May 1809. Napoleon's Grande Armée has taken Vienna and is preparing to cross the Danube, but the Austrians are waiting for him in Essling. The carnage can begin ... Louis-François Lejeune, young colonel attached to the emperor's staff, meets his old friend Henri Beyne in occupied Vienna. He also meets the beautiful Anna Krauss, with whom he is madly in love with. Nearby, though, Napoleon is attempting to crush the Austrian army, and organising the crossing of the Danube for his troops on a single pontoon bridge hurriedly erected near Essling. Louis-François is forced to abandon his love and return to the front – and the coming firestorm ...