The story is based on the fact that 61000 Allied prisoners were forced to build the Thai-Burmese railway during World War II. The young Scottish officer Ernest? Captain Gordon was captured by the Japanese in a battle, and together with Major Campbell and others were forced to become slaves of the emperor to build a section of the railway from Thailand to Burma. They endured cruel torture in prisoner-of-war camps, but they also formed a strong friendship in the days when life was worse than death. Ernest set up a "jungle university" in the concentration camp to hold the prisoners of war together. The cruelty of the Japanese army was too much for them, and Major Campbell finally decided to carry out the escape plan, but the failure of the plan caused his comrade-in-arms who had been in deep conflict with him to sacrifice himself to save his life.