Why did Lin Biao leave the battlefield during the war against Japan?

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Lin Biao, Zhou Enlai, and other Chinese officials stand in uniform, holding up Little Red Books during a 1967 Red Guard rally in China. — Lin Biao At a 1967 Red Guard rally, Lin Biao (left) and Zhou Enlai publicly display copies of *The Little Red Book*.

Lin Biao did not leave the battlefield during the war against Japan due to a strategic choice or desertion; rather, he was forced to retire due to injury. After scoring an important early victory against Japanese invaders in September 1937, Lin was wounded the following spring. When his wound failed to heal properly, he traveled to the Soviet Union for medical treatment, where he remained for three years before returning to China in 1942.1