On a small island off the coast of China an old man and an ageing army wait-in the forlorn hope that the day will come when they return to the mainland as the liberators. Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek and his nationalist Chinese army who retreated to Formosa seventeen years ago, flushed off the mainland by Red Chinese victors, still believe that they will one day rule China. In the meantime they bombard the mainland with little hydrogen balloons and propaganda messages, and have spent £1,500 million of American money. But as the old soldiers fade away does the dream fade too?