On the eve of the Russo-Japanese War, the 31st Hirosaki Regiment led by Captain Tokushima and the 5th Aomori Regiment led by Captain Kanda set out on a winter march across Mount Hakkoda, pushing through deep snow. Set against Mount Hakkoda, the story depicts two contrasting units: one a large force that seeks to confront nature head-on, and the other a small elite unit that chooses to adapt to nature.

Based on Jiro Nitta’s Mount Hakkoda: The March of Death, which deals with the “Hakkoda Mountain Snowstorm March Incident” of 1902—when the Aomori Regiment was stranded during winter mountain training and 199 of its 210 soldiers perished—the work poses a fundamental question about how organizations and individuals respond under extreme conditions.