1918. Thousands of volunteers hurry to defend a nascent Republic of Estonia against the advancing enemy from East and South-East. Among others three brave young men - a student, a blacksmith and a farmhand - enlist to the Estonian People's Army. Three of them go scouting together and shoulder by shoulder they fight in battle. With strenuous effort the enemy's overwhelming contingent is pushed back. The farmhand falls as a hero, while the battle-hardened blacksmith and the student return home. The reconstruction of the young republic begins.