Synopsis
During the 1941 World War occupation, the Japanese military pillaged homes and arrested cultural figures living in Hong Kong. The anti-Japanese Dongjiang guerilla unit is tasked to rescue these cultural figures and evacuating them from the besieged city.
The occupation transformed Hong Kong from a prosperous city into a barren land with no food or water. Primary school teacher, Fang Lan (Zhou Xun) and her mother (Deanie Ip) are trying to live out this difficult period in a small rundown flat in Wanchai. After the schools are shut down, Lan – who recently broke up with Wing (Wallace Huo) - unwittingly finds herself embroiled in the guerillas’ mission to save novelist Mao Dun. In the process, she meets Blackie Lau (Eddie Peng), the intrepid sharpshooter captain of the guerillas’ Urban and Firearms unit. Taking notice of Lan’s calm, intelligent nature, Blackie recruits her to join the guerillas.
Lan sets up a secret liaison point for the guerillas in the city, stealthily delivering intelligence and evacuating artists from the city under the watchful eyes of the Japanese military. Worried for her daughter’s safety, Lan’s mother volunteers to take Lan’s place as a courier, only to be arrested on the job. To save her mother, Lan is forced to turn to Wing, who now works for the Japanese…