[1][2] The series is directed by Kang Honglei (康红雷), with Wu Yi (吴毅) as the chief producer, and is based on the novel of the same name by award-winning author Lan Xiaolong (兰晓龙).
[1] The story follows a small group of soldiers being refuged in Yunnan, and is narrated through the eyes of a limping young Beiping student-turned-soldier named Meng Fanliao (孟烦了).
Under Long's command, the group rallied other scattered fellow troopers, regained their honor and hope, and fought back fiercely against the superior Japanese forces.
Within one day and night, the encircled men drove the Japanese off a hill top and repelled 17 counterattacks, enduring constant artillery barrages and a bloody nocturnal tear gas bayonet assault, earning time for the Nu River defence to be organized.
When the only 11 survivors of the 1,000-strong regiment made it alive back to the friendly side, they were shocked to discover that Long was not their chief at all, but merely a lowly lieutenant logistics officer (the rank was achieved through bribery), who stole the insignia and uniform of a fallen commander.
The new detachment was disfavored by other regular troops and was badly undersupplied, and Long's unorthodox leadership style (which upset the divisional command) only added salt to injury.
The disesteemed "Cannon Fodder Regiment", as expendable "fuel of war", was then put in charge of a high-risk assault operation on a strongly fortified mountain occupied by the Japanese forces.
[4] For instance, the TV show ends with climactic Battle of the South Heaven's Gate (the mountain fortress assault), and then switches to modern times with an aged Meng Fanliao rekindling his wartime memories while walking home.
Zhang Lixian (张立宪), an arrogant elite from the divisional reconnaissance battalion, committed suicide after being disfigured by Japanese mustard gas, while in the novel he lived on to become a loyal member of the regiment.
In the novel there are actually 22 survivors crossing the Nu River after the regiment's first last stand battle with the Japanese, but only 11 in the TV series (in both versions, one men was thought to be dead but later found alive in a grave condition).
Kang, together with his friend Lan Xiaolong, travelled to Yunnan in April 2007, visiting local war museums, soldiers' cemeteries and interviewing many aged surviving veterans.
In late February, Beijing TV requested postponing the airing to March 9 due to clashes of slots with its current-running drama series, drawing complaints from other stations.
On April 8, 2008, while shooting battle scenes, the chief firework technician Guo Yan (郭岩) and 2 of his assistants were caught in a blast when nearby live-charges accidentally exploded.
Many netizens in China have complained about 3 seconds of footage that seemed to be copied straight from the 2001 American movie Pearl Harbor, particularly the aerial combat scenes where specific aircraft are being analyzed and modified to fit into the series' 3D special effects.
The TV series actually portrayed history faithfully as the 1st Burmese Expedition of 1942 were organized mainly from former local Chinese warlords from Yunnan, Sichuan and Guangxi provinces, whose military equipment varied greatly.
The series' dedicated regiment was also defined as a delinquent group neglected and disliked by their superiors, and hence scavenged any utilities they could find, while the elite elements of NRA was portrayed as either German or American-equipped.
One Japanese painting named "The desperate fight of the mini-tank"[permanent dead link] specifically portrayed Chinese soldiers charging a stalled tank with their bayonets.