Episode Summary
Tang Deyuan reluctantly agrees to help Xiao Tielin sell opium after Xiao threatens him. Lu Changshan, Gao Yunhu, and Wan Fuqing parachute into Mudanjiang to gather intelligence on the Japanese. They meet their contact, Liu Jianbin, who tasks them with turning Tang Deyuan and capturing Xiao Tielin to learn about the Japanese base at Datuziling. Meanwhile, the Japanese find the parachutes, and their commander, Kawano, becomes suspicious of Tang Deyuan's past.
Spoiler Alert
A Tangled Web in Mudanjiang
Tang Deyuan's Bad Choice
So, Tang Deyuan is trying to make a living under Xiao Tielin. He quickly finds out that Xiao is dealing opium. Tang wants no part of it. He says he just wants a job, not to ruin lives. He even threatens to destroy all of Xiao's opium supply.
Xiao Tielin isn't having it. He threatens to throw Tang in jail. At first, Tang holds his ground. He thinks about his friend Li Ermao, who died tragically. He's drinking and eating pork, the same kind Li Ermao used to love, and it's clearly messing with him. His wife can tell something is wrong. Just then, their son starts crying. Seeing his wife and kid makes Tang's resolve crumble. He decides to give in to Xiao's demands.
Later, Tang and his wife are picking their son up from school. They learn he is being taught Japanese. They are not happy about this at all. They decide to hire a private tutor for him instead.
A Killer's Mistake
We also meet a guy called the Kanto Hero. He gets a mission to assassinate a Japanese officer named Kawano. He scopes out the Japanese Special Higher Police headquarters during the day. That night, he makes his move. But he messes up. He kills Kawano's adjutant, Matsumoto Kuma, by mistake.
The Kanto Hero lives in the slums. An underground party contact and a woman named Maria are there, handing out food and clothes. The contact is the one who gave him the mission. The problem is, they don't have a photo of Kawano, who rarely shows his face in public.
The Mission Begins
Boots on the Ground
Lu Changshan, Gao Yunhu, and Wan Fuqing are back. They passed their parachute training in the Soviet Union. Now they have a new mission. They need to go to Mudanjiang. Their job is to find Japanese army arsenals and supply depots. They have to send that intel back to the Soviets. They also need to get in touch with the Party Central Committee.
Lu Changshan knows this is dangerous. He decides to leave Xiao Lüzi behind. He wants to make sure someone from Xiao Lüzi's family survives. As they leave, Instructor Wang mentions that Xiao Tielin's old unit, the Bohu Regiment, was wiped out in this same area. Xiao was the only one who made it out alive.
The three men parachute into a dense forest over Mudanjiang. They bury their chutes. Wan Fuqing and Gao Yunhu are just happy to be back on home soil.
The Rendezvous
Lu Changshan heads to the Meiye Fang tavern for the rendezvous. He gets there early and the doorman lets him wait inside. Wan Fuqing and Gao Yunhu scout the area outside.
A woman named Maria shows up for work. She and Lu Changshan exchange the correct code phrases. He calls his partners in. It turns out the real contact is the doorman, Liu Jianbin.
Liu gives them the full briefing. Xiao Tielin is now the local police chief. He's using his position to sell goods on the black market. His partner in this is Tang Deyuan. The team's mission is to turn Tang Deyuan back to their side. Then, they need to capture Xiao Tielin alive. They have to force him to reveal the Japanese army's setup at a place called Datuziling.
Liu also shares more intel. The head of the Japanese secret police is Kawano. The military police captain is named Hayaki. Part of the mission is to eliminate both of them. The deputy police chief, Morita Saburo, is the one with the real power. Xiao Tielin is just his puppet. Their superior, Instructor Wang, is also on his way to Mudanjiang.
The Enemy's Next Move
Parachutes and Suspicions
The Japanese aren't sitting around. A search party finds the buried parachutes in the forest. This immediately puts Kawano on high alert. He's worried that Soviet-trained agents have found his fortifications at Datuziling.
He knows he needs to be careful. He orders Morita Saburo to keep a close eye on both Xiao Tielin and Tang Deyuan. He’s already done his homework. He knows Tang Deyuan used to be an anti-Japanese fighter.
