Mortier has accepted the bait of a rumored Russian retreat.

In the early morning of November 11, he and Gazan had departed from Dürenstein to seize Stein and Krems, presuming the Russians had either abandoned the settlements or left only a small rear-guard behind.

As they approach Stein, a column of Miloradovich's troops attacks the French forward positions.

Thinking this force is the rumored Russian rear guard, Mortier orders General Gazan to counterattack and push east towards the town of Stein.

Fighting spreads though the villages of Oberloiben, Unterloiben and the farm at Rothenhof.

Instead of withdrawing, as a rear guard would, more and more Russian troops appear and engage the French column.

Initially Gazan makes rapid progress, but he quickly recognizes that the opposing force is much stronger than the typical rearguard of a retreating army.

Realizing he has been duped and that Gazan's troops are tiring rapidly, Mortier sends orders to Dupont's division to hurry forward.

By mid-morning the French momentum has stalled; Mortier commits most of his remaining forces to driving Miloradovich back, leaving a single battalion—perhaps three hundred troops—to cover his northern flank, and sends the rest to attack the Russian right.

Within thirty minutes he achieves the superiority of numbers he seeks.

His forty-five hundred French oppose twenty-six hundred Russians and force them back toward Stein while pressing an attack along the river.

Miloradovich has no option, for neither Strik's nor Dokhtorov's flanking columns are to be seen.

Fighting pauses.

Mortier and Gazan wait for Dupont's arrival while Kutuzov and Miloradovich wait for Strik's and Dokhturov's.

Schmitt's column is expected to be the last to join the fight because it has to march the greatest distance.

The timing of the respite—12:00 or 14:00—varies, depending on whose reports are consulted.