In Afghanistan, the unit has a terrible time adjusting to the climate and the rigors of campaign life. The men are also set on edge by the death of a private by sniper fire. On the day of the battle they take the center position between the Highlanders and the Ghurkhas. Their inexperience causes them to blunder and allows the enemy to close with them in hand-to-hand combat. They break and begin to retreat; the young officers of one company try to rally the men but are left behind to be slaughtered by the advancing Ghazi warriors.