The two brothers Laust and Peter grow up on a Danish estate in the middle of the 19th century. Over time, the two become friends with the estate manager's daughter, Inge, and over the years a kind of "triangular relationship" develops. Superficially, this relationship works well, but Laust and Inge have a love affair that Peter knows nothing about. The times are marked by wars, and although their father dies in front of their sons while working in the fields due to an old war injury, the two brothers join the military and soon learn about the horrors of war in the German-Danish War of 1864. After Peter learns of his brother's relationship with their mutual friend, he breaks with Laust. Inge, who is pregnant by Laust, goes in search of the brothers. At the front, she is falsely told that both are dead, whereupon Inge starts working as a nurse in the hospital. Without knowing it, she is not far away from Laust and Peter. While the Danish head of government Monrad continues to fuel the war in distant Copenhagen, more and more soldiers are dying in Schleswig, and Denmark's defeat is looming. Laust died in the decisive battle on 18 April 1864 on the Düppeler Schanzen – shortly before he could reconcile with his brother Peter.