Having driven through the Greek Second Army with little trouble, the Germans found a different proposition once they ran into the ANZAC Corps digging in just west of Mount Olympus. Gen. Ferdinand Schörner of 6th Mountain Division ordered his officers to "act with the utmost severity" to encourage the troops through difficult terrain ─ showing why he would become justly famed as the most hated commander in the German Army. After picking their way across "impassable" ridges, the jägers found a mixed Australian-New Zealand force dug in behind the Pinios River. They immediately moved to attack.

The German 143rd Mountain Regiment feinted with one battalion while striking across the river with another, penetrating the Australians' right flank and rolling up their position. The Diggers had been shocked enough to find the mountaineers arriving so quickly, but it soon became apparent that they had dragged along a battalion of mountain artillery as well. The Australian 2/2 Infantry Battalion was overrun and destroyed and the Allied position badly broken as the entire corps pulled back.