 Gentil knew that the Forreau-Lamy and Voulet missions were marching on southern Chad, respectively from Algeria and Niger.His primary goal was to unite his forces with those of the Voulet-Chanoine Mission; but first he felt he had to free himself of Rabih, and so left on October 23 Fort-Archambault, leaving only twenty men under the command of the "maréchal de logis" Bauguies.Gentil started navigating the Chari upriver, counting on three cannons, while the steamboat "Léon-Blot" and their barge had other two.