A young Deng Shichang enrols in the Fujian Naval Academy, where he meets his future colleagues such as Liu Buchan and Fang Boqian.

In 1886, after the Nagasaki incident breaks out, the Meiji Emperor of Japan feels threatened by the Beiyang Fleet's prowess, so he initiates a plan to strengthen and enhance the Imperial Japanese Navy.

Meanwhile, in China, the state funds originally designated for upgrading the Beiyang Fleet are used to renovate the Summer Palace to celebrate the empress dowager's 60th birthday.

After their victory at the Yellow Sea, the Japanese follow up by launching a land invasion and win the Battle of Lüshun, after which they massacre the city's population.

In the following year, the Japanese score another victory at the Battle of Weihaiwei; the Qing admiral Ding Ruchang commits suicide after his defeat.

Japan demands that the Qing Empire cedes Taiwan, Penghu, and the Liaodong Peninsula, and pay war reparations amounting to 250 million silver taels, among other things.

Feng said, "When Mr Qi Qizhang first read my screenplay, he remarked, 'This is the best script about the First Sino-Japanese War I've seen in my life.'"

He felt that they are lacking in moral values and self-awareness, so he wanted to portray Deng Shichang as an incorruptible and righteous hero in the late Qing dynasty – a period when Chinese society was in decline due to opium addiction and political corruption – and make him a role model for Chinese youths to emulate.