“He was nine years old, but there was no talk of learning to read.” “Go to Moscow—maybe you’ll manage to rise among important people.” “Salut, hon’orable Russian gentleman Petrovich!” “If you only knew how I was beaten…” “The task entrusted to you is a matter of history…” These words are about one person—the Hero of the Soviet Union, Knight of the Order of Victory, Marshal of the Soviet Union Kirill Afanasyevich Meretskov, a participant in five wars, fully displaying his talent as a commander on the battlefields and in the Soviet-Finnish War, and in the Great Patriotic War against the fascist invaders and Japanese militarists. The author traces, meticulously and step by step, the difficult path of his hero—from a simple village boy to a major Soviet military leader.