The film is based on the famous work of I. Stadnyuk. The screenwriters set out their version of the role of the Soviet leadership and Stalin personally in the defeats of the summer of 1941, when the USSR Armed Forces were in a critical situation after the German attack. The series shows the destinies of many people, from the ordinary, who committed their feats, to the commanders who, sparing themselves, contributed to the defense of Motherland, to victory over the enemy. In the center of the plot is the fate of General Chumakov, one of those Soviet commanders who, despite everything, led the resistance of German aggression. The film ends with pictures of one of the first successful offensive operations of the Red Army under Yelnya.