survivors of the 1,000-strong regiment made it alive back to the friendly side, they were shocked to discover that Long was not their chief at all, but merely a lowly lieutenant logistics officer (the rank was achieved through bribery), who stole the insignia and uniform of a fallen commander. After court-martial, they all believed that Long was certain to be executed for the felony, but to their surprises Long was later appointed their genuine regiment chief. The new detachment was disfavored by other regular troops and was badly undersupplied, and Long's unorthodox leadership style (which upset the divisional command) only added salt to injury. The disesteemed "Cannon Fodder Regiment", as expendable "fuel of war", was then put in charge of a high-risk assault operation on a strongly fortified mountain occupied by the Japanese forces. Differences between novel and TV version The TV production of My Chief and My Regiment is more-or-less faithful to Lan Xiaolong's original novelized storyline, however there are some discrepancies due to various reasons. Although some believed the novel came after the TV show, making the novel a supplement of the TV show that is abridged due to production cost and accidents. For instance, the TV show ends with climactic Battle of the South Heaven's Gate (the mountain fortress assault), and then switches to modern times with an aged Meng Fanliao rekindling his wartime memories while walking home. The novel however, continued into the Chinese Civil War and narrated Long's suicide in defiance against orders to fight his fellow countrymen, the regiment's break-up/demise after his death, and Meng Fanliao's capture and recruitment by a young PLA soldier from a "7th Company" (implied to be the later "Steely 7th Company" of Soldiers Sortie). This part of the plot was originally considered as the final 4 episodes of the TV production, but was later scrapped. This caused great disappointment among die-hard fans as they felt that the television's ending did not do justice for the author's intention. The final fates of many of the main characters are also changed in the TV production. Mi Long (迷龙), the squad machine gunner, survived the final battle in the TV series, but in the novel Long was forced to personally execute him for shooting a fleeing artillery commander (the nephew of an army commander) during a Japanese air raid. Zhang Lixian (张立宪), an arrogant elite from the divisional reconnaissance battalion, committed suicide