在这部小牛喜剧/战争片中,西班牙内战期间，五个共和军“特别军事指挥部”的战士要穿越一片人迹罕见、已有数月未闻—声枪响的前线地带，到“国民”那里去偷一只小牛，用来准备过圣母节。班长（阿尔弗雷多·兰达扮演）十分勇猛．他身经百战，组织纪律性很强，然而运气不好。候补中尉（何塞·萨克里斯坦扮演），战争发生以前是个理发员。他长着可爱的小连鬓胡，他经常威吓说要剃光人家的头发，这是他对付别人最有力的武器。本来是开玩笑，后来事情越闹越复杂，简直到了不可收拾的程度，发生了一连串的麻烦，五个战士被搞得狼狈不堪，让人狂笑不止。小牛横冲直撞，斗牛土笨手笨脚、吓得筛糠一样，他们游走在妓院、弥撒、宗教游行、洒宴和乱哄哄的虚张声势的斗牛场中。
A platoon of mismatched republican soldiers cross the front-line to steal the bull that the enemy is going to fight on the saint patron date of the village. In addition to ruining the nationals' celebration they want the animal in order to butcher it and feed their famished troops. They get caught in the procession and have to go through a series of funny and pathetic incidents before they can get back to their side.
