The Bulgarian plan placed the First Army commanded by Lieutenant General Vasil Kutinchev in the center of the battle line and its task was to advance rapidly, engage the main Ottoman forces positioned between Kirk Kilisse and Adrianople and position itself so it could assist both the Second Army on the right flank and the Third Army on the left flank. To achieve this as soon as the advance began the 1st Brigade of the 3rd division was temporary assigned to the Second Army while the rest of the army advanced in the space between the two fortresses. In the ensuing Battle of Kirk Kilisse, in which the Ottoman Eastern Army was defeated and retreated, the First Army bore the brunt of the fighting and suffered the greater part of the 5,745 Bulgarian casualties in that battle. The Bulgarian command ordered a couple of days' rest so that the forces can regroup before pursuing the enemy.