1197. King Kaloyan ascends the throne in hard times for Bulgaria. The country is still recovering from a century of Byzantine subjugation. He is forced to carry out a very flexible foreign policy in order to strength his positions. Pope Innocent III recognizes him as Emperor (Tsar), but a little later the fourth Crusade crosses the country under Emperor Baldwin. A new conflict is coming. Tsar Kaloyan wages the decisive battle at Adrianople and wins.

A movie drama telling the story of the crew of a Bulgarian cruiser in the historic year of 1918. The crew of the cruiser, sent to Sevastopol for a planned intervention against Russia, learned the true purpose of the campaign and the fact that the war was over. The sailors refused to obey the commander. The communist Boyan Milev took command. According to the wishes of all the sailors, the cruiser should sail back to Bulgaria the next morning. However, among the sailors there is a traitor who helped the arrested captain to get free and damaged the ship's equipment, so the "Nadezhda" will not be able to sail the next day. The rebels are taken to Bulgaria, where they will be brought to justice.

Strahil is a leader of a rebel band. The Turkish governor abducts beautiful girl Ivana for his harem. The outlaws hold the governor's child to ransom. The governor promises to Strahil neither to attack the peasants, nor to persecute them if he settles down to a peaceful life. Together with Ivana Strahil goes back to his father house... One day a group of people, driven by Turkish soldiers on their way to do forced labor, passes by Strahil house. Women and children wail. Strahil rushes at a soldier and kills him. There is an exchange of fire: Ivana is helping him. A large number of mounted troops surround Strahil's house. His band hurries to the village. Ivana hides in the cellar and fires. She hits the Turkish governor. The rebels rescue Ivana. The governor rises in a last effort and fires at Ivana. Dying Ivana manages to tell Strahil that she wants him to bury her in their favorite glade and return to the band. Strahil raises his hand to take an oath over Ivana's dead body.