New cooling towers are to be built for the power station in the small village of Zaspenhain. The work is being carried out by builders from Poland, including Jerzy. Gitta, a young woman from Zaspenhain, works at the power station as a laboratory assistant. When the Polish construction workers arrive, she falls in love with Jerzy. But then the past intervenes...
Second half of September 1939. Lt. Brejer, along with a detachment of his sappers, receives orders to blow up the bridge. The promised explosives do not arrive. So Brejer gets the order to withdraw and reunite with the rest of the division. Along the way, suffering hunger and discomfort along with his soldiers, he joins various divisions, collects survivors and fights. From a German prisoner of war, he finally learns that the Soviets have entered Poland. Finally, he and his men manage to reach his home unit, but that unit has just surrendered to the Germans.
