In the same year Bretonnet's former roommate at the naval academy, Captain Émile Gentil, who had just returned from his mission to Lake Chad, persuaded the government to give him command of an expedition that would provide to solve the issues that Gentil's departure had left open, and prepare the ground for Gentil's future mission. On October 10 Bretonnet left France, with his second Lt. Solomon Braun; news arrived shortly after that Rabih az-Zubayr, the greatest ruler in the Chad Basin, had attacked Baguirmi, whose king was a French "protégé". In France, the government reacted by ordering reinforcements to be sent to Bretonnet, and the preparations for the Gentil Mission were accelerated. Bretonnet was advised to reach the Chari River and unite his forces with those of the Baguirmians.