Ace Troops (Season 1)

Ace Troops (王牌部队, 2021) is a Chinese military drama you can watch online on iFILM. The series spans close to four decades, opening in early 1983 as the People's Liberation Army begins its transition from traditional infantry toward a leaner, technologically integrated force.

The story follows a group of young recruits in the 720th Regiment — not model soldiers, but real ones. Huang Jingyu and Xiao Zhan lead as two rivals who grow into something like brothers across a chain of defining moments: the 1984 border fighting at Laoshan, repeated rounds of military restructuring, the 1997 Hong Kong handover, and flood operations in 1998. Directed by Ji Tianyi and Lü Yan, this is the kind of long-arc war drama that earns its emotional weight by the final episode rather than front-loading it. Watch Ace Troops online on iFILM.