Episode Summary
In the brutal winter of 1938, a platoon from the Anti-Japanese United Army is decimated in battle. The survivors are scattered. Platoon Leader Lao Shandong and a young soldier, Tian Xiaogui, head for the rendezvous point in Songlin Town. Other soldiers are either captured and forced into a gold mine, or are on the run after witnessing horrific personal tragedies. One soldier, Tang Deyuan, survives a cliff jump and a wolf attack, only to be rescued by a hunter. The episode sets up a desperate journey for each character to find their way back to each other.
Spoiler Alert
A Brutal Start
We open in the dead of winter, 1938. The landscape is just snow and trees in Northeast China. We meet our guy, Platoon Leader Lao Shandong. He's part of the Anti-Japanese United Army. Things are not going well for them. The Japanese military has forced all the local villagers into guarded settlements. This move completely cut off the army's food supply.
How bad is it? I saw Lao Shandong digging through animal droppings. He was looking for undigested nuts to eat. That tells you everything you need to know about their situation.
The Last Stand
The show then flashes back to a huge battle at a place called Guai Zi He. Lao Shandong and his small platoon of eighteen soldiers are getting hammered by the Japanese.
One Last Piece of Bread
They're down to their last bit of food. It's a single piece of flatbread. Fuqing, one of the soldiers, has it. Lao Shandong tells everyone to share it. But no one wants to take much. They each just pinch off a tiny crumb. They leave most of the bread behind. It's a small moment, but it says a lot about them.
The Rendezvous Point
Lao Shandong knows they're about to be overrun. He gives his soldiers a final order. If you make it out alive, get to Songlin Town. Find the spot with eight pine trees. Look for the biggest, thickest one. Carve your name into it. That's how they'll find each other again. He promises he'll make it back with them.
Then all hell breaks loose. The Japanese attack. Lao Shandong sets off a mine. His soldiers fight hand-to-hand. It's a complete bloodbath. Lao Shandong gets injured and passes out.
Scattered in the Snow
When Lao Shandong wakes up, it's quiet. Too quiet. He searches the trenches and finds a young soldier, Tian Xiaogui, still alive. Everyone else seems to be gone. But Lao Shandong refuses to believe they're all dead. From here, the story splits. We follow the different survivors.
A Jump and a Prayer
The squad leader, Tang Deyuan, is badly hurt. A woman named Hua'er drags him to safety. But they hear Japanese soldiers and their dogs getting close. To save Hua'er, Tang Deyuan throws a rock to get their attention. The soldiers chase him to the edge of a cliff. With nowhere else to go, he jumps into the freezing river below. He actually survives the fall. Then he fights and kills a wolf. An old hunter finds him and takes him in. This guy has some serious plot armor.
From the Frying Pan into the Gold Mine
Two other soldiers, Fuqing and Gao Yunhu, also escape the battle. They change into civilian clothes. A man and his young daughter offer them a ride on their cart. The girl gives them a piece of bread. Gao Yunhu is suspicious. But Fuqing is starving and eats it immediately. The bread was drugged. They wake up as prisoners, forced to work in a gold mine for a man called Jin Batou. Fuqing's wounds get infected. He gets a high fever and thinks he's dying. He begs Gao Yunhu to carve his name on the tree for him.
A Daughter's Revenge
Hua'er's story is the toughest to watch. She goes back to her village. It's been burned down. She learns her mother is in one of the Japanese settlements. She manages to meet her mom in secret. Her mother gives her a piece of bread she had hidden in her shoe. But they get caught by collaborationist soldiers.
Her mother stands up to them to protect Hua'er. They shoot her dead on the spot. Hua'er completely snaps. She grabs a gun and kills the soldiers. She escapes into the forest. Then she hears a volley of gunshots from the village. She knows the Japanese are executing everyone left.
