Huayu: Starting with Xiang Yu, the Hegemon of Western Chu

Filming for the night raid scene will begin on the 23rd.

It's midnight in Zhangbei Dam.

The production team prepared for five days this time.

The first day's theme was the setting.

The night raid scene was filmed on a low, undulating hillside in the southern part of Bashang.

There were no trees on the slope, only half-withered grass and a few rocks.

This place is extremely dark at night. On moonless nights, visibility is less than five meters. The art team had been waiting for this kind of night for a long time; this kind of darkness was exactly what they wanted.

The second day was armed.

The props department gave each of the three hundred extras a set of black leather armor, a rough-edged helmet, a scimitar, a riding bow, and a quiver.

In addition to the horse, a coarse linen bag containing three days' worth of dry rations was hung on the saddle.

This is the twenty jin that Chen Mo calculated during the military discussion play; it's real, not fake.

The third day was for rehearsals.

Martial arts director Zhao led three hundred men in practicing rapid marching with gags in their mouths.

The term "holding a gag" refers to having each cavalryman bite a short piece of wood in their mouth so they cannot speak and are thus prevented from being detected during night marches.

The horse's mouth also had to be tied up to prevent it from neighing; this whole routine was rehearsed three times.

The fourth day is the fireworks group's turn.

The crew found a large, safe open space in advance to conduct a fire rehearsal.

What they wanted to burn was the set of the "Oirat Grain Camp," which included a dozen felt tents, dozens of grain carts, and a row of hitching posts.

The pyrotechnics team was responsible for setting the camp on fire in front of the camera. The fire had to burn brightly, but without hurting the extras. This was a technical skill.

The fifth day is the final ranking.

Three hundred riders, fireworks, photography, and night vision—all combined in one go.

Filming officially began at 11 p.m. on the sixth day.

When Chen Mo arrived at the film set at 3 p.m., action director Zhao was already waiting for him at the location.

"Teacher Chen."

"Teacher Zhao."

"Come on, let me show you your location."

Commander Zhao led Chen Mo to a map showing the marching route.

A curved red line is drawn on the map.

The red line starts from the starting point, makes a large arc, crosses a ravine, and cuts in from behind the Oirat grain camp.

"This is a night raid route, forty li in total. Three hundred riders will march at full speed with their mouths gagged, and it is estimated that they will complete the journey in two hours."

"Your location is here."

The action director Zhao's finger was pointing to the middle part of the red line, slightly behind.

"The rear of the central army?" Chen Mo asked.

"That's right," said Commander Zhao. "The three hundred cavalrymen are divided into three groups: one hundred in the vanguard, one hundred in the center, and one hundred in the rearguard. As the Crown Prince, your command position is in the center, which is in line with common military knowledge. In a night raid, the commander is not at the very front."

"I've read the historical records," action director Zhao added. "During Zhu Zhanji's northern expedition when he was fifteen, he followed Zhu Di's central army. He wasn't one of the vanguard, so we've arranged for you to be positioned slightly behind the central army. This way, the camera can capture you without putting you at risk."

Chen Mo nodded.

He stood in front of the map for a while.

Then he spoke.

"Teacher Zhao, can I change seats?"

Martial arts instructor Zhao raised his head.

"Where should I change to?"

Chen Mo raised his hand and pointed to the very front of the red line.

"forward."

Martial arts director Zhao was taken aback.

He didn't speak immediately.

He glanced at Chen Mo for two seconds.

"Teacher Chen, the vanguard is the position for charging into battle. In night battles, there are risks of strong winds, sand hitting your face, and the horse slipping out of your grasp."

"I know."

"You've been practicing horseback riding for less than a month now."

"I know."

"From a job safety perspective, I can't put you at the forward position."

Chen Mo did not refute this statement.

He thought for a moment and then changed his wording.

"Teacher Zhao, the Zhu Zhanji in this play is not the real historical Zhu Zhanji."

Action director Zhao frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"In real history, Zhu Zhanji was with Zhu Di's central army during the northern expedition in the twelfth year of Yongle's reign. He did not lead 300 cavalry in a night raid on the grain camp."

"This was added to the script."

"Yes." Martial arts choreographer Zhao nodded. "I know this scene; it was added by Director Luo."

"This scene was added to the script to give Zhu Zhanji's character a turning point from 'observation' to 'battle'."

"Teacher Chen, what do you mean?"

"In the script, Zhu Zhanji is to lead three hundred cavalry in a night raid. Since he did lead them, it's impossible for him to be positioned in the rear of the central army."

"What is a fifteen-year-old imperial grandson trying to prove when his grandfather sends him to the battlefield to lead troops for the first time?"

"He wants to prove that he is not the Crown Prince hiding behind the scenes."

"So he will proactively rush to the forward position."

Even if his generals advised him to stay in the central army, he would still charge to the vanguard.

"If I were positioned slightly behind the central army in this scene, the character of Zhu Zhanji would not be believable."

"The audience will feel that this fifteen-year-old boy is just being passively led by others."

"But in the script, Zhu Zhanji volunteered for this scene."

"Since he volunteered, he couldn't possibly have chosen that safe position slightly behind the center of the army."

"So my position has to be striker."

Martial arts director Zhao looked at Chen Mo.

He did not immediately refute.

He mentally reviewed Chen Mo's words.

He sighed afterward.

In his 30 years in the industry, he had never encountered an actor who discussed riding positions with him in this way.

Most actors have a simple attitude towards action scenes: "I'll go to whichever position is safest."

The attitudes of a few actors are also easy to spot: "I want to be handsome, I want to be at the front."

He has dealt with both attitudes.

Chen Mo is the third type.

Chen Mo's words differed from both of these attitudes: "This position plays a decisive role in whether a character is established or not."

Martial arts director Zhao stood there for half a minute.

Then he spoke.

"Teacher Chen."

"Um."

"so."

"I'll have the hundred extras from the forward line pick again, and choose the twenty who ride the horse the most steadily."

"Have those twenty men surround you from all sides."

"If your horse has any problems, those twenty men will immediately take control of your reins."

"You're in the seventh position, right in front of the strikers. The six players in front of you are there to scout ahead of you."

"Is this okay?"

Chen Mo nodded.

"Can."

Commander Zhao turned around to make arrangements.

Chen Mo stood in front of the map.

He looked at the very front of the red line, at the spot he had pointed to.

That location was only two miles away from the fire point of the Oirat grain camp.

Filming officially started at 11 p.m.

The night on the dam was so dark that there were no landmarks. Only the scattered campfires lit by the art team at the distant Oirat grain camp looked like a few orange dots in the darkness.

Three hundred riders gathered at the starting point.

The horses' hooves were wrapped in cloth, their mouths were tied up, and each cavalryman had a short piece of wood in his mouth.

No one speaks.

Only the wind.

Chen Mo was wearing a set of night combat armor that was even heavier than the sample armor. This set of armor was black and more understated than the sample armor, and did not reflect light.

His horse was in the seventh position.

There were six horses in front of his horse, and the riders of those six horses were the most reliable ones handpicked by the action director Zhao.

Chen Mo held the reins with his right hand and rested his left hand on the saddle.

He could hear the breathing of a hundred horses behind him.

He heard the sound of the wind whistling past his helmet.

The assistant director, in a distant monitoring booth, spoke a single word into the walkie-talkie.

"Walk."

Three hundred horses started at the same time.

From a slow walk to a jog, and from a jog to a sprint.

The sound of horses' hooves pounding on the half-dried grass was muffled by the cloth wrapped around their hooves, sounding like a dull drumbeat from a distance.

The torches were not lit.

Do not light a fire when traveling at night.

Only a few campfires in the distant Oirat grain camp flickered in the darkness.

Chen Mo's face remained expressionless.

He leaned slightly forward on his horse, his legs gripping the horse's flanks. He had been practicing for a month, and now his body knew how to maintain balance on horseback.

But the horse he trained for a month was a daytime horse.

Horses can see the road clearly during the day.

Now the horse is running in the dark, and it can only rely on the silhouettes of the six horses in front of it.

The wind blows from the north, carrying sand with it.

The wind made Chen Mo's eyes dry.

Chen Mo didn't blink.

He let that dryness linger in his eyes.

When a fifteen-year-old imperial grandson leads his troops in a night raid for the first time, he doesn't blink; his eyes must retain that fierce determination.

That was the first time in his life he had ever seen the taste of darkness with his eyes open.

It took about half an hour to walk.

The route that the action director Zhao had practiced beforehand turned ahead.

The turning point is a large rock.

The lead horse of the six horses veered to the left from beside the large rock.

The five horses following behind all veered off course in sync.

Chen Mo's horse also veering off course.

It is clean, though.

What Chen Mo has been practicing for the past month is this kind of synchronization.

At that moment, he finally felt a sense of following along on horseback.

Follow the six horses in front.

Two hundred and ninety horses followed behind.

Following a group of three hundred cavalrymen on the march.

This "following" refers to the word he had pondered during his last military discussion: "follow".

The Crown Prince was in charge.

He didn't go there; he came from there.

He understood the word at that moment.

Smoke rose from the distant horizon.

The pyrotechnics setup, pre-arranged by the art and pyrotechnics teams, was ignited at the designated time.

In the direction of the Oirat grain camp, a whole patch of orange flames began to rise from the ground.

The wind blew the firelight in Chen Mo's direction.

The wind carried the smell of smoke.

Chen Mo felt the smell of smoke on his face for the first time.

His lips twitched slightly.

That movement wasn't a smile.

It was the reaction of a fifteen-year-old boy when he first smelled the campfire that he had set off with his troops.

A reaction that was tinged with surprise and a touch of smugness, but which was quickly suppressed.

Only the camera on the right can clearly see this action.

Luo Yifeng sat behind the screen in the monitoring booth.

His finger once again rested on the button on the walkie-talkie.

He didn't press it.

One hundred vanguard cavalry charged into the Oirat grain camp.

Grain carts caught fire, felt tents caught fire, hitching posts caught fire.

The firelight illuminated the entire hillside in a half-light, half-shadow orange hue.

Extras dressed as Oirat soldiers ran out of the felt tent.

Someone is shouting.

Someone is running.

Someone fell down.

Chen Mo's horse is in the seventh position.

He raised his hand as his horse charged into the flames.

He drew a short knife from his waist.

This knife is a prop knife and is not sharpened.

But his actions were real.

He slashed with his sword from horseback.

That strike wasn't a real cut; the action director, Zhao, had arranged for an extra to fake the fall.

After Chen Mo finished chopping, the horse continued forward.

He passed through the firelight.

The horse's hooves trampled over the edge of the already lit grain cart, and flames rose from beneath its hooves.

Chen Mo did not turn around.

He charged forward in the firelight.

The entire scene was filmed in one take.

Luo Yifeng said something into the walkie-talkie.

"Pass."