The movie opens in the barracks of an artillery battalion somewhere in Germany; the year is 1939. The enlisted men of the battery are harassed by their Hauptfeldwebel Schulz and a platoon leader, Feldwebel Platzek, at every opportunity. Kanonier Vierbein, who has a passion for music and wanted to become a piano player, is a preferred target. This intensifies when Vierbein is ordered by Schulz to beat the carpets in Schulz's duty apartment and Schulz's wife, Lore, begins flirting with him. Even the squad leader Unteroffizier Lindenberg, who is known to be fair and correct, starts under pressure from Schulz to pick on Vierbein. He breaks down under the constant hard drill and harassment and steals ammunition on a rifle range to commit suicide. One of his comrades, Gefreiter Asch, who helps him to get along with the military life, prevents this and decides that the harassment by the NCOs mustn't continue.