From Company Commander to General

In 1927, Chen Zhiyuan, the son of a farming family, graduates from the Whampoa Military Academy with excellent grades. He is assigned to the National Revolutionary Army’s 14th Division as a probationary captain and company commander, where he first demonstrates his military talent during an anti-bandit campaign in Jiangxi.

During the campaign, Chen Zhiyuan outwits the bandits and rescues villagers they had abducted. He earns the regiment commander’s favor, gets promoted to major and battalion commander, and meets Lin Han. The two begin to fall for each other.

After the full-scale War of Resistance against Japan breaks out, Chen Zhiyuan leads his troops into the Battle of Shanghai, then goes on to fight in Nanjing and Wuhan. He earns repeated distinctions and is promoted to lieutenant colonel and regimental commander.

Chen Zhiyuan and Lin Han grow closer and fall in love amid the flames of war, but the turmoil of the conflict repeatedly separates them. In the end, they find their way back to each other.

After victory in the War of Resistance, Chen Zhiyuan is swept into the maelstrom of civil war. Though he has doubts about the conflict, he remains true to his duty as a soldier, displaying his tactical skill as he leads his troops in a breakout during the Xuzhou-Bengbu Campaign.

In 1949, Chen Zhiyuan leads his remaining troops in retreat to Taiwan with the rank of lieutenant general and the post of army commander.