The advance of the 27th Brigade under Colonel von Massow was hemmed in by houses, hedges and fences, which made flanking moves extremely difficult.
In the centre, the 14th Brigade (Major-General von Wussow) advanced at led by Emmich and Ludendorff and made a rapid advance to Retinne, where Belgian troops covered the road with machine-guns and forced the Germans under cover with many casualties.