On the eve of the battle, mounted reconnaissance units of the two sides clashed. The Imperial cavalry of Count Spork came upon the Swedish who chased them to the lines of Imperial troops concealed in the woods on the ridge above Jankov and Otradovice. Reinforcements came to the rescue of the Imperial side at the eleventh hour, and reduced the four-hundred strong Swedish unit to rubble. A small shrine was erected in memory of this clash on the fringe of Bedrichovice. This seemingly negligible encounter proved to have significant bearing on the eventual outcome of the battle. Field Marshal von Hatzfeld of the Imperial army considered it important enough to send a despatch to Prague, where it was mistaken for a report on the defeat of the Swedish army, sparking premature victorious celebrations. In fact, the clash served the Swedish commander Torstensson to ascertain the position of the Imperial forces and led him to change his tactics for the battle.
During the night from 5 to 6 March, the Swedish forces left their positions and pretended withdrawal towards Votice. Somewhere around the Vinduska pond near Otradovice, the army swung left towards Broumovice and Vlckovice to take up positions on high ground. That was advantageous for several reasons. The Swedish thus came to occupy the highest point in the neighbourhood achieving a clear advantage for their artillery. There was a forest between them and the Imperial troops, as well as rugged terrain, while the position also meant that the Imperial forces were cut off from the way towards Tabor, where their provisions were left behind. When the Swedes took up their new positions, sunny and freezing morning had already come.
Marshal Johann Götz, commanding the left wing of the Imperial forces positioned between Ratmerice and Odlochovice, soon realised the threat posed by the Swedish forces on the Vlckovice heights. Götz’s cavalry therefore set out, without the knowledge of the supreme commander von Hatzfeld, in the direction of the heights to precede the Swedes in taking the advantageous position. It must be remembered that communication in those days was very slow and the individual commanders often had to make individual decisions. The cavalry was followed by some infantry troops. However, the Swedes were aided by the frozen fields, which easily supported their heavy cannons, while Götz’s units were ploughing through a blanket of snow in the vales and attack uphill. The cavalry of 4 to 5 thousand men tried to pass along and through Hartmany and enter the Nosakov valley and climb the slope from there. Yet, it was too late. The snow hindered the mounted forces climbing up the steep incline while the Swedish fired their cannons from above, mercilessly decimating the Imperial cavalry. Only a few reached the heights, to be slaughtered by a Swedish counterattack. At about the same time, Marshal Götz died after being hit by two bullets from muskets or pistols. He died at an area where the cow house Kralovna stands today. A cast iron cross had been erected on the spot, which was later moved to the main road, where it can be found today flanked by two weeping willows.
Following this blow, von Hatzfeld nonetheless decided to launch another attack. He concentrated the retreating infantry in the southwestern corner of the Hartmany forest and sent it to the Odlochovice and Nosakov valleys, along with some five thousand cavalrymen to attempt once more to take the heights from the Swedes. However, the Swedish troops once more managed to move their artillery towards the Odlochovice valley and Habarty. When the Imperial troops tried to scale the hills, the Swedes fired down on them. Moreover, progress of the Imperial cavalry was impeded by the retreating squadrons of Marshal Götz following their foiled first attempt, causing considerable confusion. As a result, the Swedish troops succeeded again in warding off the attack by the Imperial troops. They pursued the retreating forces but were attacked themselves between Habrovka and Ratmerice by Imperial reinforcements. Eventually, the Swedish managed to defeat the Imperial troops, albeit with considerable losses. Yet again, they positioned their cannons on the surrounding hills and bombarded the withdrawing Imperial units. The Imperial troops continued their retreat until reaching safety from the Swedish cannons over the ridge above Skrysov. Countless dead were left in Habarty, the Hartmany forest, near Mourenin, and in the surroundings, the snow was dark red with blood. Noon was night and the first part of the battle ended in a defeat of the Imperial army. Old engravings in the Teatrum Europaeum show Ratmerice on fire, including the church, as well as burning Habrovka. As was the custom at that time, the local residents had run away to hide from the troops in the woods. The Swedes considered the battle won. Even Field Marshal von Hatzfeld considered the morning clash concluded and contemplated his options of retreating to Prague, or waiting to continue the battle the following day. The final decision, being reached on the same day, was largely a chance result.