Set in 1930s in Northeast China. Three friends attend the high school in Japanese puppet regime in Manchuria. They are forced to study Japanese and learn to live as conquered people. They see that their patriot teacher is arrested, revolutionists are killed, family members are persecuted. They determine to envisage nationalistic pride and make up their minds to fight Japanese aggressors.

Set in the anti-Japanese war, a Japanese commander who killed a lot of Chinese receives an order to return to Japan. Scouts from the eighth route army must intercept the executioner before he leaves China.