Soviet army was one the worst for human dignity places to be. The task of the army was to turn freethinkers into normal dumb Soviet people. An intelligent Ukrainian guy refuses to obey.

Alexey Titarenko is very talented pilot and brave leader of "Singing group". He also must look after some new cadets and fight together with them against German Luftwaffe planes. Close to Alexey always are his friends, they are all from different parts of the country, but they all became real brothers.

Friends serve in the same military unit - commanders of tank battalions, majors Oleg Sedov, Vladimir Likhachev, Ivan Zverko. During a training exercise, Sedov makes a risky decision to break through the swamp. His battalion manages to be the first to occupy the height, but Likhachev’s battalion is only ten minutes behind the first battalion, but at the same time Likhachev, as always, remains cautious and does not agree to the risky proposal to go through the swamp. Sedov pays severely for his recklessness. One of his battalion's tanks overturns and falls into the swamp...