Crossing the River Reconnaissance Journal

In 1949, our People's Liberation Army responded to Chairman Mao's call to 'cross the Yangtze River and liberate all of China.' We sharpened our troops and prepared to cross the river. Before the army crossed, we dispatched Company Leader Li (played by Sun Daolin) to lead a reconnaissance team to cross the Yangtze River first to understand the enemy's river defenses. After receiving orders, he quickly took Wu Laogui (played by Qi Heng), Zhou Changxi (played by Kang Tai), Yang Wei (played by Zhong Shuhuang), Xiao Ma (played by Sun Yongping), and others across the river and made contact with guerrilla fighter Liu Sijie (played by Li Lingjun). They mingled with the locals repairing fortifications along the river and, with some clever stratagems, obtained a map of the river defense fortifications, which they reported promptly to their superiors. Soon, they learned that the enemy had added a new artillery battalion, so they disguised themselves as enemy sappers to infiltrate the enemy's artillery position, successfully completing their reconnaissance mission. On the way back, Zhou Changxi sacrificed himself heroically to protect his comrades. The repeated leaks of military secrets enraged the enemy commander (played by Cui Chaoshu), who ordered artillery strikes on our guerrilla base. Just as we were speaking with our superiors, our radio was hit by enemy artillery fire. In that critical moment, Wu Laogui and Xiao Ma received urgent orders...