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 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.

They continued advancing, till they found themselves just before the fortifications of Kouno; here Rabih had assembled all his forces, that started a massive rifle-fire, supported by an artillery piece.

Gentil ordered now to attack the palissade with a bayonet assault, that was repelled after hard fighting by Rabih in person with only a few hundred men still resisting around him.

After having passed the night near the fort, the following morning Gentil, after having verified that, apart from the human losses, the ammunition and the provisions were nearly ended, ordered the retreat to Fort-Archambault, where the French returned without problems.