The end of summer and the beginning of autumn 1941. Hitler's hordes are heading east, the most difficult battles are underway for the Kiev fortified area ... The merciless millstones of the most terrible war in the history of mankind are grinding thousands and thousands of lives. But ordinary soldiers and sergeants, lieutenants and captains, employees of the State Security agencies and generals stand in the way of the enemy. Not everyone will be able to get out of the scorching flame, but those who survived will become the basis of the force that will break the back of fascism and reach the Great Victory Day.A new novel by the master of Russian military adventure literature.