The son of a poor peasant, Kirill Afanasyevich Meretskov went through the military path from an ordinary reserve regiment to a marshal, assistant to the USSR Minister of Defense. He took part in the civil war, was a military adviser to the government of Republican Spain, and was involved in preparing the assault on the Mannerheim Line. However, Meretskov’s leadership talent was most clearly revealed during the Great Patriotic War. Under his leadership, troops of the Volkhov and Karelian fronts in 1941–1944. carried out a number of important offensive operations, including Operation Iskra to break the blockade of Leningrad. A new novel by the writer-historian A. Zolototrubov tells about the famous military leader, Marshal of the Soviet Union, Kirill Afanasyevich Meretskov (1897–1968).