The Charge of the Light Brigade

In 1854, Captain Geoffrey Vickers and his brother, Captain Perry Vickers, are stationed in India, with the 27th Lancers of the British Army. It is during the period of East India Company dominance over the Indian subcontinent. Perry has secretly betrayed Geoffrey by stealing the love of his fiancée Elsa. During an official visit to local tributary rajah, Surat Khan, Geoffrey saves the rajah's life while hunting, for which the rajah promises eternal gratitude. Later, Geoffrey Vickers (now a major) is stationed at the British garrison of (fictional) Chukoti, along with British military families, within the part the North-Western Frontier controlled by Surat Khan. A British miscalculation leads to premature withdrawal of troops to (fictional) Lohara, unnecessarily exposing Chukoti. Faced with an overwhelming siege, the British commander, Col. Campbell, surrenders Chukoti to Surat Khan, who then massacres the inhabitants, including the British families. Surat Khan spares Maj. Vickers and Elsa as they flee the slaughter and thus repays his debt to Geoffrey. Soon afterwards, Surat Khan has to flee from the vengeful British counter-attack and allies himself with Imperial Russia who had supported Surat Khan's attack on the British. The Russians in turn find themselves at war with the British in Crimea. The love triangle and the quest for vengeance resolve at the Battle of Balaclava. Aware that Surat Khan is inspecting Russian positions opposite the 27th Lancers, Maj. Vickers secretly replaces written orders by Sir Charles Macefield to the commander of the Light Brigade, Sir Benjamin Warrenton, to withdraw from the Balaclava Heights. Vickers instead orders the famous suicidal attack so the lancers can avenge the Chukoti massacre. Before the charge, Maj. Vickers reminds troops of the Chukoti Massacre and directs their anger: "Our objective is Surat Khan!" Although the 27th Lancers and the other Light Cavalry units lose nearly all their 600 strength, they successfully breach Russian artillery positions. There, Vickers finds and kills Surat Khan with a lance, at the cost of his own life. Later, it emerges that Maj. Vickers wrote a letter to Sir Charles Macefield explaining his actions, which he forced Perry to deliver under threat of court martial, sparing his brother almost certain death during the 27th's charge. After receiving Maj. Vickers' explanation of why he defied orders and the charge happened, Macefield takes responsibility and burns the letter to protect Vickers and to honor him for his conspicuous gallantry in avenging the Chukoti Massacre.