ASSEMBLY

In 1948, during the Chinese Civil War, Captain Gu Zidi of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) leads his 9th Company in assaulting a town controlled by National Revolutionary Army (NRA) forces. Even though he wins the battle, his company suffers heavy casualties and he witnesses his political commissar being blown to pieces. In anger, he tries to execute the NRA prisoners-of-war but his men stop him. He is thrown into prison, where he quickly befriends his cellmate Wang, a teacher and pacifist who is jailed for showing cowardice in battle. A short time later, Gu's superior, Colonel Liu Zeshui, sends Gu and his 46 surviving men on a new assignment: To defend the 139th Regiment's flank, an old mine on the south bank of the Wen River. Liu clarifies that Gu must not retreat until he hears the bugle call for assembly. Wang departs with Gu's company as his new political commissar.

Almost immediately after fortifying their positions, the 9th Company suddenly comes under heavy attack by NRA forces with their superior artillery, tanks and infantry. The 9th Company fends off two waves of an enemy assault, while Gu orders the dead and wounded to be carried into the mine. Only a handful of Gu's men are left alive when the mortally wounded adjutant claims that he heard a bugle call in the distance. A few others say they heard it too. Gu, who is temporarily deafened by an explosion, is reluctant to believe them and orders them to fight to the death. After being knocked out in the midst of battle, Gu wakes up some time later in a military hospital and realises that he is the sole survivor. He tries to find the 139th Regiment, which his 9th Company was under, but is unable to find it because the PLA reorganised itself while he was in a coma, and many past records were lost. The other soldiers scorn him because they think that he is a deserter.

Gu volunteers to fight in the Korean War as an enlisted soldier, and is wounded by a landmine after saving his commander, Lieutenant Zhao Erdou, during a spotting mission. After the war ends, he travels back to the old battlefield and attempts to locate the mine shaft, only to find that the mine has been reactivated and the old entrance is now buried under coal. He encounters Zhao and Wang's widow, and convinces them to marry. With Zhao's help, Gu uncovers records of the 139th Regiment and finds his way to Liu's tomb. The groundskeeper, who turns out to be Liu's former bodyguard, explains that the assembly bugle call was never sounded. In fact, the 9th Company was sacrificed to cover the regiment's retreat. Overwhelmed by fury, Gu curses and swears at Liu's tombstone but calms down later.

Gu starts camping at the mine and attempts to dig out the mine shaft using a shovel, despite protests from the miners. The remains of Wang are found a month later, and the 9th Company is honoured through an official notice. However, Gu remains inconsolable because he cannot find the remaining bodies. At this point, Gu experiences a flashback, revealing that, as the NRA forces closed in, he and Wang buried the bodies of the others deep in the mine shaft and destroyed the entrance to prevent the bodies from falling into enemy hands. Years later, the remains of the others are found during an excavation for an irrigation project. A monument is erected and a military funeral with full honours is held for the 9th Company. Gu finally finds peace.

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