Intended to man the fortresses of East Prussia and Posen in the event of war, the Landwehr of Germany's eastern provinces found themselves instead marching into the front lines to face the Russian Army's regulars. Men in their 30's and 40's, thrown together in hastily-organized units under officers cast off from active units, the Landwehr troops grasped their black-powder rifles and went forward with little artillery support and no machine guns.

While most Russian division commanders had put all of their forces in the front line - providing stout but vulnerable lines of defense - Lt. Gen. Pavel Ilich Bulgakov had held back most of his strength. When two German divisions struck his lines, he had a strong reserve to meet their attacks. On his northern flank, he had little need for reinforcements: his front-line regiment easily held off the middle-aged Landwehr.