshal of the People’s Liberation Army, where he improved military readiness, weapons acquisition, and overall training. In 1959, Lin assisted Mao in the purge of alleged Russian supporters in the military and government In 1962 he directed Chinese efforts against India in the Himalayas. At about this time, he also took control of Chinese support of North Vietnam’s efforts to overrun South Vietnam. Lin later claimed that he equipped two full North Vietnamese infantry divisions with weapons and equipment he had captured from the Americans in North Korea.
Lin supported Mao’s brutal Cultural Revolution of 1966-69, and Mao rewarded him by designating him as his heir. However, as Mao became more moderate and sought better relations with the West, Lin lost confidence in his old comrade and began to plot a coup with leftist leaders.
On September 8, 1971, Lin initiated military action to take over the government and assassinate Mao, but his plan had been com-promised by a rival and Mao easily maintained power. Lin, along with his family and close advisers, attempted to flee to the Soviet Union. Not until late 1972 did the Chinese government announce that Lin, seventy-three, and his entire party had been killed on September 13, 1971, when their airplane crashed at Undurkhan, Mongolia. In 1973, Lin was posthumously expelled from the Chinese Communist Party.
Despite Lin’s status in today’s China as a traitor, he still ranks as one of that country’s greatest modern military leaders. His de-termination, resourcefulness, and general military talents preserved the fledgling Communist army in the 1930s and then led it to victories over the Japanese and the Nationalists. Once he succeeded, Lin molded and led the world’s largest army and con¬ducted successful operations to secure his country’s borders.
While Mao certainly exerted more influence because of his combined military and political powers, the Communist takeover in China might not have occurred without the leadership of Lin. The organization, training procedures, and tactics of today’s Chi¬nese army remain mostly those instituted by him. Described by many as “colorless” and lacking in flamboyance, Lin nevertheless was one of history’s most dedicated Communists. He influenced worldwide opinion with his 1965 manifesto Long Live the Victory of the People’s War, which called for revolutionaries around the globe to take up arms and defeat capitalism.