A Chinese epic based around the rise and fall of General Pang who, on behalf of the ruling Qing dynasty, retook the cities of Suzhou and Nanjing during the unsuccessful Taiping Rebellion during the 1860s. The film starts with a beaten Pang meeting and allying with two bandits, Er-Hu and Wu-Yang, and forming the Shan Army. As they slash their way to victory they become the victims of their own disputes and rivalries and, with victory achieved, no longer the masters, but the wretched pawns in a bigger political game, in this lavish tragedy of Shakesperian dimensions. Congratulations: Your vote has been cast