The Crossing I

Lei Yifang personally leads an assault against Japanese positions in Manchuria and overruns their lines, turning the tide of the battle. The victory solidifies his standing within the Nationalist army. Dr. Yen Zekun is captured during the clash and sent to a POW camp in Fengtian.

Yen Zekun is taken prisoner during the battle and shipped to a prison camp in Fengtian. On the POW train, he reads a letter from his Japanese lover Masako, revealing the personal stakes behind the war. His capture marks a turning point in his loyalties and future choices.

In the aftermath of the campaign, Lei Yifang receives a promotion to lieutenant general, signaling his rising leadership role. The promotion cements his position within the Nationalist command structure. Yen's imprisonment continues as the conflict broadens into the civil war.

A few years later, Yu Zhen volunteers as an orderly at a Nationalist hospital in Shanghai, hoping to support herself during wartime. She dreams of reuniting with her boyfriend Yang Tianhu, who fights the Communists. Her quiet resilience sets the stage for future reunions with other characters.

General Lei Yifang attracts the attention of wealthy Zhou Yunfen at a charity event, and months later they marry. The union bridges two worlds—the military elite and Shanghai's elite society. Zhou's initial reservations about him give way to a committed partnership.

Sergeant Tong Daqing arranges a photo session with Yu Zhen and a borrowed baby to create a convincing family portrait. The image is meant to secure food rations and a semblance of stability amid wartime shortages. A nearby anti-war protest adds a tense backdrop to the shoot.

Dr. Yen enters the studio and asks the proprietor to create an altered photo that would make it look like he and Masako are together. The ruse highlights the personal costs of loyalties during the war. The studio becomes a place where private histories collide with public events.

With jobs scarce, Yu Zhen moves from a boardinghouse to a wartime dance club, only for the club to be shut down as the city conserves energy for the war. She turns to prostitution to earn money and hopes to travel to Taiwan to find her missing lover. The streets portray the harsh realities of the era.

Lei's 12th Army faces encirclement during the Huaihai Campaign, with supply lines severed and breakout plans recalibrated. Anxious about fighting fellow Chinese, Lei laments returning to the same battlegrounds he once faced against invaders. The campaign intensifies the personal and political stakes for all involved.

Tong discovers that the 108th Division has defected to the Communists while attempting to report the information. His fellow soldier companion holds him at gunpoint, forcing a dangerous standoff. Tong escapes to warn the rest of the 12th Army as front-line loyalties become more fragmented.

Lei orders a breakout and the officers resolve to stay with their troops. Tong reports to Lei and asks for court-martial after learning of the 108th's desertion, and Lei entrusts Tong with his diary to ensure Zhou receives it. The exchange cements a bond forged in trust under fire.

As the Communists breach the line, Lei is killed when a tank shell hits his command post. Tong saves him briefly by moving him, but Lei passes away with his memories of wife and children. Before dying, he entrusts Tong with his diary and his mission to deliver it to Zhou Yunfen.

In 1949, during a desperate evacuation to Taiwan, a drunken captain's ship collides with another and sinks within minutes. Yen Zekun uses his medical skills to help the injured as survivors cling to wreckage, but he is stabbed and dies, briefly visioning Masako as his last comfort. Yu Zhen fights to survive nearby.

Yu Zhen reunites with the injured Tong Daqing aboard the wreckage and helps him recover Lei Yifang's diary after it was lost. The two cling to the wreckage until an Australian HMAS picks up the survivors, including about 31 others. The diary remains a thread linking their fates.

Back in Taiwan, Zhou Yunfen gives birth to Lei Yifang's son, and Tong Daqing arrives to tell her the bad news while delivering Lei's diary thanks to Yu Zhen. Zhou thanks Tong and Yu Zhen for preserving the memory of Lei and their shared history.