The novel is based on the feat of the border guards of the 95th border detachment and the Kolomyia border commandant's office, as well as the instructors of the Lviv school of service dog breeding. On July 30, 1941, in an unequal hand-to-hand battle, covering the withdrawal of the main forces, they stopped the advance of the Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler brigade near the Ukrainian village of Legedzino. According to various sources, about five hundred border guards and more than one hundred service dogs were killed. The names of most of the dead soldiers are still unknown.