The German king Emperor Henry V, incited by Bolesław's half-brother Zbigniew, was about to invade Poland and the Pomeranian raid was a strategic diversion for the upcoming struggle.

According to Gallus Anonymus, the purpose of the expedition wasn't just the taking of the castle of Nakło, but forcing the Pomeranians into a decisive battle.

[2] In Gallus' chronicle, the defeat of the Pomeranians and their conversion to Christianity are presented as one of Bolesław's great achievements, comparable to the victory of King Otto I of Germany over the Hungarians at the 955 Battle of Lechfeld.

Bolesław shortly afterwards had to rush to the south where he met an Imperial army at the Battle of Głogów.

In 1181 Wartislaw's son Duke Bogislaw I of Pomerania became a vassal of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa.