Stalingrad in 1942 is a city in ruins, its Russian defenders fighting to the last man to repel the invading German army. One of their most potent weapons is the crack sniper school developed by Vasily Zaitsev. Its members can pick off the enemy at long range and their daring tactics mean that no German, and particularly no German officer, can ever feel safe. This part of the battle is as much psychological as military and to counteract the continuing threat to German morale, the Nazi command bring in their own top marksman, Heinz Thorvald. His skill is legendary, his accuracy such that his bullet can pierce the cross hairs of an enemy sniper's gun before claiming its victim. His mission: identify and kill Zaitsev. Zaitsev and Thorvald will draw each other out, with infinite and cold patience, until each is sure the other is his. The one who lives will become a legend, a hero. Based on a true story.