During the summer maneuvers in the Novorossiysk area, the armored personnel carrier of the Marine Corps commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Senior Lieutenant Stepan Alekseev, suddenly stalls and begins to dive. The last leaving the combat vehicle, Stepan almost drowns. Having emerged from the last forces to the surface, the Marine unexpectedly finds himself in icy water among the soldiers of the Soviet amphibious assault landed near South Ozereyka. On the calendar - February 4, 1943, just a few hours ago, a large-scale landing operation began, which led to the formation of the legendary Malaya Zemlya bridgehead, which played a huge role in the future liberation of Novorossiysk. Will the old Alekseev be able to withdraw the surviving marines from the enemy encirclement, connect with the second part of the landing near Stanichka and change the course of the entire Novorossiysk operation? Indeed, there, in his native time, he himself witnessed how military archaeologists found among the remains of one of the Red Army soldiers who fell on the bridgehead... his own penknife...