Early in the morning on 12 September 1916 in the Malka Nidzhe sector the Allied artillery began a preparatory artillery barrage against the two Bulgarian infantry brigades situated there. It continued, with varying intensity and accuracy, for almost the entire day. The Serbian infantry used this to approach the Bulgarian barbed wire on the right flank and achieve limited gains in the center of the line because the Bulgarian artillery prevented them from advancing further at that moment.The Bulgarian counterattack was delayed and was launched in the evening.