Fyodor Zavyalov was nicknamed “the demonic soul” for his tough temperament. Blinded by love for a rural beauty, he stabs his rival with a knife and now must atone for his guilt. In the camp, Fedor submits a report and asks to go to the front. A penal battalion and a baptism of fire on the Kursk Bulge await him. He travels along the long roads of war all the way to Berlin, victory is very close, but fate again tests Zavyalov’s strength... The novel was published several times in an abridged version under the title “Volunteer in a penal battalion”, this edition is the original author’s, in full.