In the besieged town of Khojent, famine begins. The leaders of the revolutionary committee, Kozyrev, Sattar, and Alim, with the help of the chief mullah of the mosque, Abdulrahman-khan, win over the local residents, defeat a group of bandits, and bring back bread to the starving people.

The film unfolds on two parallel planes. Scenes depicting the tense, uneasy routine of the border where the young protagonist Ata serves are interwoven with the less dangerous, yet still emotionally charged episodes from the life of the beautiful young Leila, his fiancée, who remains faithful to him despite receiving a proposal from a very successful young graduate student.