"Doomed to Fight" by Roman Zlotnikov, summary Automatic translate

This book is a 1999 science fiction war novel about a retired Soviet intelligence colonel, Kazimir Pushkevich, whose consciousness is transferred into the young body of a disenfranchised youth on the planet Ookona. The hero retains a rigorous analytical mind and vast experience in deadly combat. He transfers sabotage techniques to the brutal realities of another dimension.

This novel opens the renowned "Gron" book series. It is followed by other novels in the cycle: "Mortal Strike," "The Last Battle," "Brave New World," "No Mercy," and "The Heart of the Tower." The hero methodically fights his way to the top, shattering the foundations of entire states.

Rebirth and the path of the slave

Colonel Pushkevich lived a harsh life. He fought, destroyed Bandera’s followers, and trained Korean saboteurs. An old man dies from severe injuries sustained in a fight with burglars. Pushkevich kills the attackers, and in his final moments, dons the mysterious White Helmet. This artifact was given to him by a rescued Korean monk. His consciousness transfers to the body of a port orphan named Gron in the city of Tamaris. The boy is part of the One-Eyed’s gang of ragamuffins. Gron instantly assesses the situation. He brutally beats the attacker, nicknamed Hammerhead Shark, and changes his status within the gang. Soon, the priests send him as a slave to the slave pits of the temple of the twin gods Sam and Om. Gron receives the position of Cleaver in the temple’s wood yard.

There he meets the Dumb Deck. Gron makes the hideous cook his submissive lover for the sake of abundant food and survival. Later, he saves the young green-eyed apprentice of a hetaera, Tolla, from rape. He kills five priestly slaves and a temple acolyte with his bare hands. Gron is sentenced to death in the dog pit. Seizing the opportunity during a public execution, the hero breaks the necks of the guards and throws the priests down. He opens the gate of the pen and unleashes the sacred dogs on the enraged crowd.

Freedom and the first comrades

Gron flees Tamaris and takes a job as a guard on a small trading vessel belonging to the Atlantean highlanders. At sea, the ship is overtaken by Sithakk pirates in two galleys. Gron orders the cargo dumped into the sea and sets it ablaze with arrows. He burns one galley with flaming bales of cotton. Then he swims alone to the second vessel, leaps aboard, and kills the helmsmen. He cuts the lashings and destroys the oars. The pirates take the stunned Gron captive and sell him into slavery to a blacksmith on the island of Akkum.

In the forge, the hero uses the knowledge of metallurgy he learned from his grandfather in a past life. He forges a long damask sword. With this blade, Gron cleaves his master’s bronze weapon with a single blow, killing him and the attacking pirates. He grants freedom to the remaining slaves. The blacksmith Ugrom becomes his faithful ally. Gron takes a job as a guard in a merchant caravan. The heroes head to Elythia. Along the way, he learns of the existence of a secret Order. Its servants, the Guardians and the Zaggrs, secretly rule Ookona. They mercilessly kill all "Changed," people from other worlds. The Order has already begun hunting Gron. He is pursued by a dwarf named Ever.

Creation of the Division

Along the way, Gron rescues the caravan driver Yugor and the young scribe Gagrid from the gang of Ataman Pakrast. He throws the leader straight into a fire. In the city of Roul, the hero finds a job as a servant in the gymnasium of the good Prior Ksaniw. Gron studies geography and science, saving students from beatings by the capital’s aristocrats. Then, the hero decides to become a foreman of the market guard. He brutally kills the thugs of the local leader, Omer the One-Legged, and seizes power over the beggars. Having earned money, Gron buys a horse farm. There, he begins to form his own army.

Gron personally selects the fighters, among whom Dorn, Siborn, and Yag stand out. Deserters, peasants, and artisans undergo rigorous training. Gron teaches them hand-to-hand combat, demonstrating steel crossbow shooting and mounted vaulting. Thus, the Division — the heavy cavalry — is born. The warriors are armed with long, four-meter pikes, chainmail, and powerful crossbows. Meanwhile, the Order poisons the wells and kills Prior Xaniv. The enemy attempts to assassinate Gron with a poisoned stone. The hero responds asymmetrically. His men eliminate the Order’s agents with gas and nighttime sabotage.

Battle for Atlantor

Gron leads his trained Division north to the mountainous land of Atlantor. The local princes greet him with disdain. The mountaineers quickly succumb to the military might of the cavalry. Gron saves the locals from a raid by the Tasozh steppe horde. At the Battle of Horned Rock, the Division, with crossbow volleys and close pike formation, utterly defeats thousands of nomads. The dying Elder Prince Egior grants Gron authority over all of Atlantor.

Gron suppresses the rebellion of the cunning Prince Bargoth. Fighters storm the fortress with long poles, scaling the sheer walls. Gron brutally executes the families of the rebellious rulers. Remaining the rightful ruler of the valleys, the hero infiltrates the tent of the steppe khans. Using magnesium and oil, he disguises himself as the lord of demons. The khans, terrified, submit to Gron. The steppe and mountains unite under his command. Gron plans a naval campaign and captures the Gorgos fortress of Gerlen.

War with Gorgos

The Order initiates a large-scale invasion of Elythia by the Gorgos Empire. Tens of thousands of Gorgos soldiers land in the south, burning cities and taking the inhabitants into slavery. Gron leads the Division, the mountain militia, and the steppe horde to Elythia’s aid. Gron’s cavalry battalions break through the Gorgos phalanxes. The hero forms a massive army from the refugees. Gron trains them to withstand attack. The Gorgos army suffers one defeat after another.

The High Priest Junonius is plotting a coup. He amasses a huge sum of gold to bribe the city’s mayors. Gron uses nitrous oxide to knock out Junonius’s guards and steal the gold. The capital of Ellora is captured by traitors. Basillisa Tolla — the same green-eyed girl rescued from Tamaris — is captured by the conquering prince of Gorgos. Gron, leading a cavalry detachment, makes an incredible leap from the wall down the stone steps of the Road of the Gods. His horse, Cunning Stubborn, flies onto the hand of a giant statue.

The soldiers storm the Temple of the Sun Mother. Gron rescues Tolla. The hero forces the garrison to capitulate and publicly becomes the basilissa’s husband.

The Order collapses. The priests’ plots are thwarted. Secret agents are eliminated. The surviving dwarf, Ever, is appointed Guardian of Order. He offers Gron a five-year truce. The Order seeks to build up its strength. Gron deceives the Guardians, pretending to believe the envoy. Gron’s army is ready for new battles.