The movie takes place in the first years after the Bolshevik coup in Donbas. Bandits blow up the bridge that carries ore to the blast furnace, the director of the plant is seriously wounded. The workers unanimously elect Ivan Klyavin, a mining foreman, as acting director. In search of the missing train with bread Klyavin gets to Petrograd. Here the hero meets Lenin. Returning to the factory, Klyavin reads to the workers a letter from the leader of the party. Enemies kill Klyavin, but are no longer able to prevent the factory workers from successfully overcoming the devastation.
