On December 25–30, 1915, an operation was carried out in Gilan against the Jangali rebels of Mirza Kuchek Khan, with simultaneous strikes from several sides in the difficult conditions of snow-capped mountains and forests, the rebels were defeated and for a time weakened their activity in the province. In mid-January 1916, the Ottoman forces' reconnaissance was estimated at about 21,000: 2,000 in Eqbaliyeh, 4,000 in Isfahan, and 6,000, each in Sanandaj, Hamadan and Kermanshah. On January 19, the 1st Gorsko-Mozdok regiment occupied Soltanabad. Ottoman forces retreed to Kermanshah and Borujerd; the German consul Rohner distributed a significant amount of weapons to the population before fleeing. On February 4, Colonel Stopchansky with four hundred and two guns began an offensive on Borujerd, but it developed slowly, as the troops had to march through deep snow.