Autumn of 1809. The Russian Empire has repelled a Persian invasion in the Caucasus and is waging a long, brutal war with the Turks along the Danube.
At a distant outpost by Araks, in the ranks of a squadron of the Narva Dragoon Regiment, the frontier is guarded by a man—lieutenant at that time, Gontcharov—who earned his first officer rank through sweat and blood. A man from the 21st century, thrown by fate straight into the thick of events of that era. What is it like to know that ahead are only blood, war, and death?