The Mountain Road

In 1944, Major Baldwin is ordered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to blow up an airfield as part of a strategy to delay the advancing Japanese while retreating by road. Headquarters in Kunming pressures him to stay practical, but General Loomis offers the option to return to base by air. Baldwin chooses to lead his first command, embracing the risk.

On the road Baldwin learns from Chinese commander Colonel Li that the Japanese intend to seize a munitions dump 120 miles away. Li wants the munitions destroyed, but Baldwin resists going that far out of the way. Li then assigns Colonel Kwan to the team to aid the mission.

Madame Sue-Mei Hung, American-educated widow of a general, joins the expedition, and Baldwin gradually becomes attracted to her. She reveals that her husband was executed for disobeying one order while obeying another.

Baldwin uses a risky tactic to blow up a bridge and then pushes a civilian truck over a cliff to keep the convoy on schedule. The maneuver demonstrates his willingness to break rules for the mission, but endangers civilians.

Sue-Mei and Baldwin clash over his cavalier treatment of the Chinese as he later destroys a mountain road to speed the push toward the munitions dump. The action leaves thousands of local refugees trapped and displaced.

The convoy halts at a village because Miller is ill with pneumonia. The stop provides a moment of rest but also foreshadows the troubles ahead as conditions worsen for locals.

Collins, the translator, attempts to distribute the convoy's surplus food to the starving villagers, but the crowd surges and tramples him to death. The loss intensifies Baldwin's anger and resolve.

Fierce but focused, Baldwin presses on and successfully blows up the munitions storage, preventing Japanese seizure. He radios the success back to base and solidifies his claim on the mission's outcome.

Baldwin sends Miller ahead with the ailing Lewis and the body of Collins. They are intercepted by Chinese army-deserter bandits, who strip Miller and Lewis and kill them. The convoy loses two team members in the ambush.

In retaliation, Baldwin rolls a gas barrel into the bandits' outpost and fires the village, securing a brutal if morally gray victory. The act underscores the cost of war and his own brutal response.

Baldwin asks Sue-Mei to understand why he acted as he did, but she cannot forgive him. The two-part ways, with her departure sealing the emotional distance between them.

After reporting his mission to headquarters by radio, Baldwin receives praise for fulfilling the objectives. The victory is tempered by the heavy human cost and his own moral reflection.

General Loomis, initially wary of Baldwin's inexperience, ultimately acknowledges the outcome as successful and supports the decision to proceed with the mission. His backing reinforces Baldwin's controversial actions.