The Eight Hundred

In 1937, shortly after the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Imperial Japanese Army invaded Shanghai. After more than three months of brutal fighting, the Japanese army showed no signs of weakening. Suffering heavy losses, the Chinese army was forced to make an impossible decision: retreat and lose the city, or stay and risk being entirely overrun.  In an act of unprecedented bravery, Lieutenant Colonel Xie Jin Yuan (Du Chun) of the 524th Regiment, of the poorly equipped 88th Division of the National Revolutionary Army, led 452 young officers and soldiers into battle. Knowing their mission would undoubtedly fail, the brave young men followed their Lieutenant Colonel to the Sihang Warehouse. There they made their last stand against the 3rd Imperial Japanese Division, a division consisting of nearly 20,000 troops. Against impossible odds, these 400 soldiers held out against the relentless Japanese army for four days, providing the rest of the Chinese army the time they needed to retreat. Though these brave men ultimately lost the battle, their stand at the Sihang Warehouse would bolster the morale of the Chinese army and earn them a place in history as legendary heroes. Based on actual events, “The Eight Hundred” is a 2020 historical war film directed by Guan Hu.