 Gentil immediately ordered the steamboat and the barge to open fire with their cannons; and at the same time, to the great surprise of Rabih's forces, the column proceeding by land did the same with its artillery.All the same they answered using their artillery, the three cannons won at Togbao, which they used with considerable ability.Rabih had also placed on the left a group of riflemen, whose rifle-fire also started to put Robillot's Senegalese tirailleurs in difficulty, moving Robillot to order a bayonet assault on Rabih's lines.