This color documentary account of the Communist conquest of China begins in 1929 (all archive footage) when Mao Zedong and his small army held only a few cities in the northern part of China. The band of revolutionaries increased when the poverty-stricken citizens joined the Communist ranks in a response to promises of land reforms and relief. When Japan attacked the country in 1937, it was Mao's Communist army which took the brunt of the defense fighting with ancient weapons. When World War II ended, the Communists began their surge to take over China. All the important cities fell to the rebels. Equipment sent by the United States for the defense of Nationalist China fell into the hands of Mao's army. The Kuomintang in time was pushed to the border of Vietnam and victory went to Mao while the remnants of Chiang's army escaped to the island of Formosa.