August von Mackensen's XVII Corps managed to disorder itself on the approach march toward the battlefield, and went into action against the Russian III Corps expecting to find the Russians already falling back from the great successes reported by I Corps to the north. Instead, the Lithuanian regulars had dug in directly across the Germans' path. Mackensen flung his troops forward without bothering to conduct reconnaissance.

Ignoring their pre-war doctrine that called for careful scouting and artillery preparation before launching an attack, the Germans simply charged forward behind sword-waving officers. The Russians held their positions, invisible to the attackers until the last moment, and inflicted heavy casualties on the Germans particularly among junior officers. "Dig in the way the Russians did!" snapped Lt. Gen. Konstanz von Heineccius when told of the carnage. Given the order, a captain from the 5th Grenadiers replied, "Prussian infantry does not entrench!" By mid-afternoon the division was in full flight, despite the desperate attempts of their officers.