During the period of cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, the New Fourth Army upheld unity and a shared commitment to resisting the Japanese invaders. But the Kuomintang army stubbornly pursued its own course and oppressed the people, leading to the loss of many towns. This story recounts events in a county town under Japanese control. Two New Fourth Army brothers, Xiao Jinhu and Xiao Yinhu, leave their unit without permission to visit their elderly mother. They find two collaborators bullying their mother and younger sister, kill one of them, and then return to their unit. The organization punishes them for leaving without permission and violating discipline, strips their squad, "The Blade," of its honorary title, and removes Xiao Jinhu from his position as squad leader. With the enemy at the gates, they are given a chance to atone for their crimes by completing their missions: blowing up a Japanese army munitions depot, holding their position, and destroying a Japanese army germ research facility.
