Five years… Five long, and at the same time swift, years: three friends—unexpectedly for themselves—find themselves in Russia on the eve of the Russo-Japanese war and prepare for the inevitable war. During this time they repeatedly broke the law; not shunning even the most serious crimes, they put their lives at stake for a single goal—to change the course of history, to force it to alter its planned direction. But will they have the strength? How well prepared are they? Will the old lady—history—yield, or will she run over those who decided to contradict her with a steamroller? Everything they could, they already did. And then, as they say, war will show the plan.