According to the officer's handbook, 'an officer will perform whatever task confronts him with whatever men are available' and for Major Bell the men in question are drunks, thieves and deserters. With the German army closing in on his company's position, Major Bell undertakes a suicidal mission to blow up a bridge of strategic importance to the enemy. His only help will come in the form of a rag-tag band of army rejects who must become heroes if they are to fulfil their mission and come back alive.