The film focuses on life in a World War II German penal battalion camp somewhere in Russia. The convicts include a heroic doctor unjustly convicted of avoiding military service, an officer who retreated against orders, and common criminals. It shows their life in the camp, clearing mines, living in trenches on the front line.

On the way from Mexico City to Caracas, a plane crash-lands on an uninhabited island. The criminal Mario Bertelli terrorizes the other survivors. He prevents them from sending emergency signals.

One morning in August 1944, the inhabitants of a French village are celebrating their premature liberation. The festivities are interrupted by the arrival of an exhausted, leaderless German detachment. A few kilometers away, the inhabitants of the village of Muzière negotiate with the Germans and agree to a truce. But the arrival of a Wehrmacht captain, anxious to regain control of the men, puts an end to this fragile peace process. The captain suggested meeting the Americans and surrendering to regular troops rather than civilians. The inhabitants of Muzière, believing the truce to be broken, fire on the Germans and, on this misunderstanding, the guns start talking again.

Gustl Leubelfing, daughter of the mayor of Nuremberg adores the king of the Swedes. So she happily substitutes her brother as Gustav Adolf's page instead of marrying her fiancée Roland. Of course she has to hide that she's a woman, especially when they go into war against Wallenstein.