Order Number One (Lin Biao)

File:P2074121a500488294-ss.jpg in 1969.]]

With the Sino-Soviet split in the 1960s, the tension between the two countries reached its climax after the Zhenbao Island Incident in March 1969.{{Cite web |last=Xu |first=Ni |title=1969年, 中苏核危机始末 |trans-title=The nuclear crisis between China and the Soviet Union in 1969 |url=http://cpc.people.com.cn/GB/85037/85039/7218846.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220303213408/http://cpc.people.com.cn/GB/85037/85039/7218846.html |archive-date=2022-03-03 |website=People's Net |language=zh}} The Soviet Union planned to launch a large-scale nuclear strike against China.{{Cite web |last=O'Neill |first=Mark |date=May 12, 2010 |title=Nixon intervention saved China from Soviet nuclear attack |url=https://www.scmp.com/article/714064/nixon-intervention-saved-china-soviet-nuclear-attack |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150912221259/https://www.scmp.com/article/714064/nixon-intervention-saved-china-soviet-nuclear-attack |archive-date=2015-09-12 |website=South China Morning Post}}{{Cite web |date=2010-05-13 |title=USSR planned nuclear attack on China in 1969 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/7720461/USSR-planned-nuclear-attack-on-China-in-1969.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100516014916/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/7720461/USSR-planned-nuclear-attack-on-China-in-1969.html |archive-date=2010-05-16 |access-date=2024-12-29 |website=The Telegraph |language=en}} Meanwhile, Lin Biao was named the successor of Chairman Mao Zedong at the 9th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in April 1969, during which the CCP leaders were also preparing for the war with the Soviet.{{Cite web |last=Lamb |first=Stefanie |date=December 2005 |title=Introduction to the Cultural Revolution |url=https://spice.fsi.stanford.edu/docs/introduction_to_the_cultural_revolution |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241203035801/https://spice.fsi.stanford.edu/docs/introduction_to_the_cultural_revolution |archive-date=2024-12-03 |access-date=2025-01-03 |website=Stanford University |language=en}}

On October 14, 1969, the Central Committee of the CCP released an urgent evacuation order to the Party and state leaders in Beijing, requiring all leaders to leave Beijing by October 20 given the high likelihood of an imminent Soviet nuclear attack.{{Cite web |last=Lewis |first=John Wilson |author-link=John Wilson Lewis |last2=Xue |first2=Litai |date=2010 |title=1969年中国安危系于千钧一发——苏联核袭击计划胎死腹中 |trans-title=In 1969, China's security was at a critical moment——Soviet nuclear attack plan aborted |url=http://www.cnd.org/cr/ZK10/cr604.gb.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241202202634/http://www.cnd.org/cr/ZK10/cr604.gb.html |archive-date=2024-12-02 |access-date=2024-12-29 |website=China News Digest |publisher=领导者 |language=zh}} Mao travelled to Wuhan and Lin travelled to Suzhou, while Premier Zhou Enlai remaining in charge in Beijing. On October 17, Lin Biao issued an emergency order to put all PLA personnel on alert; on the next day, Lin's followers including Huang Yongsheng released the order as "Order Number One" by Vice President Lin, and all PLA members henceforth entered the emergency state of combat readiness.{{Cite journal |last=Li |first=Chenghong |date=2010 |title=Re-examining Lin Biao's Role in Sino-U.S. Initial Rapprochement |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44288931 |journal=American Journal of Chinese Studies |volume=17 |issue=2 |pages=119–130 |issn=2166-0042}}{{Cite journal |last=Uhalley |first=Stephen |last2=Qiu |first2=Jin |date=1993 |title=The Lin Biao Incident: More Than Twenty Years Later |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2759617 |journal=Pacific Affairs |volume=66 |issue=3 |pages=386–398 |doi=10.2307/2759617 |issn=0030-851X|url-access=subscription }} This was the first time in the history of the People's Republic of China (since 1949) that its nuclear force, the Second Artillery Corp, was on full alert.{{Cite web |last=Gerson |first=Michael S. |date=November 2010 |title=The Sino-Soviet Border Conflict—Deterrence, Escalation, and the Threat of Nuclear War in 1969 |url=https://www.cna.org/reports/2010/d0022974.a2.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241218120231/https://www.cna.org/reports/2010/d0022974.a2.pdf |archive-date=2024-12-18 |website=Center for Naval Analyses}}{{Cite journal |last=Riqiang |first=Wu |date=2013-05-07 |title=Certainty of Uncertainty: Nuclear Strategy with Chinese Characteristics |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01402390.2013.772510 |journal=Journal of Strategic Studies |volume=36 |issue=4 |doi=10.1080/01402390.2013.772510#inline_frontnotes |issn=0140-2390|url-access=subscription }}

After the Lin Biao Incident on September 14, 1971, his "Order Number One" in 1969 was viewed by some as an evidence of Lin's intention usurp Mao Zedong's leadership or even a coup. According to some sources, Lin only reported to Mao regarding "Order Number One" on October 19, 1969, after the order had been released to PLA, and upon hearing the report, Mao's immediate comment was that the order should be burned.

• Sino-Soviet border conflict
• Sino-Soviet split
• Cultural Revolution

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Category:Lin Biao

Category:1969 in China