Lin Biao or Lin Piao (both: lĭn byou), 1908–71, Chinese Communist general and political leader. Lin was trained at Whampoa Academy, and during the Northern Expedition Northern Expedition, in modern Chinese history, the military campaign by which the Kuomintang party overthrew the warlord -backed Beijing government and established a new government at Nanjing.
..... Click the link for more information. he rose to company commander in the Kuomintang Kuomintang (gwō`mĭn`däng`, kwō`mĭntăng`) [Chin.
..... Click the link for more information. army. After the Kuomintang-Communist split in 1927, he became one of Zhu De Zhu De or Chu Teh (both: j
..... Click the link for more information. 's leading military aides. His skill as a tactician earned him the command of a Red Army corps, and after the long march long march, Chin., Changzheng, the journey of c.6,000 mi (9,660 km) undertaken by the Red Army of China in 1934–35. When their Jiangxi prov. Soviet base was encircled by the Nationalist army of Chiang Kai-shek, some 90,000 men and women broke through the
..... Click the link for more information. , he headed the Red Academy at Yan'an. In 1947–48 he commanded the Communist military offensive in the northeast against Chiang Kai-shek. Lin was appointed defense minister of the people's republic in 1959. In 1966 he displaced Liu Shaoqi Liu Shaoqi or Liu Shao-ch'i (both: ly
..... Click the link for more information. as the second-ranking member of the Chinese Communist party, a position that made him Mao Zedong's heir apparent. A supporter of the Cultural Revolution (1966–76), Lin mysteriously died in an airplane crash in Mongolia (1971). His death, however, was not officially disclosed until 1972, when the Chinese press also reported on his alleged attempt to overthrow the government shortly before the crash.

Lin Biao

or Lin Piao

(born Dec. 5, 1907, Huanggang, Hubei province, China—died Sept. 13, 1971?, Mongolia?) Chinese military leader and government official who played a prominent role in the Cultural Revolution. He joined the Socialist Youth League in 1925 and Chiang Kai-shek's Northern Expedition in 1926. When Chiang turned on the communists in 1927, Lin fled to join Mao. During the Long March Lin became legendary for never losing a battle, and he prevailed against the Japanese in the 1930s and the Nationalists in the 1940s. In the early 1960s his reformation and indoctrination of the army in accordance with Mao's teachings became a model for the rest of society, and during the Cultural Revolution he was designated Mao's successor. Subsequent events are unclear, but in September 1971 the Chinese government reported that Lin died in a plane crash in Mongolia in an attempt to flee China; his death has remained a mystery.