Unfortunately, Lin Biao took the wrong path later and died in an accident in 1971. Premier Zhou only said six words at that time, which were full of complex emotions about Lin Biao's life deeds, but made the most fair evaluation of Lin Biao.

Lin Biao was an outstanding general who did his part in the revolutionary war 22 years before the founding of New China. His promotion speed is rare in both the Kuomintang and the Communist Party. His military command ability has not only been widely recognized by members of both domestic parties, but also the international community is full of praise for him.

Unfortunately, Lin Biao took the wrong path later and died in an accident in 1971. Premier Zhou, who has always been gentle and elegant, burst into tears in front of people at the news of Lin Biao's death, which aroused people's confusion. Premier Zhou only said six words at that time, which were full of complex emotions about Lin Biao's life deeds, but made the most fair evaluation of Lin Biao.

Premier Zhou and Lin Biao take a photo

Lin Biao's early revolutionary experience was the same as that of many famous generals in the party. He was exposed to revolution and organized progressive movements in his youth and was admitted to Huangpu Military Academy , thus beginning his prestigious military career on the battlefield.

What is different is that Lin Biao was introverted and indifferent by nature. He never chatted with others unless necessary. He was only interested in military affairs and war. His personality problems gave rise to many sensitive thoughts.

While studying at Whampoa Military Academy, Lin Biao was doing a detailed analysis of the Huizhou Campaign in class. He was overheard by the passing principal Chiang Kai-shek and noticed his humble student. Chiang Kai-shek was impressed by Lin Biao's details and operational analysis of the critical battle, and then asked him to talk to him in the principal's office.

Whampoa Military Academy

It’s just that Lin Biao has always been taciturn. Apart from his continuous bursts of inspiration during the war, Lin Biao almost never said any nonsense, which made Chiang Kai-shek, who also upheld the belief that "too much words lead to mistakes", felt like he had hit a soft nail. .

When Chiang Kai-shek was tempting Lin Biao with promises of high-ranking officials and generous salaries in the principal's office, the guards suddenly knocked on the door and came in, claiming that Wang Jingwei was here and needed him to receive him as soon as possible. When Chiang Kai-shek served as the principal of Whampoa Military Academy, Wang Jingwei's position and status in the National Government were much higher than his. Chiang Kai-shek could only interrupt the conversation, endure his displeasure and leave the principal's office.

However, Lin Biao, who had a sensitive self-esteem, had a grudge against Chiang Kai-shek's behavior and did not take his previous conceited words to heart, which indirectly pushed Lin Biao and Chiang Kai-shek to embark on different revolutionary paths.

Chiang Kai-shek

Lin Biao served as the party branch secretary of the 3rd Company after joining the Party at Whampoa Military Academy. Later he followed Ye Ting to participate in the Northern Expedition and Nanchang Uprising. He also followed Zhu De and Chen Yi and went to Jinggangshan, and was noticed by Chairman Mao. His special talents in military affairs. It can be said that Lin Biao witnessed the gradual maturity of Chairman Mao's military thought and was also the best practitioner of this thought.

Lin Biao's introverted character was helpful to his research on military strategy. In the spring of 1929, shortly after he turned 21, Lin Biao became the commander of the first column of the Fourth Red Army. After the establishment of the First Red Army, Chairman Mao appointed Lin Biao as the commander of the Fourth Red Army, which had the strongest combat effectiveness and greatest military exploits.

Of course, this decision was made by the Central Military Commission after discussion, and it also proved that other leaders and generals of the Red Army recognized Lin Biao's talents.

Military Commission meeting

At the age of 24, Lin Biao had become the commander-in-chief of the First Red Army. Looking at the entire Chinese revolutionary circle, Lin Biao was the only one who could achieve such high achievements at such a young age. Faced with the day-and-night "encirclement and suppression" campaign by the Kuomintang reactionaries, Lin Biao fully carried forward the essence of Chairman Mao's military thought and defeated the enemy's arrogance time and time again. He became a famous senior commander of the First Red Army because of his ability in fighting.

Before the Long March , Lin Biao served as a member of the Central Bureau of the Soviet Area of ​​the Communist Party of China, a member of the Central Revolutionary Military Commission and a member of the Central Executive Committee. Several major battle commands during the Long March were inseparable from Lin Biao's shadow. American writer Harrison Salisbury praised Lin Biao as the "Eagle of War" in "The Long March - An Unheard Story".

The Long March - an unheard story

After the outbreak of the all-out Anti-Japanese War, the Northern Red Army was reorganized into three divisions. Lin Biao served as the commander of the 115th Division, and achieved the first major victory for the Chinese military and civilians against the Japanese invaders - the Pingxingguan Victory.. Norihide Abe, who was boasted by the Japanese army as the "Flower of Famous Generals", was killed by an artillery shell in this battle. Japan's elite Fifth Division, known as the "Steel Army", suffered a major blow, and the famous commander Lin Biao was passed down. All over the world.

Chiang Kai-shek personally electrified the whole country to commend Lin Biao, but privately lamented to those around him that he had lost a general.

The good times did not last long. When Lin Biao was establishing a revolutionary base in the Luliang Mountains, he was accidentally injured by Yan Xishan's sentries, which directly penetrated his lung and vertebra , leaving him with a lifelong neurological disorder that would not heal, and also affected his health. Lin Biao did not have a cheerful character.

The organization took Lin Biao's injury into consideration and allowed him to serve as the principal of the Military Academy of the Anti-Japanese University and temporarily withdraw from the front line. However, it failed to improve his sequelae and approved him to go to the Soviet Union for treatment in the winter of 1938.

Chairman Mao and Lin Biao during the Eighth Route Army period

Lin Biao stayed in the Soviet Union for nearly four years, and has been concentrating on studying foreign military works. Because of his reputation on the domestic battlefield, he gained the attention of Stalin and was invited to participate in the Soviet Union's high-level military affairs. Military meeting. His completely different views from those of many Soviet generals at the meeting were proven by facts, shocking all Soviet officers.

On New Year's Day in 1942, 26 countries including the United States, Britain, the Soviet Union, and China signed the "United National Declaration " and established the anti-fascist alliance. The domestic Kuomintang and the Communist Party also had further considerations about the new anti-war situation and prepared to pass the highest resolution of both parties. The leaders' meeting led to a further settlement of the issue between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party.

In August 1942, Chiang Kai-shek took the lead in making an appointment with Premier Zhou who was in the Eighth Route Army Office in Chongqing, saying that he was going to Xi'an to meet Chairman Mao. Chairman Mao was very happy that Chiang Kai-shek was rarely willing to directly resolve the situation where the Kuomintang and the Communist Party jointly resisted Japan. He quickly called back and agreed to the matter, expressing his willingness to go to Chongqing to negotiate with Chiang Kai-shek.

Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Eighth Route Army Peng Dehuai's telegram to Chiang Kai-shek

Premier Zhou was somewhat worried about Chiang Kai-shek's character of going back on his word. To be sure, Premier Zhou finally proposed that a representative go to Chongqing to participate in the negotiations on behalf of Chairman Mao.

Considering the importance and role of the representatives required for negotiations in the central government, Premier Zhou selected Lin Biao, who had just returned from the Soviet Union to recover from illness. Lin Biao was a student in the fourth phase of the Whampoa Military Academy, and Chiang Kai-shek always valued the Huangpu department . Many senior officials within the Kuomintang government were Lin Biao's classmates at the Whampoa Military Academy.

Before Lin Biao returned to China, there were rumors that the Soviet leader proposed to Chiang Kai-shek to exchange 15 divisions for Lin Biao. However, Lin Biao could not listen to Chiang Kai-shek. Naturally, the deal was not reached, but it showed the charisma that Lin Biao carried and his influence on negotiations. Very beneficial.

Photos of Chairman Mao and Lin Biao during the Anti-Japanese War

We don’t know whether the rumors are true. Even if they are true, Chiang Kai-shek may not be willing to send Lin Biao away. He once recorded in his diary on September 11: "If Lin Biao, the Communist Party, is not coming, what's wrong?" Later, he received a telegram from Commander-in-Chief Zhu and Peng Dehuai, saying that Lin Biao would leave for Chongqing in the near future. Chiang Kai-shek happily gave instructions The word "can" was added.

After Lin Biao arrived in Chongqing, he held negotiations with Chiang Kai-shek as the plenipotentiary representative of the Communist Party of China. The content concerned the imminent issues of firearms, ammunition and organization between the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army, especially the New Fourth Army that was framed by Chiang Kai-shek during the Wannan Incident.

During his stay in Chongqing, Lin Biao also visited extensively the senior officials of the Kuomintang and his old friends at the Whampoa Military Academy. Just like Chairman Mao later participated in the Chongqing negotiations , he used the tolerant mind of a communist to make friends with any possible help.

Lin Biao at the Eighth Route Army Office in Chongqing

Chiang Kai-shek was happy to see this happen, but his purpose was to draw Lin Biao into his camp.He specially sent Hu Zongnan and Dai Li to win over Lin Biao. However, Dai Li later submitted a report saying that Lin Biao was a strong-willed person and could not be associated with him. The conclusion that Lin Biao's brother was also a communist also made Chiang Kai-shek give up. this plan.

Before Lin Biao left Chongqing, he submitted our negotiation report to Chiang Kai-shek. After reading it, Chiang Kai-shek sighed to the He Yingqin next to him: "The teachers and students of Huangpu Military Academy are the talents I value most, and they have devoted my life's efforts, but Why did talented people like Zhou Enlai and Lin Biao end up in the Communist Party?"

Chiang Kai-shek

After Chiang Kai-shek launched the Liberation War, the central government transferred Lin Biao to the Northeast, a contested area. After hearing the news, Chiang Kai-shek sighed, "There will be no peace in the Northeast from now on. The sun is gone" and became furious when none of his generals dared to go to the northeast to fight Lin Biao.

Lin Biao annihilated more than 470,000 Kuomintang troops in the white mountains and black waters of the Northeast, and expanded the Northeast troops from 130,000 to more than 1 million. Chiang Kai-shek once again lamented in front of his subordinates that he, the principal, failed to retain Lin Biao.

Chairman Mao once said: "Lin Biao's troops are extremely strong." The Siye he led is the strongest unit among the country's five major field armies. It fought from the northernmost part of the country to Hainan Island, liberating More than half of China.

Chairman Mao and Lin Biao

Lin Biao commanded two of the three major battles in the War of Liberation, fully demonstrating his military talent through large corps operations. The four-year absence from the Anti-Japanese War did not affect the impact of his military achievements in people's hearts. He is still the famous founding marshal of New China.

After the liberation of Hainan Island in 1950, Lin Biao once again went to the Soviet Union to recuperate due to physical problems. Stalin, who once proposed to replace Lin Biao with 15 divisions, warmly received him and highly praised him as an "invincible marshal."

During the banquet, Stalin suddenly asked Lin Biao: "Comrade Lin Biao, now that China is at peace, and you are only 43 years old, don't you feel that it is a pity that you have lost your place as a soldier?"

Lin Biao's answer was very brief: "Everything is For the sake of peace, Chinese people are peace-loving by nature, and so are soldiers."

Lin Biao in the Soviet Union

These words won warm applause from the audience. Lin Biao showed the pure faith of a member of the Communist Party of China and the determination of a patriotic warrior to promote peace and maintain peace through war in front of the supreme leader of the Soviet Union.

Unfortunately, Lin Biao went astray after the founding of New China.

Lin Biao died unexpectedly in Mongolia on September 13, 1971. The news soon spread to China. After confirming the news of Lin Biao's unexpected death, everyone in the hall walked out without saying a word. Ji Dengkui also turned around and was about to leave, but A heartbreaking cry was heard at the door. He turned his head in shock, unable to believe that the cry came from the calm and unfazed Premier Zhou.

Premier Zhou and Lin Biao

Since joining the central government, Ji Dengkui’s impression of Premier Zhou has been as rumored. The elegant, calm and calm Zhou Enlai often reminds people of the willows on the bank of the south of the Yangtze River. No matter how complicated the diplomatic situation is, it is still intricate and confusing. Premier Zhou would occasionally frown when it came to national affairs, but he never panicked and lost control.

Ji Dengkui walked over hesitantly, not understanding how Premier Zhou could cry bitterly over Lin Biao's death. He stumbled and asked. Premier Zhou, who was facing the wall with trembling shoulders, slowly turned around and just muttered 6 words in a hoarse voice: "You don't understand, you don't understand! "

Lin Biao and Premier Zhou had a nominal teacher-student relationship. Premier Zhou personally watched him grow from a young soldier during the Nanchang Uprising to a marshal of the Republic. The two had been dating for decades and had in-depth discussions on the road to revolution. The future of China and the development of its people countless times.

Now that Lin Biao has passed away, Premier Zhou's heart is very complicated.

Premier Zhou and Lin Biao

Coincidentally, when the news of Lin Biao's death reached the other side of the Taiwan Strait, the old Chiang Kai-shek could not help but look up at the sky, shed two lines of hot tears down the corners of his eyes, and said with emotion, " Rain Farmer Mistaken me." Later, the files of Dai Li's conversation with Lin Biao were revealed, and we learned that he did not report truthfully to Chiang Kai-shek, and only then did Chiang Kai-shek lament that he had lost the opportunity to get help from a tiger general .

Later, Premier Zhou summarized his evaluation of Lin Biao: "It cannot be said that Lin Biao's early thoughts are the same as his later thoughts. Our understanding of him also has a process of development. We must look at the problem historically, dialectically, and developmentally. ". Premier Zhou's understanding is objective and fair. In his treatment of Lin Biao, he demonstrated the consistent dialectical thinking and fair stance of the Communists. Later generations' evaluation of Lin Biao should also follow the facts as they are, from different periods and times. Background to analyze him.