Ace Troops () is a 2021 Chinese television drama jointly produced by Beijing iQiyi Technology Co., Ltd., Beijing Contemporary Time Media Co., Ltd., the Propaganda Department of the CPC Changzhou Municipal Committee, the Political Work Department of the Eastern Theater Army, etc., written by Zhou Zhifang, Liu Yan, and Hu Jian, directed by Liu Yan, directed by Tian Yi, starring Huang Jingyu, Xiao Zhan and Zhong Chuxi with special appearance by Bai Lu.
Filming began on August 15, 2020, in Shenyang, Liaoning Province, and took 122 days to complete on December 14, 2020, in Fuzhou, Fujian Province.
Gao Liang, a recruit from a miner's family, and Gu Yiye, a recruit from a military family, are incompatible and sparks fly because of their very different backgrounds and extremely competitive personalities. On the first day of enlistment, they were both thrown into the most backward team in the division during a dramatic combat training and began their military career. After experiencing confrontation, competition, war, and the fate of sharing weal and woe, they are not only opponents and enemies, but also comrades who cherish each other and share life and death. They have experienced major events such as war, mine clearance in Guangxi, stationing in Hong Kong, and the 1998 flood control, and have also experienced the impact of a series of new military changes in the process of our army's development and evolution from motorized infantry to mechanization and then to informatization. At the same time, the relationship and family life of this pair of enemies are also full of twists and turns and conflicts. The rough Gao Liang and the literary youth Jiang Nanzheng, the aristocratic Gu Yiye and the rural girl A Xiu, the two couples have very different personalities and cultural backgrounds, and their emotional entanglements are complex and subtle, constantly creating episodes under the main plot line. The painful running-in and burning passion are intertwined, and the two military couples finally gain true, pure and beautiful love.
In 2022, Ace Troops was selected as the 2022 iQiyi Scream Night Drama Unit Annual Quality Drama. It also has been shortlisted for the Feitian Award and the Golden Eagle Award in the three major TV drama awards. Even aside from the award factor, "Ace Troops" excelled in all aspects such as ratings, popularity, and social effects. The first broadcast of Jiangsu Satellite TV won the annual champion of Cool Cloud. According to statistics, "Ace Troops" has been broadcast on TV for more than 30 rounds in less than 10 months.
Since the drama's broadcast, Xiao Zhan's emotional scenes impressed viewers and demonstrated his growth as an actor. When Xiao Zhan's captain sacrifices his life to save him from a landmine, he bursts uncontrollably into tears. This scene was very difficult to film, since Xiao Zhan had to adjust his mood and emotions in a short period of time. In the behind-the-scenes footage, the actor could be seen sitting quietly alone as he immersed himself into character before delivering his impactful performance.