In the autumn of 1923, Commander Deyev, a young veteran of the Russian Civil War, must carry out a task as crucial as it is epic: evacuate 500 children from an orphanage in Kazan by train and transport them to the southern city of Samarkand, far from the atrocious famine ravaging the heart of the country. Accompanying and supervising the tender and compassionate Deyev is Belaya, the representative of the Children's Commission, a convinced Bolshevik with a strong character. Together they must travel 4,000 kilometers in six weeks, with a single purpose: to save the children's lives. The adventures they experience during the journey, described with great realism, take on a mythical dimension thanks to Yakhina's masterful pen, capable of transforming Deyev into a modern-day Ulysses, and his long journey into a grand adventure with legendary overtones.