The Armenian army kept advancing and occupied most Armenian dominated villages in the Lori/Borchali province, then proceeded to enter the town Bolnisi-Knachen near heavily fought Katharinenfeld and rested only a few dozen kilometers away from the Georgian capital. Even though attacking Tbilisi was not a primary goal for the Armenians it was an alarming immediate threat to the Georgian government. The mobilization order was not issued earlier than December 18 and approved only 2 days later. Commander Jugheli was put in charge of the ill-disciplined Georgian National Guard troops in Katharinenfeld while general Akhmetashvili was appointed commander in chief of the Georgian army forces in the Lori theatre. Jugheli's 600 men encamped in a poorly and carelessly organised position without even posting guards allowing Armenian militia to sneak up on them overnight and capture several canons and machineguns and position themselves on the roofs to surprise the Georgians. However, despite the momentum the Armenians had gained, the Georgians with Jugheli leading them while under attack managed to recapture the equipment in close combat and forced the Armenians out of town, but with heavy casualties, losing 30 killed and 70 wounded. The Armenians also suffered heavy losses during retreat with 100 killed and 100 taken prisoner when they were run down by Georgian cavalry led by Colonel Cholokashvili. Georgian troops crossed the river Khrami with the first main objective to crush the Armenian force in the Dagheti-Samshvilde area. The Armenian troops including 500 well-entrenched militia were engaged by Georgian artillery and on 24 December the villages Dagheti, Bolnisi, Khacheni and Samshvilde were captured by the Georgian army eliminating most of the resistance in the process.. how many Armenians were lost before December 24?