"Every Tenth" by Yuliy Dunsky, summary

The literary screenplay "Every Tenth" was created by Yuli Dunsky and Valery Frid in the early 1980s. The work vividly depicts the harsh events of the Civil War in Siberia in the autumn of 1919. The most important detail of this text is its dynamic structure, written specifically for cinematic expression, where fast-paced shootouts alternate with profound psychological conflicts.

In 1984, director Mikhail Ordovsky made a feature-length film of the same name based on this script at the Lenfilm studio. The film faithfully captured the events of the original text, although it failed to gain widespread popularity among audiences at the time.

Death sentence

In a Siberian forest settlement, White Cossacks defeat a detachment of Red Army soldiers. A mustachioed captain offers fifty prisoners the chance to voluntarily defect to Admiral Kolchak, promising horses for the Cossacks and rifles for the infantry. Not a single soldier steps back to the well in agreement. The enraged officer lines up the Red Army soldiers in a long line and orders every tenth one hanged.

The lot falls on a very young soldier, who is too afraid to take a step forward, but the escorting Cossack is ready to stab him with his bayonet. Number Nine, a pale city motor mechanic in a leather jacket, courageously volunteers to go to his death in the young man’s place. The next to be condemned are a tall, brazen young man with a thin face and a fifty-year-old man in a quilted jacket. The old man falls to his knees and loudly begs for mercy, but the captain disgustedly pushes him away. Last in line is once again the same timid young man, bringing up the rear of the prisoners.

Escape from the Barn

Those condemned to death are locked in a secure room of a local store with barred windows. A tall young man, a Siberian Cossack named Yelka Koromyslov, nicknamed Little Finger, harshly scolds old Alyokha Chikin for the humiliating act of crawling on his knees. It soon becomes clear that the youngest and most cowardly fighter is actually a girl named Sanya in disguise. Ukrainian Stepan Baida and motor mechanic Svyatopolk Andreyev calm their comrades, after which the prisoners abandon the idea of arson and decide to escape through the roof.

Stepan pulls the iron damper out of the stove and deftly dismantles the brickwork. Yelka and Svyatopolk climb out through the chimney, but are spotted by a red-bearded guard. The guard unlocks the door and whispers to everyone to come out, as he turns out to be Yelka’s brother, who’d specifically asked to be on guard duty. Littlefinger responds by brutally kicking his brother in the solar plexus and taking his weapon. The five fugitives safely disappear into the dark forest, amid gunfire from the night patrol.

Return to the village

In the morning, Little Finger takes command and forces the detachment to return to the village to rescue the remaining Red Army soldiers. Grandfather Alyokha and Stepan object to this risky undertaking, but upon arrival they discover only a fresh mass grave. The Cossacks have driven the remaining prisoners to the railroad, so Sanya merely writes farewell words for the fallen on a small tablet.

Littlefinger threatens to burn down a local peasant’s house and forcibly takes the hidden dragoon rifles. Now three of the soldiers have rifles, and Alyokha proudly carries a Cossack saber over his shoulder. The detachment heads west toward the front lines. Along the way, Alyokha’s grandfather cooks a hearty mash of flour and lard and tells of his past as a convict, an experienced prospector, and a smuggler.

Horse stealing and wandering

That night, the fugitives spot a sleeping gypsy camp in the forest with a herd of well-fed horses. Grandfather Alyokha offers to steal the horses away, but honest Stepan refuses to participate in the theft. Alyokha, Svyatopolk, and Little Finger wrap the animals’ hooves in rags and carefully lead them into the darkness.

A gypsy carriage with a Maxim machine gun awaits the horse thieves on a forest road. The camp leader, with a broken nose, painfully strikes Little Chik across the hands with a long whip and takes away the rifles. The Red Army soldiers miraculously survive, but lose their firearms, causing the enraged commander to expel Grandpa Alyokha from the unit.

Soon the group loses its way in the taiga wilderness. Sanya gets lost along with Stepan, who invites her to live in his native village near Vinnytsia after the war, but she politely declines. Meanwhile, the exiled Alyokha quietly follows his comrades. He catches two hares in snares, lights a fire, and feeds the starving group some hot meat, after which Little Finger forgives the old man.

Car hijacking

Sanya and Svyatopolk set off along a clearing to fetch water. The former student confesses that his father was a cruel gendarme colonel and unexpectedly kisses the girl. Sanya breaks away and declares that she can never love him. Reaching a small lake, they spot white officers swimming and a gray-green Russo-Balt armored car.

Svyatopolk sneaks up behind the driver, knocks him unconscious with the heavy armored door, and climbs behind the wheel. The frozen officers open fire with revolvers, but Sanya manages to leap into the cab under fire. The Red Army soldiers drive away and find lemon grenades, a Parabellum pistol, and British canned food inside the car. A captured officer, tied to a tree, reports the imminent arrival of a riverboat carrying artillery ammunition for the Whites. Littlefinger firmly resolves to attack this vessel.

River battle

The soldiers give the peasants an armored car in exchange for a good stack of logs. Stepan ties together a wide raft with a large wooden rudder at the stern. Dressed in shabby peasant clothes, the Red Army soldiers sail down the Tobol River. Soon, the old, grimy steamship "Ermak Timofeevich" is heading their way.

Disguised as birch firewood merchants, the fugitives sail close to the ship. They take aim at the sailors, seize the steamship, and tie a red shirt to the mast in place of the ship’s flag. Suddenly, a heavy barge armed with 152-millimeter guns emerges from around a bend in the river. The White armored steamship begins a heavy barge shelling the bridge, smashing the deck and impeding the advancing Red units from crossing.

Ramming an armored steamship

Sanya and Alekha board the raft and watch the battle from afar. Mizinchik, Svyatopolk, and Stepan remain on the "Yermak Timofeevich," stowing a box of detonators and crates of dynamite in the hold. Svyatopolk secures the steering wheel with a belt. The soldiers don life preservers and jump into the icy autumn water.

A filthy steamship rams an armored barge at full speed. A deafening explosion thunders, raising a gigantic wall of fire and water, after which the enormous enemy vessel instantly sinks. Svyatopolk and Stepan appear alive on the surface of the seething river. Nearby, the empty red-and-white ring of Little Finger, which has vanished without a trace, bobs alone on the waves.