Cai Zhenshan, Bandit Chief

Late in the Qing dynasty... The empire is beset by internal strife and foreign threats, bandits roam everywhere, and ordinary people struggle to survive. Born into turbulent times, Cai Zhenshan overcomes one setback after another and forms a large militia. On the bandit-ridden plains of the Northeast, he successfully wipes out several major gangs, earning an official pardon from the Qing government and being appointed commander of the Left Route Patrol Battalion of Changji Circuit.

During the extraordinary period when Japan and Russia occupied the Northeast, he clashes fiercely with the Japanese Guandong garrison.