King Frederick II (aka "Frederick the Great") of Prussia is engaged in a major battle against the Austrian army at Kunersdorf, and things aren't going well. The Austrians are inflicting major casualties, and his army is beginning to crumble. Defeat seems inevitable when a combination of events gives him hope that he may pull victory from the jaws of defeat after all.
The year is 1760: it is the time of the Seven Years' War and the advancing Russian army has taken captive 100 underage Prussian cadets. The kids are mishandled by the raping and pillaging Russians, but with the help of a Rittmeister now in the service of the Tsar, they succeed in getting away. They hole up in a deserted fort and eventually sally forward to take back their military academy from the bloodthirsty, pillaging Cossacks.