Lines of Courage

German soldiers ambush Dimitri and the Russian soldiers while they are out looking for discarded weapons. Dimitri is knocked unconscious, and later wakes up alone in the no-man’s-land. Disoriented by his head injury, he keeps walking to avoid falling asleep. When he finally stops, he hears a girl’s voice calling to him. He tries to walk toward her, but collapses.

Dimitri comes to in a cave, with Juliette at his side, taking care of him. She offers him water before he falls back asleep.

The next time he wakes up, Dimitri is able to explain his situation to Juliette, having picked up some French during his time in France. Juliette also tells him about her journey and her family. When Dimitri says that he longs for freedom for his own family, Juliette offers him the Golden Cross of Merit, telling him how valuable it is. Dimitri refuses to take it, but he accepts her Red Hat. When he finally leaves her to go back to his company, Dimitri finds the medal at the bottom of his bag.

Now back in the trenches, Dimitri thinks about his plans for after the end of the war. Igor tells him that the revolution has started in Russia, showing him a small red star, which he explains is a symbol of freedom to come. Later, Igor is killed in front of Dimitri during a German attack. Dimitri makes sure to retrieve Igor’s red star to send back to his friend’s family.

Captain Garinov informs his soldiers that the Tsar has been removed from the throne of Russia. Now that they are not bound by their oath to him, the Russian soldiers want to go home to fight in the revolution. When Dimitri refuses to follow them, Captain Garinov begins rifling through his belongings and distributing them to his loyal Bolshevik soldiers. He is interrupted by French soldiers, who warn the Russians that they will be punished for their mutiny. In the end, they let the Russian soldiers go to avoid a fight, and Dimitri joins the French army.

Now fighting near the Belgian border alongside the French army, Dimitri overhears that the Allies are preparing for a major operation. Later that day, the British set off a series of explosions in the German trenches that kill about 10,000 soldiers, turning the tide of war. The French commandant then orders his soldiers to exit the trenches to fight the remaining Germans. While Dimitri is checking out an abandoned wagon, he is ambushed by three Germans who take him prisoner.

After spending five months in a prison camp in Germany, Dimitri and a group of prisoners are brought to work inside a German officer’s house for a day. There, Dimitri reunites with Captain Garinov, who is also a prisoner. Dimitri overhears the latter planning revenge against the German soldiers, and Captain Garinov threatens him. He searches through Dimitri’s pockets and, when he finds the medal, reports him to the Germans for theft. Dimitri is brought to the house owner’s daughter, Elsa Dressler, who immediately recognizes Sergeant Baum’s medal.

While waiting for her father, Elsa questions Dimitri about the medal. She tells him that she hates the war, and Dimitri shares some of his experiences. They decide that, although their countries are at war, they do not need to be at war with each other. Major Dressler joins them and is surprised at Dimitri’s young age. When Elsa insists, he agrees to release Dimitri on the condition that he must not go back to fighting the war. Instead, Major Dressler gives him the address of a friend who has a shop near Verdun and can give him a job. Dimitri leaves, finally feeling free.

Dimitri begins working for Major Dressler’s friend and saving money to help get his family out of Russia. One day, he is approached by a familiar-looking woman who recognizes his red hat. He realizes that she is Juliette’s mother, and tells her he has an idea where her daughter might be. The woman urges him to lead her and her sons to Juliette, so Dimitri takes them to the cave where he last saw her. When they get there, however, the caves are uninhabited.

Dimitri remembers what Juliette told him about working on Kara’s ambulance train, so he leads her family to the train station. At first, he is unable to find Juliette on the train, but eventually she appears in one of the doors. Finally, Juliette reunites with her family.