In 1925, a decade on from the downfall of its last emperor, China remains deeply divided. Its people are at the mercy of warlords and rival political factions. But a charismatic and ambitious Nationalist leader, Chiang Kai-shek, has a plan to unite the country by force. What follows is a decade of violence and turmoil, as Chiang’s Kuomintang Army takes on the warlords, then forces the Communists into an epic retreat, before facing a reckoning with foreign aggressors.