 To the number, the Swedish army was vastly outnumbered with only 4 000 infantry troops, if it had not been for the allied Polish and Lithuanian cavalry.Mardefelt did not wish to engage the much larger Russian army, but the commander of the Polish crown army, Józef Potocki, insisted on chasing the Russians out of the country.Mardefelt pointed out carefully that the Poles had not been keen on fighting Russians or anyone at all during the war, but Potocki convinced him that this time they would fight to the last drop of blood.