故事发生在公元十七世纪的中期,波兰共和国的边境笼罩在战争即将爆发的紧张气氛中。杨(米乔·赞布罗斯基 Michal Zebrowski 饰)是一名波兰骑士,某日,他邂逅了名为海伦娜(伊沙贝拉·斯科鲁普科 Izabella Scorupco 饰)的公爵小姐,两人很快就坠入了爱河。然而,同样深爱着海伦娜的,还有另一名哥萨克青年博洪(亚历山大·多莫加罗夫 Aleksandr Domogarov 饰),如此一来,博洪和杨陷入了双重对立的紧张气氛之中。 哥萨克起义爆发了,波兰军节节败退,博洪也趁乱掳走了海伦娜。在好友扎格沃巴(克日什托夫·基耶斯洛夫斯基 Krzysztof Kieslowski 饰)的帮助下,杨决定紧紧的在博洪的身后追击,赢回本该属于他的胜利和恋人。In 1648 a Cossack rebellion in the Ukraine threatens the sovereignty of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth over the Cossack nation. The Cossack rebellion also known as the Khmelnytsky Uprising is pitting the Cossack nation and its Crimean Tatar allies against the forces sent by the Polish king John II Casimir. Polish Colonel Michal Wolodyjowski is leading a squadron of Polish cavalry.Traitors,assassins and spies are everywhere. Against the backdrop of the uprising, a Polish knight Skrzetuski and a Cossack leader Bohun fall in love with the same young beautiful woman, Helena. Their rivalry becomes the symbol of Polish-Ukrainian struggle.