The Battle at Lake Changjin

It was commissioned by the Central Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party as part of the Party’s 100th anniversary celebrations.

The film depicts the story of the North Korea-allied Chinese People’s Volunteer Army, forcing U.S. forces to withdraw in a fictionalized retelling of the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir during the Korean War.

The Battle at Lake Changjin is the most expensive film ever produced in China, with a budget of $200 million.

The film grossed $913 million at the worldwide box office, making it the second-highest-grossing film of 2021, the highest-grossing Chinese film of all time, the highest-grossing non-English film, and the second highest-grossing film in a single market.

A sequel to the film, The Battle at Lake Changjin II, was released on 1 February 2022.

The film’s depiction of the battle has been described as containing historical inaccuracies and has garnered controversy in some countries, including South Korea. The film has also been described as propaganda.

Having been allotted land for his service, he promises his parents he will build them a house. However, the People’s Republic of China enters the Korean War and his leave is canceled.

Qianli’s younger brother, Wanli, asks to go with him, but Qianli tells him not to. The film jumps to 15 September 1950, where the Battle of Incheon is underway.

Captions state that on 7 July 1950 General MacArthur “announced war on North Korea” and that “the U.S. air force carpet-bombed the total terrain of the enemy”. The film makes no mention of the North Korean invasion of South Korea on 25 June 1950. U.

S. aircraft are then shown indiscriminately bombing a village in Andong Province, China, north of the Yalu River.

The film then jumps to Beijing on 4 October 1950 where the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party is meeting in Zhongnanhai to discuss the situation in North Korea. Mao Zedong asks whether the U.S.

Army crossing the 38th parallel means they will also cross the Yalu (the China–North Korea border). The military briefer states that by stationing forces in Taiwan, the U.S. has already invaded China and that the buildup of U.S.

forces in Korea threatens China’s security. Early the next morning, Peng Dehuai visits Mao. Mao tells Peng that he does not want war, but that he will fight to protect the Chinese Communist Revolution.

Mao’s eldest son Mao Anying asks Peng if he can join the People’s Volunteer Army forces being sent to Korea and Mao gives his blessing. The 7th Company is instructed to deliver communications supplies to the front lines.

To Qianli’s horror, Wanli enlisted in the army despite his family’s wishes. Wanli gets bullied by the other members of the 7th Company en route to Korea, with Qianli refusing to help him.

When Qianli refuses to give him a gun, Wanli almost jumps out of the troop train in anger but is mesmerized by the sight of the Great Wall of China. After Wanli stands by the train door all night, Qianli decides to give him a rifle.

The troop train is bombed while the train track is being fixed, forcing the 7th Company to continue on foot. They have several close encounters with American aircraft along the way.

While attempting to cross a dried-up lake, the 7th Company comes across patrolling American aircraft. The soldiers pretend to be dead but the American pilots decide to shoot the “stiffs” on a bet.

Several members of the company are killed in the strafing, including Zhang Xiaoshan, a young soldier who had befriended Wanli.

The 7th Company stumble upon a battle in which they aid a group of Chinese soldiers and storm an American outpost, killing numerous American soldiers and destroying several tanks. Wanli and Qianli kill four American soldiers in hand-to-hand combat.

An American tank tries to run over Wanli and Qianli, but the Chinese soldiers kill its crew and commandeer the tank. The battle ends in a tank duel, in which the Chinese infantrymen win.

The 7th Company continues to the front lines, eventually arriving and delivering field radios. The 7th Company is allowed to rest.

Mao Anying, serving under the pseudonym “Liu”, helps distribute clothing to them, but shortly after the company is ordered back to the front lines in anticipation of an offensive on American positions.

The Chinese soldiers stay hidden in the mountains, running low on supplies and facing below-freezing temperatures. The film shows American soldiers celebrating Thanksgiving in relative comfort and anticipating going home for Christmas. U.S.

radio detection detects Peng Dehuai’s headquarters and aircraft are sent to bomb the base. While most of the staff take shelter in bunkers, Mao Anying runs back to the base to collect a map and is killed in the bombing.

The offensive begins on the night of 27 November, with Chinese soldiers swarming the positions of the U.S. Army 31st Infantry Regiment at Sinhung-ni. One Chinese soldier kills three Americans in hand-to-hand combat, while several U.S.

trucks and tanks are destroyed. The Americans begin to retreat; Qianli shoots the U.S. commander, Colonel Allan MacLean, wounding him, but then stops Wanli from executing him. At Hagaru-ri reinforcements are ordered to Sinhung-ni.

A USMC Vought F4U Corsair attacks the Chinese forces and drops a smoke marker on the overrun base but is then shot down by a Chinese soldier using a bazooka.

Lei Suisheng puts the smoke marker in a jeep and drives off, joining up with the retreating U.S. column. The U.S. bombers destroy the American column and Lei is killed. The scene then cuts to Hagaru-ri which is under attack by the Chinese. U.S.

forces are forced to retreat by air and land while they are pursued by Chinese forces. The scene then shifts again to the 3rd Company, 3rd Division, 58th Corps on Hill 1071, which is shown holding out against U.S.

forces, having previously repelled seven attacks, fighting to the last man. Yang Gensi, as the last surviving member of his unit, suicidally attacks American tanks with a satchel charge. The retreating U.S.

Marine column finds a group of Chinese soldiers frozen to death at their post. General Oliver P. Smith salutes them; his voiceover is heard saying that fighting against such strong-willed men, the U.S. was not ordained to win.

The closing scenes show a U.S. mass grave at Hungnam as the city burns during the Hungnam evacuation. Captions state that 105,000 U.S. troops were evacuated by 24 December and that the 9th Corps captured Hungnam.

The captions explain the significance of the battle of Lake Changjin, which was a “perfect example for annihilating a U.S.

reinforced regiment”, how it, together with operations in the west, stopped MacArthur’s “presumptuous” plan to end the war by Christmas and forced the U.S.

led “UN Command” back from the Yalu River and below the 38th Parallel and “set the stage for the final victory of the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea.” The captions state that more than 197,000 Chinese died in the war.

The film ends with the caption: “The great spirit of the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid (North) Korea will eternally be renewed! Eternal glory to the great martyrs of the People’s Volunteer Army!