A group of navy servicemen sent to the Gobi Desert to take weather measurements during World War II are forced to seek the help of Mongolian nomads when their ship comes under attack from the Japanese. The Mongolian chieftain agrees, but only under the condition the men supply him with enough saddles for his horses, about sixty. With no other options, the group agrees, and the confused Pentagon is forced to deliver a truckload to saddles to the middle of the Gobi desert, to the delight of the native people.