General Mike Mackey is a superbly trained soldier. He is too well trained to let "a passing advantage" slip by. While the commander of the Soviet forces watches complacently from the east bank of the Elbe, Mackey seizes a momentary opportunity to turn the superior strength of the Russians against themselves. The avalanche of events triggered by his decision reverberates in Washington, Bonn, and Moscow in this all-too-accurate forecast of what could happen, next year or next month or next week!