Following the instructions of Palatine Ferenc Wesselényi, Jean-Louis Raduit de Souches occupied the city of Nitra on May 3 after a siege of more than two weeks.

[1] Jean-Louis Raduit de Souches decided to encircle Zsarnóca in order to reach Pukanec.

Kücsük Mehmed Pasha set off toward the Austrians in an attempt to encircle them, and on May 16 when the two armies faced each other a battle ensued.

[2] De Souches deployed his main force, some 8,500 men, in a convenient position on a hill and repelled the Ottoman attacks one by one.

De Souches seized the opportunity and went on the offensive, pushing the Turks back to the Hron River.