Sent by Tsar Vasily Shuisky, who was besieged in Moscow, Prince Mikhail Skopin-Shuisky entered into a Russian–Swedish Alliance in northern Russia, attracted an army of Swedish mercenaries to the side of Russia, and also assembled a Russian army. After the advance detachment, led by Fedor Chulkov and Evert Horn, defeated the intervention detachment, led by Jan Kernozitsky, at the Battle of Toropets, the Russian and Swedish armies marched from Novgorod and marched to Torzhok. The strategically important city itself was "deposited" from the impostor, and its wooden fortress was occupied by the 4,000-strong Russian–Swedish detachment of Kornila Cheglokov, Klaus Boy, and Otto Gelmer who had been sent in advance. Later, 1,000 warriors of Semyon Golovin and Evert Horn joined them.