Centurion Kubát, of Czech origin, is staying in the camp of the Habsburg army, which is suppressing the Great French Revolution in France. He is staying in a house where a girl named Francoise lives. The eager Lieutenant Hauser reports to the centurion that he has caught two Habsburg soldiers with a French prisoner. Hauser suspects that the centurion's servant Tomáš is involved in the matter. He must severely punish Tomáš for his absence on the critical evening, but promises to pay him out of the army. He learns that he will receive a medal, invites the officers to dinner, and there announces to the colonel that he wants to request discharge from the army...