Summer, 1942. Long-drawn severe combats with the Germans take place in the steppes along the Don. The young lieutenant Ogarkov is dispatched to the division with a relocation order. The protagonist spends the night trying to find his way in the steppes and fails to fulfill the order. As a result the division is encircled. Ogarkov is sentenced to be shot. But there is still time before the order is confirmed. The situation has changed. Now the old guard Dzhurabayev and the young convict wander through the steppes together fighting random enemies. They find shelter under the same trench-coat, eat from one pot. A silent friendship grows between them. But one is escorting the other to be shot, this is his duty and during the war there is no alternative…