The Battle at Lake Changjin II, also released as The Battle at Water Gate Bridge, is a 2022 war drama film co-produced and co-directed by Chen Kaige, Tsui Hark and Dante Lam, written by Lan Xiaolong and Huang Jianxin, and starring Wu Jing and Jackson Yee. It was produced by the Bona Film Group in light of the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party. The film is the sequel to The Battle at Lake Changjin (2021). It is a fictionalized retelling of the fighting at Funchilin Pass during the Battle of Chosin Reservoir against American forces in the Korean War.
The film was released on 1 February 2022 (Chinese New Year) and grossed over $626 million in China, making it the ninth-highest-grossing film of 2022.
Plot
After fighting at Sinhung-ni, the Chinese People's Volunteer Army 7th Company arrives at a location 12km from Hagaru-ri where it meets elements of the 20th Corps and the artillery battalion commanded by Commander Yang, preparing to attack the airfield and American 1st Marine Division supply base at Hagaru-ri. The PVA units drive captured American vehicles and use captured equipment.
In the Sea of Japan Douglas A-1 Skyraiders launch from U.S. aircraft carriers to attack PVA units advancing on Hagaru-ri from nine directions. The 7th Company is then strafed by United States Navy Vought F4U Corsairs, but they move on to a different target inflicting no casualties. 7th Company commander Wu Qianli realises the planes intend to attack the artillery battalion and moves his men forward. The scene then shifts to the artillery battalion column advancing in captured U.S. trucks towing artillery pieces which is then attacked by the Corsairs inflicting "maximum damage" on the column, destroying all the guns. The 7th Company arrives on the scene, Yang tells Qianli that all his captured guns have been destroyed, Qianli hands Yang a pistol and tells the 7th Company to go capture more guns 1.5km away. Yang then rallies his men to also go capture more guns.
PVA soldiers thrown themselves onto a barbed wire fence so that their comrades can run over their backs to attack U.S. positions. PVA forces, including the 7th Company and the artillery battalion overrun the U.S. defenders, killing many of them. Ping He uses a bazooka to destroy a U.S. machine gun position. The artillery battalion then turns the captured artillery around to begin shelling the Hagaru-ri airfield. Qianli reclaims his pistol from Yang and moves his unit forward to attack the airfield.
The PVA attacks Hagaru-ri. 1st Marine Division commander Major general Oliver P. Smith is informed that that PVA are everywhere and coming in fast. The artillery battalion fires a creeping barrage ahead of the 7th Company. The Americans evacuate their hospital while Smith demands that the runway is kept open and he is put in contact with Tokyo. The scene then shifts to Tokyo where General Douglas MacArthur is attending a celebration. MacArthur receives a phone call from Smith who advises him that Hagaru-ri airfield is the rear line, that he lacks troops to hold the line and requests reinforcements to cover their withdrawal. MacArthur shouts and orders Smith to stop his retreat. Where PVA artillery is now hitting the airfield and the rest of the base. A C-47 Skytrain is destroyed by artillery fire and Smith orders aircraft to use the road instead. Smith orders reinforcement of the Water Gate Bridge and then orders a retreat from Hagaru-ri. Yang is wounded by U.S. artillery fire mangling his hand but alone manages to load and fire an artillery piece destroying an American gun. The Americans retreat under artillery fire as the PVA infantry overrun Hagaru-ri.
In PVA 9th Corps headquarters at Chengfang-dong. Song Shilun is informed that the Marines are retreating and that the only route is across the Water Gate Bridge. Peng orders the 7th Company to disengage from the fighting at Hagaru-ri to block the U.S. retreat at Water Gate Bridge. At Hagaru-ri the 7th Company is mopping up. Wu Wanli who was injured in the attack gives his blanket to a badly wounded American in the hospital. The PVA troops rest and recuperate while the commanders meet and count their casualties, Qianli receives the identity tags of the 78 men who have been killed and then leaves a lit cigarette as an offering in the snow.
Qianli receives the order to advance to the Water Gate Bridge and destroy it. Qianli's radio operator points out a destroyed U.S. helicopter and says that in the future China will have their own better planes and Qianli responds that it is just a matter of time. Qianli orders the 7th Company to get ready to move out.
When President Harry S. Truman receives a telegram from MacArthur requesting use of atomic bombs to win the war. A voiceover from a 30 November press conference has Truman avoiding saying whether or not atomic bombs would be used.
The 7th Company advances towards the Water Gate Bridge in blizzard conditions that freeze their compass. The 7th Company arrives at the bridge to find the 9th Company attacking the U.S. forces and they join the attack, rescuing the 9th Company survivors but ultimately being forced to withdraw. U.S. bombers attack the area with minimal effect while U.S. forces repair the bridge and their defensive positions. The 7th and 9th Companies plan a new attack, the 9th Company commander says that they must destroy the bridge before dying from an earlier wound.
U.S. forces at the bridge inventory their weapons while armored reinforcements proceed toward the bridge. The U.S. commander, a Captain plans to draw the PVA onto the south end of the bridge and then destroy them. Qianli briefs both companies on the plan to attack the bridge from four different directions. Qianli tells Wanli to run free showing that he has earned his trust. The companies salute the sun looking north towards China and recite "Long live the People's Republic of China" before splitting up for the attack.
The four groups deploy unseen in the dark. A U.S. sniper shoots a PVA messenger and in turn is shot by a PVA sniper who also shoots out a searchlight on the north end of the bridge. Wanli throws a grenade which blows up the U.S. communications bunker starting the attack. A U.S. watchtower on the south end of the bridge is destroyed by a bazooka shot. The U.S. defenders go on full alert, but still plan to trap the PVA attackers. PVA forces blow a hole in a water pipe below the bridge and then fire a bazooka up the pipe causing an explosion at the pump house behind the bridge. Three PVA soldiers run up the pipe and take over the pump house, setting off explosions that kill U.S. soldiers who arrive to investigate. More PVA soldiers run up inside the pipe and more U.S soldiers enter the pump house, one of the U.S. soldiers throws a grenade down the pipe and a PVA soldier jumps on it and absorbs the blast. Another bazooka round is fired up the pipe killing more U.S. soldiers. A PVA soldier shoots out the lights in the pump house and more Americans are killed then more PVA soldiers emerge from the pipe. North of the bridge Qianli launches a solo attack, when the Americans try to shoot him with a recoilless rifle they hit their headquarters bunker. The Americans leave the HQ bunker after setting a demolition charges, Qianli stops more than ten unarmed U.S. troops, the demolition charge detonates and the Americans scatter while Qianli searches the bunker to try to capture the U.S. commander. PVA and U.S. soldiers fight for control of the pump house while PVA mortars destroy the U.S. ammunition storage areas. PVA forces overrun the U.S. positions on the north end of the bridge, while on the south end they spring their trap on the PVA attackers. Wanli blows up a machine gun position with a grenade, Yu Congrong pushes him out of the way of a sniper who shoots Yu, apparently killing him. The U.S. armored column approaches the north end of the bridge and a tank fires on the PVA who respond with mortar fire and an uphill infantry attack. Wanli, having moved through the U.S. trenches, tries to grenade a U.S. position but is stopped by the U.S. commander, they wrestle and the captain prevails until Qianli arrives and puts a gun to the captain's head, Wanli then puts the primed grenade inside the captain's jacket and it explodes killing him. The U.S. defenders at the north end of the bridge fire on the PVA with flamethrowers, killing several soldiers one of whom keeps firing until he burns to death. The PVA use mortars as bazookas and shoot a gas can causing petrol to spread on the ground, when the flamethrowers fire again they ignite the petrol killing many U.S. soldiers. The PVA soldiers in the pump house kill American soldiers on the roof. Wanli and Qianli rescue Yu who was concussed. A U.S. tanks advances across the bridge, the PVA troops at the south end try to destroy it with a captured recoilless rifle. Qianli launches a solo attack on the U.S. troops on and around the pump house, tackling a U.S. soldier on the roof and then falling inside. A PVA soldier runs from the pump house towards the tank carrying a satchel charge, he is repeatedly shot and the charge explodes disintegrating him. Inside the pump house Ping He is attacked by a U.S. soldier who impales him on a metal beam; Qianli then garrotes the American but is entangled in wreckage. Ping He takes another satchel charge and dives underneath the tank, his arm is crushed and he is dragged under the tank, he tells Qianli to fire and he does so igniting the satchel charge, destroying the tank and blowing a hole in the bridge. The PVA units advance on the bridge destroying the final U.S. positions, while Qianli is trapped in the pump house wreckage. Renewed tank fire disintegrates a PVA soldier as the vanguard of the 1st Marine Division approaches the north end of the bridge and then proceed to bombard the area. Qianli uses a signal whistle to order a retreat and the PVA withdraw. Wanli tries to rescue Qianli who tells him to leave, but he and another soldier extract Qianli and they escape down the pipe.
The next morning some surviving 7th and 9th Company soldiers sleep in a valley near the bridge. Yu climbs a hill for a better radio signal when a flight of F4U Corsairs approaches the valley. The Corsairs drops napalm which falls short as Yu has fired on the planes drawing their attention to him, the planes follow Yu dropping more napalm and he is set alight and disintegrates in the fire. The planes return and strafe the valley pulverising several PVA soldiers and wounding many others, including Wanli. At the bridge the Marines repair the bridge and their fighting positions as they prepare to hold the bridge for three days to allow their forces to retreat across it. Below the bridge more PVA survivors strip the destroyed U.S. tank for supplies. The scene then ships to the Sea of Japan where a voiceover says that the 1st Marine Division is facing a major test. The scene then shifts to MacArthur in Tokyo who is informed of the damage to the Water Gate Bridge, MacArthur says that he told Smith not to retreat, he is told that his atomic bomb plan caused controversy in the UN and he orders the Water Gate Bridge be repaired.