First part of the Decisive Engagement trilogy. Directed by Pingfen Li et al.

In the later stage of the Liberation War, with the victory of the three major battles over, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and Chairman Mao Zedong made strategic decisions, ordering Liu Bocheng (played by Fu Xuecheng) and Deng Xiaoping (played by Lu Qi) to lead a group of the Second Field and Fourth Field to advance towards Hunan, Hubei, Guizhou, and Sichuan, and annihilate the remaining enemies in the southwest. On his way south, Deng Xiaoping asked railway experts he met about the construction of the Chengdu Chongqing Railway and gave political education classes to the troops heading south in a timely manner, implementing Chairman Mao's great teachings of "carrying out the revolution to the end"...

In July 1938, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China appointed Xiao Hua as commander and political commissar, and formed an eastward anti-Japanese advance column to arrive at the Hebei-Shandong border area to establish a base. Due to its rich natural resources and convenient transportation, this area has always been a chokepoint for military strategists. Xiao Hua used his keen political insight and unique wisdom to integrate the army's troops and recruit miscellaneous armed forces. Leading the army to raid the Japanese stronghold Denming Temple. The Kuomintang county magistrate Mou Yizhi, who had been wavering, sided with the Eighth Route Army, allowing the army to gain a firm foothold. Later, facing the Japanese and puppet troops, he once again attacked the Denming Temple by surprise and united the general Gao Shuxun. Xiao Hua eventually led his troops to capture the Denming Temple and established the famous Hebei-Shandong border anti-Japanese base area.

Winner of the Golden Rooster for Best Film in 1992