Red Cliff 2 (Part 1)

So, I watched this movie instaed of Inkheart like every single one of my classmates. Inkheart sounded too boring, but I liked the theme music. Nothing else to say.

Fortunately, the movie did not follow one jot of the novel except for the characters and the main strategy involved. I like change, the only constant.

The film begins with a scene in Cao Cao's camp. Cao Cao's soldiers were in the midst of a game of Cuju and he was watching the game closely with his generals and advisors. Sun Shangxiang had disguised herself as a soldier and infiltrated Cao Cao's camp where she acted as a spy for the allied army. Cao Cao was impressed with the performance during the game by a soldier named Sun Shucai and appointed him as an officer in charge of a thousand men. Sun Shangxiang was secretly noting down details about Cao Cao's army and had sent reports to Kong Ming via a pigeon. She bumped into Sun Shucai, who did not suspect her identity, and the two of them became fast friends.

At the same time, Cao Cao's troops are infected with typhoid due to the new environment. However, Cao is not worried and instead sends the dead troops to the Allied forces of Wu and Shu, despite objections from the physician Hua Tuo. In no time, the allied forces are infected and Shu warlord Liu Bei withdraws his troops, saying that he is too old for another defeat, earning despise from the Wu generals. Zhao Yun remarks that he Viceroy Zhou Yu "will meet again". Kong Ming, the Shu strategist, stays on, stating that he will finish what he has started. Fortunately, Kong Ming's efforts manage to drive the plague from the Wu ranks. Cai Mao and Zhang Yun, Cao's naval generals, propose the plan of chaining their ships together to prevent seasickness and Cao commends them on their strategy.

Later, Viceroy Zhou Yu and Kong Ming make bets to each other to assassinate the Wei naval generals, and to make a million arrows within 3 days, with the loser of the bet losing his head. Viceroy Zhou's plan is accomplished through a persuader from Cao, Jiang Gan. Jiang steals a letter which Zhou had tried to conceal during their meeting, and finds that it is a plan to murder Cao by Cai and Zhang. Zhou is invited out of the tent in the middle of the night, apparently to meet Cai and Zhang. He hurries back to bring this news.

At the same time, Kong Ming sends a group of fast ships towards the Cao camp on the last day designated to finish making the arrows. He invites Lu Su, who has been worrying for Kong Ming's life. A relatively comic scene ensues as Cai and Zhang fire thousands of arrows thick and fast towards the enemy ships, not knowing that these have all been trapped in straw. Kong Ming returns with the ships now bristling with stolen arrows, but seems to lose one inadvertently.

Later, the culmination of both plots results in the death of Cai and Zhang. Jiang submits the letter to Cao, who thinks it is a trick by the enemy, but realizes it has the same handwriting as one of Cai's letters. His suspicions increase when he hears that the navy has lost about a million arrows in a battle with Kong Ming's ships. He remarked with sarcarsm that Cai Mao and Zhang Yun were very 'generous' in 'donating' arrows to the enemy, before having them executed on charges of treason. Later, he discovered that he been fooled and was furious with Jiang Gan so he had Jiang poisoned to death during a banquet.

to be continued...