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lin biao, one of the ten founding marshals, graduated from the fourth term of the whampoa military academy and was one of the most outstanding military generals of our army. throughout his military career, lin biao annihilated countless enemies and made countless "enemies", and the one who hated him the most was the "principal" chiang kai-shek.

whether it was the "anti-encirclement and suppression" and the long march during the agrarian revolution, or the liaoshen campaign during the war of liberation, lin biao commanded thousands of troops, annihilated millions of kuomintang troops, and defeated all the former teachers and students of the whampoa military academy, becoming the biggest victim of chiang kai-shek and the kuomintang. chiang kai-shek hated lin biao so much that he even called lin biao the "devil" of the war.

of course the person who admired lin biao the most was mao zedong.

although lin biao was chiang kai-shek's student, the two had a "teacher-student relationship" of less than a year. in the big classroom of "war", lin biao was mao zedong's lifelong student and one of mao zedong's most proud students. mao zedong never concealed his admiration for lin biao. in a report at the anti-japanese military and political university, he said, "as long as there are 500 lin biaos, japan can be defeated", which shows his admiration for lin biao.

this article takes you through lin biao's brilliant military career.why did chiang kai-shek call lin biao the "devil" of war? why did mao zedong say "as long as there are 500 lin biaos, we can defeat japan"? what military achievements did lin biao make?

lin biao in military uniform

born in the fourth batch of huangpu military academy, his early military career was uneventful

in march 1926, lin biao was admitted to the fourth term of the whampoa military academy and became a cadet in the first company of the third battalion of the third regiment.

lin biao was relatively thin, quiet and taciturn. he also deliberately concealed his identity as a member of the communist party of china and kept a low profile. therefore, he did not stand out among the students at the whampoa military academy. he looked like just an ordinary student who studied hard and trained diligently. he was not as dazzling as jiang xianyun and chen geng, and of course did not attract the attention of president chiang kai-shek.

after the northern expedition began, lin biao was assigned by nie rongzhen to the ye ting independent regiment of the 4th army of the national revolutionary army, and officially began his military career. at this time, nie rongzhen would not realize that the inconspicuous lin biao would become a founding marshal on par with himself in the future.

however, lin biao did not have many opportunities to show his ability during the northern expedition. compared with other outstanding whampoa students, he was just an unknown company commander. at that time, there were many whampoa students serving as company commanders in the national revolutionary army. even when he participated in the nanchang uprising in august 1927, lin biao was only the company commander of the 7th company, 3rd battalion, 73rd regiment. compared with he long, ye ting, zhu de and liu bocheng at that time, his status was very different.

it can be said that although lin biao was a military genius, he did not get the opportunity to display his talents in the early stages of his career. his early military career could be considered uneventful. this "thousand-mile horse" really began to take off when he met mao zedong, the most important "bo le" in his life.

in january 1928, lin biao joined zhu de and chen yi in the southern hunan uprising. after the uprising failed, he and zhu de moved to jinggangshan and joined mao zedong. from then on, lin biao began to serve under mao zedong and started his glorious military career.

lin biao during the red army period

in the anti-"encirclement and suppression" campaign, chiang kai-shek exclaimed "lin biao is a devil"

after the meeting between zhu and mao, the revolutionary base in jinggangshan grew stronger and stronger, becoming a thorn in chiang kai-shek's side. chiang kai-shek mobilized troops to continuously "attack" jinggangshan. in order to break the enemy's "encirclement and suppression", mao zedong personally commanded the counter-"encirclement and suppression". mao zedong's tactics were flexible and agile, and lin biao also showed the characteristics of flexibility and agility, so he was appreciated by mao zedong and served as the battalion commander and regiment commander of the 28th regiment of the 4th army of the chinese workers' and peasants' red army.

however, compared with mao zedong, lin biao's strategic accomplishment was still far behind. in early 1929, mao zedong led his troops to advance into southern jiangxi and western fujian, preparing to expand the revolutionary base in jiangxi. however, lin biao, then commander of the 1st column of the red 4th army, expressed a different opinion from his "mentor" mao zedong. he believed that mao zedong's plan of "fighting for jiangxi in one year" was too radical and unrealistic. after receiving lin biao's letter, mao zedong wrote a reply to refute lin biao's view. this is the famous "a single spark can start a prairie fire".

when lin biao received mao zedong's reply, he was full of admiration for mao zedong's strategic vision and became more determined to follow mao zedong in the revolution. mao zedong also trusted lin biao more and appointed him as the commander of the 4th army of the red 1st corps. at this time, lin biao was only 23 years old and was the youngest corps commander in the entire red army. his position was already on par with peng dehuai, and his future was promising.

in the subsequent central soviet area's anti-"encirclement and suppression" campaign, mao zedong demonstrated his unparalleled military genius, and lin biao also shined. he used troops in a strange way and was good at using ambushes. he often took the enemy by surprise and attacked them when they were unprepared, making the kuomintang army lose their temper.

in february 1933, chiang kai-shek sent 20 divisions to attack the central soviet area. the 20 kmt divisions were divided into three routes, with 12 divisions led by chen cheng in the middle, and the other troops adopted the strategy of "divide and conquer" and attacked fiercely, which was the fourth "encirclement and suppression".

chen cheng was chiang kai-shek's trusted general and was known as the "little chairman" in the kuomintang. his troops were well-equipped and well-trained, and were the elite of the kuomintang. moreover, chen cheng was always arrogant and looked down on the red army. chiang kai-shek reminded him to be careful of lin biao, but chen cheng was not convinced and said to chiang kai-shek: "according to my experience of fighting with lin biao in the past, lin biao has always been timid and cowardly, avoiding battle and afraid of fighting. he dared not confront our army head-on. i am willing to be the vanguard of this anti-communist campaign. i will tie lin biao in front of the horse and bring him to see the principal."

mao zedong and lin biao in the central soviet area

but chen cheng soon experienced lin biao's power - he was even beaten to tears by lin biao.

the enemy was numerous and we were few, and the situation was critical. lin biao calmly analyzed the battlefield situation. after discussing with peng dehuai and dong zhentang, he decided to use the terrain to set up an ambush, and use superior forces to divide and surround the enemy in the morozhang valley in huangpi and dengxianqiao, and eat up the enemy's effective forces. the specific plan was that lin biao led two divisions to hide on the left wing, and luo ruiqing led two divisions on the right wing, to surround the enemy and then launch an attack.

at nine o'clock in the morning, the 52nd division of the kuomintang was the first to enter lin biao's ambush circle. the enemy marched forward without noticing anything unusual. the staff officer looked at lin biao and asked, "commander, shall we fight?" lin biao replied in a deep voice, "no, there must be a baggage train behind us."

after a while, the enemy's baggage train followed as expected. the staff officer thought, should we fight this time?

this time, before the staff officer asked any questions, lin biao gave instructions: "wait a moment, there should be a guard force behind us."

as lin biao expected, after the baggage train passed, the enemy's escort troops arrived, which looked like at least a regiment.

lin biao ordered: "fire!" the signal flares flew into the sky, and in an instant, the valley was filled with the roar of artillery and the sound of gunfire.

our army took cover from the dense forest and fired at the enemy from a high position. the enemy was caught off guard and could not see our army in a hurry, so they soon fell into chaos. lin biao commanded his troops and friendly forces to launch an all-out attack, and the battle ended in three hours. the main force of the enemy's 52nd division was annihilated, and the division commander li ming was captured, but died of a serious gunshot wound. this was the great victory of huangpi.

at the same time, the 59th division was defeated by the third corps led by peng dehuai in the huoyuan area. the division commander chen shiji was unaware that the 52nd division had been annihilated, and still led his division headquarters closer to the 52nd division. as a result, the vanguard messenger of the 59th division was intercepted by lin biao. lin biao decisively sent the teaching regiment to search, and found the remnants of the 59th division near dengxian bridge. they were annihilated on the spot and the division commander chen shiji was captured.

lin biao in the revolutionary base area

the huangpi victory was a large-scale mountain ambush, a typical mountain ambush, luring the enemy deep into the mountains, and using defense as offense. next, lin biao led the red army's first army to fight another mountain offensive battle - the caotaigang battle.

the two main divisions were annihilated one after another. chen cheng could not help crying and had to send a telegram to chiang kai-shek to review his mistakes. chiang kai-shek was both distressed and annoyed. he sighed and said, "chen cheng underestimated the enemy. i reminded him a long time ago that lin biao was very cunning and not so easy to deal with, but he didn't listen. now he has suffered a great loss. how could he beat mao zedong and lin biao!"

but chen cheng was still proud and arrogant, so how could he admit defeat? he quickly ordered xiao qian to lead the 11th division to huangpi, preparing to fight lin biao again to regain his lost face. this time, chen cheng did not dare to underestimate the enemy, and ordered the 11th division to be stationed in caotaigang and xuzhuang, using the terrain to defend cautiously, and launch an attack after mobilizing troops.

lin biao saw through the enemy's intentions and decided to attack the enemy by surprise with lightning speed. at dawn on march 21, before the night was bright, the red army sounded the charge, and lin biao commanded the various units to launch a surprise attack on the enemy's 11th division.

this battle was more difficult than the huangpi ambush. the enemy occupied huangbailing, the commanding heights south of caotaigang, and was in a dominant position, making it difficult to attack. lin biao sent his troops to adopt the tactics of "frontal attack" plus "flank detour", and finally captured huangbailing in one fell swoop. then he took advantage of the victory to advance, dividing and encircling several enemy regiments in caotaigang. after fierce fighting, they annihilated nearly 4,000 enemy troops from five regiments, killed three regimental commanders, and the division commander xiao qian was also injured, but luckily he escaped with his life because he ran fast.

in the great victories of huangpi and caotaigang, the first red army annihilated three main divisions under chen cheng, killed or captured two division commanders, wounded one division commander, and annihilated or captured nearly 20,000 enemy troops. the remaining enemy troops were frightened and retreated without a fight. the fourth "encirclement and suppression" campaign was declared bankrupt.

chiang kai-shek knew that lin biao was powerful, but he didn't know that lin biao was so "ruthless" and ruthless. afterwards, he wrote in a letter to chen cheng that "this defeat was extremely tragic and it is the only hidden pain in my life." he called lin biao a "war devil" and directly issued an announcement, offering a reward of 100,000 yuan for his head.

lin biao and mao zedong took a photo together

pingxingguan defeated the japanese invaders. mao zedong said that 500 lin biaos could drive the japanese away.

whether in the anti-"encirclement and suppression" campaign or in the long march, lin biao fought vigorously. although he was young, he had outstanding military exploits and quickly grew into one of the most famous generals in our army. in terms of command level and military achievements, lin biao has surpassed peng dehuai, liu bocheng and other famous generals, but his qualifications are still young and his political status cannot be compared.

on july 7, 1937, the marco polo bridge incident broke out and china entered the stage of the all-out war of resistance. chiang kai-shek was forced to cooperate with the communist party of china for the second time. the main force of the red army was reorganized into the eighth route army, which had three divisions: the 115th, 120th and 129th divisions. lin biao was appointed as the commander of the 115th division. at the age of 30, he was the youngest division-level cadre in the eighth route army.

in september 1937, lin biao officially led the 115th division to the anti-japanese battlefield. in less than a month, lin biao commanded the 115th division to set up an ambush at pingxingguan and attacked the japanese army's baggage train, achieving the famous pingxingguan victory, annihilating more than 1,000 enemies and seizing a large amount of supplies and equipment. this was the first victory achieved by the chinese army since the war of resistance against japanese aggression, breaking the myth of the japanese army's "invincibility" and making the chinese people excited.

this time, even chiang kai-shek was very happy to hear the news and sent a congratulatory message to the eighth route army. at the same time, he could not help but secretly rejoice: this cunning lin biao fought another beautiful ambush. fortunately, it was the japanese army that was attacked, not our army. this "war devil" was really terrible!

the pingxingguan victory made lin biao famous again, and everyone in the world knew that the magnificent war of resistance against japanese aggression was the stage for him to fully display himself, and that an extremely bright future would be waiting for him, and lin biao was full of longing for this.

lin biao directing the battle

unfortunately, god is jealous of talented people. the triumphant lin biao soon encountered a major turning point in his life.

on march 2, 1938, lin biao was ordered to lead his troops to move. during the move, lin biao rode a tall horse captured from the japanese army in the pingxingguan victory and wore a yellow woolen coat of a japanese officer. when he arrived in xi county, shanxi, he was mistaken for a japanese officer by a sentry of yan xishan's troops because of his dress and accidentally shot and wounded.

lin biao was seriously shot. the bullet entered from the back, passed through his lungs, and exited from his chest, breaking one of his ribs. he was unable to continue commanding the battle on the front line and had to return to yan'an to recuperate. chen guang temporarily took over as the commander of the 115th division.

after a period of recuperation, lin biao's gunshot wound recovered well and he wanted to return to the front line, but mao zedong disagreed. he arranged for lin biao to serve as the president of the anti-japanese military and political university, allowing lin biao to use his military expertise to train military and political cadres for the eighth route army.

although lin biao was eager to return to the front line, his gunshot wound had not healed. for long-term considerations, he had to obey mao zedong's decision. during his time at the anti-japanese military and political university, he mainly studied the university's educational policies, the party's leadership over the army, the strategy of the war of resistance against japanese aggression, and gave several reports and speeches in succession, which were warmly welcomed by the teachers and students of the university.

of course, the person who gave the most speeches at the anti-japanese military and political university was mao zedong.

according to statistics, mao zedong made a total of 26 speeches for the anti-japanese military and political university in yan'an, almost all of which were made during lin biao's tenure, fully demonstrating his respect for lin biao. mao zedong also made no secret of his admiration for lin biao, and often talked about classic battles commanded by lin biao in his speeches, such as the huangpi caotaigang victory and the pingxingguan victory.

the anti-japanese military and political university during the anti-japanese war

on may 22, 1938, lin biao delivered a report entitled "the educational policy of the anti-japanese military and political university" at the third school-wide cadre meeting of the anti-japanese military and political university. the report lasted for several hours. the draft report was revised and finalized by mao zedong himself, and won applause from the whole audience.

after lin biao finished speaking, mao zedong gave another speech.

in his speech, mao zedong analyzed the situation of the anti-japanese war and pointed out that the current situation of the anti-japanese war was very serious, but as long as we worked together and united, we would definitely be able to defeat the japanese invaders. the anti-japanese university recruited teachers and students, on the one hand to teach everyone the necessary military knowledge and improve their military skills to fight against the japanese invaders, and on the other hand, and most importantly, to learn a revolutionary spirit.

at this point, mao zedong cited lin biao as an example and said: "take your principal lin biao for example. he is a huangpu graduate, but he only studied in the huangpu military academy for four months, two months longer than you. what did he learn? he didn't remember any of the four major courses, but there was one thing he did get, which was the revolutionary spirit of that time."

lin biao was sitting uneasy in the audience. he felt he couldn't bear the fact that mao zedong was praising him like that!

in fact, as early as the jinggangshan period, mao zedong often praised lin biao. at that time, lin biao was only 26 years old, but he showed extraordinary military talent. he had a sense of the overall situation and was good at using strategies. he always defeated the kuomintang's elite troops. mao zedong said to zhu de, peng dehuai and others: "lin biao is not only capable, but also a genius of his generation. people like him can not only fight smart battles, but also keep the whole situation in their heads. in the future, our army will need such people to command."

mao zedong cleared his throat, waved his right hand vigorously, and continued: "so i said,as long as we have 500 lin biaos, we can defeat japan.why? because as long as the generals of our eighth route army and the generals of the whole country are like lin biao, with revolutionary spirit, courage, fearlessness, and the ability to fight tough battles, we will definitely be able to defeat the japanese invaders! "

during the anti-japanese war, lin biao studied at the anti-japanese military and political university.

there was thunderous applause from the audience that lasted for a long time. lin biao secretly made up his mind: he must not let chairman mao down.

unfortunately, lin biao's gunshot wound could not be healed for a long time and relapsed several times. finally, mao zedong decided to send lin biao to the soviet union for recuperation. lin biao was thus away from the anti-japanese battlefield and stayed away for three years.

while recuperating in the soviet union, lin biao devoted himself to studying systematic military theories, and his theoretical knowledge and strategic level were further improved. he was no longer just an outstanding general who was good at using tactics flexibly, but a strategist with strategic vision, and had a certain influence in the soviet military.

at that time, nazi germany was preparing to attack france. most soviet generals believed that germany would concentrate a large number of troops to attack the maginot line and use armored forces to carry out mechanized deep breakthroughs and pursuits. only lin biao believed that nazi germany might come up with a surprise tactic and make a large-scale detour from the flank to bypass the maginot line - a tactic often used by the red army.

a few months later, nazi germany bypassed the maginot line and penetrated deep into france with a blitzkrieg. stalin was shocked to hear the news and had to look up to lin biao's genius prediction and judgment. he even planned to make a deal with mao zedong to exchange his 15 generals for lin biao.

regardless of whether this statement is true or not, mao zedong certainly could not bear to part with lin biao.

on february 14, 1942, lin biao returned to yan'an. taking into account lin biao's physical condition, mao zedong did not let him go to the battlefield for the time being. instead, he served as a member of the central party school management committee and did not return to the military front until the end of the war of resistance against japan.

mao zedong giving a speech at the anti-japanese military and political university in 1938

from the white mountains and black waters to the ends of the earth, lin biao once again showed his "devilish character"

in the autumn of 1945, lin biao, who had recovered from a long illness, officially returned to the battlefield in northeast china. he was entrusted with an important task by the party central committee and mao zedong and was sent to the battlefield in northeast china. in the battlefield in northeast china, our army was at a disadvantage at the beginning and was once driven to the north bank of the songhua river by the nationalist army. however, lin biao did not lose heart. after recuperating, he launched the summer, autumn and winter offensives in succession, gradually reversing the unfavorable situation.

in the autumn of 1948, our army was preparing to launch the liaoshen campaign. before the war, chiang kai-shek convened a military and political meeting and counted the famous whampoa military officers defeated by lin biao on his fingers, including xiong shihui, chen cheng, fan hanjie, liao yaoxiang, du yuming, chen mingren, etc. then he lamented to his subordinates:

"i want to praise him (lin biao), he is the best student in huangpu, because he defeated his seniors and instructors! i failed in my duty as the principal. i didn't pay enough attention to him in huangpu, so he defected to the communist party! i care about all of you here, but i am very disappointed and sad!"

no matter how chiang kai-shek evaluated lin biao, whether he was a "war devil" or "the best huangpu student", lin biao would not show mercy to chiang kai-shek. in the liaoshen campaign, lin biao annihilated and captured nearly 500,000 kuomintang troops in one fell swoop, and was invincible in the kuomintang army. after liberating the entire northeast, lin biao took a short rest and led his troops into the pass again, commanding the victory of the pingjin campaign and peacefully liberating beijing and tianjin.

next, lin biao continued to command the fourth field army to pursue the kuomintang army relentlessly, from north china to central china, from central china to south china, across the qiongzhou strait, and liberated hainan island in one fell swoop! throughout the war of liberation, lin biao commanded the annihilation of a total of 1.88 million kuomintang troops, showing his "devilish nature" and making outstanding contributions to the liberation of the country.

lin biao is studying and deploying the combat plan

there is no doubt about lin biao's military talent. if he had not been accidentally injured by friendly forces during the war of resistance against japanese aggression, it is conceivable that lin biao would have been able to command the 115th division to achieve greater military achievements and eliminate more japanese invaders.

in this sense, mao zedong said:as long as there are 500 lin biaos, japan can be defeated",there is a reason for this. this is the greatest affirmation of lin biao's military talent and revolutionary spirit by a great man of his generation.