Chinese Military Leader. He was trained at Whampoa Academy, and during the Northern Expedition, rose to company commander in the Kuomintang army. After the Kuomintang-Communist split in 1927, Lin became one of Chu Teh's leading military aides. His skill as a tactician earned him the command of a Red Army corps, and after the Long March, he headed the Red Academy at Yenan. In 1947 and 1948, Lin commanded the Communist military offensive in the northeast against Chiang Kai-shek. He was appointed defense minister of the people's republic in 1959. In 1966, Lin displaced Liu Shao Ch'i as the second-ranking member of the Chinese Communist party, a position that made him Mao Tse-tung's heir apparent. A supporter of the Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1969, he mysteriously died in an airplane crash in Mongolia in 1971. Lin's 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. His body was supposedly buried near the crash site, but this has never been substantiated.
Chinese Military Leader. He was trained at Whampoa Academy, and during the Northern Expedition, rose to company commander in the Kuomintang army. After the Kuomintang-Communist split in 1927, Lin became one of Chu Teh's leading military aides. His skill as a tactician earned him the command of a Red Army corps, and after the Long March, he headed the Red Academy at Yenan. In 1947 and 1948, Lin commanded the Communist military offensive in the northeast against Chiang Kai-shek. He was appointed defense minister of the people's republic in 1959. In 1966, Lin displaced Liu Shao Ch'i as the second-ranking member of the Chinese Communist party, a position that made him Mao Tse-tung's heir apparent. A supporter of the Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1969, he mysteriously died in an airplane crash in Mongolia in 1971. Lin's 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. His body was supposedly buried near the crash site, but this has never been substantiated.
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