The film is a graphic depiction of the war atrocities committed by the Japanese at Unit 731, the secret biological weapons experimentation unit of the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. The film details the various cruel medical experiments Unit 731 inflicted upon the Chinese and Soviet prisoners at the tail-end of the war.
The Deputy Director of the Qinshan County Bureau of Commerce makes poor business decisions and opposes his daughter's relationship with a man who points out the Deputy Director's errors.
A steel plant staff is in conflict over whether to use domestic materials or continue importing from the Soviet Union after the Soviet Union adopts an anti-Chinese position in 1972.
