Through the eyes of the young commander, Lieutenant Kuznetsov, one of the difficult, tragic episodes of the Great Patriotic War is shown, when the hero of the novel finds strength and courage in himself, shows selfless loyalty to the Motherland. In battles, the character is tempered, the inner world of an honest and pure person is determined. The author of the novel - a famous Soviet writer, laureate of the Lenin and State Prizes - during the war he himself was a young artillery commander.