British political ambitions Gordon was in a difficult situation and could not leave Sudan, so he fell victim to the policy along with those who went with the Egyptian-Sudanese Empire, which they destroyed. When Gordon's diaries were found and returned to his family, the instructions that exposed the policy were removed from them. Those diaries were printed with five blank pages. After the siege of Khartoum, the English government tried to save Gordon and formed a campaign led by Lord Wolseley. The orders issued to him stated, "The purpose is to save Gordon and Stewart. Once this is achieved, no other actions are permissible." Wolseley used the Egyptian army, 9,000 English soldiers, and 900 Nile boats. The campaign began on September 27, 1884, and advanced. However, Khartoum fell on January 26, 1885. Sir Charles Wilson reached it at Abu Dinn at noon on January 28. Upon hearing the news, he returned to Lord Wolseley, who had already embarked his campaign to Egypt. Thus, the Egyptians withdrew from Sudan. Muhammad Ahmad lived only 5 months after the fall of Khartoum, dying on June 14, 1885. He was succeeded by Abdullah al-Ta'aishi, from whom the Egyptian army recaptured Sudan in 1898, after 16 years of continuous fighting between the Egyptians and the Sudanese rebels on the borders. Pasha Abd al-Qadir did not ask them to suppress the revolution for half of what was offered to Zubair Pasha, nor a tenth of what Egypt bore afterwards to reclaim it for themselves, not for Egypt. There were 24 major clashes between the Egyptian army and the Sudanese rebels, and 11 clashes to recapture Sudan. The aid provided by Egypt to Sudan after its recapture was 460,000 pounds annually, excluding the army, steamers, and officials who received their salaries from the Egyptian treasury. However, the Shura Council decided when paying the funds, "Since Sudan is an integral part of Egypt, it agrees to pay the sum of X."