Friends serve in a military unit – they are tank battalion commanders, Majors Oleg Sedov, Vladimir Likhachev, and Ivan Zverko. During the manoeuvres, Sedov takes a risky decision to go through the swamp. His battalion manages to be the first in the high ground, but Likhachev’s battalion falls behind the first battalion for only ten minutes, but Likhachev, as always, remains cautious and refuses to risk and go through the swamp. Sedov pays dearly for his foolhardiness. One of the tanks of his battalion flips and crashes into a swamp. The soldiers are unable to pull it out and the driver of the overturned tank dies.