After the outbreak of the Austro-Turkish War in 1788, the Ottoman army of 70,000 men led by Grand Vizier Koca Yusuf Pasha invaded Banat on August 7 after forcing the Habsburgs to raise the siege of Belgrade.

[3] On August 4, the Ottomans crossed the Danube and began bombarding a Habsburg army camp led by General Papilla, which consisted of Wallachian cavalry at Szupany.

[10] On August 17, while the Ottomans were chasing Papilla to Mehadia, they dispatched a vanguard consisting of 5,000 men to attack the fortified position of the Bánság corps south of Mehádia at Lazu Mare.

[11] On August 25, the main Ottoman army finally arrived at the scene and began bombarding the Imperial camp with a large amount of artillery.

[14][15][16] As Wartensleben was retreating, the emperor had not heard of him for 4 days, wondering if he was attacked or waiting for his arrival.