His tone was harsh. Meanwhile, Muhammad Ali Pasha was consolidating his hold on the country. He reached the city of Damietta, where the Russians met him and delivered the message, informing him of the letters from the states. They kept writing to him about all this, about the declaration of war, and the summons of his son Ibrahim Pasha and the army with him, and another base for the reformer. Muhammad Ali Pasha became angry and said, "What is the matter with you that you hear of captivity and plunder, and yet you hold back my hand and give the Sultan free rein to favor whomever he wishes, to strike whomever he wishes, and to decree whatever he wishes? By God, I will not return from war and fighting, nor will my armies return from conquest and expansion, until God completes my affair and his, for He is the most just of judges." The consuls then began to appease him until some of his anger subsided, and he instructed his secretary to write to the states about their intentions. He wrote, saying: "The consuls of the great states have approached me with the letters they received regarding the establishment of a peace treaty between myself and my Sultan. I have not failed to inform you of what the soul has intended to do, taking your advice. If the Sultan's armies, which crossed the Euphrates and encamped near the Egyptian camp, return to their homeland, and if my son Ibrahim Pasha, with his army and his trusted companions, returns to Damascus without delay, and if all the Sultan's armies march out and leave the Syrian lands, then all my troops will be satisfied, and I will summon my son to Egypt. If the states then undertake to maintain peace and strengthen the bonds of loyalty with the Sultan, and to secure the succession of my sons after me to the lands under my control, then I will refrain from sending some of my armies to Egypt and will not hesitate to go out again with my Sultan to establish a peace treaty, and the leaders will be left behind with nothing remaining. And peace." Some writers said, "All this while the Sultan was showing the ambassadors of the states the opposite of what he intended, appearing pleased, saying that he did not benefit from the actions of Muhammad Ali Pasha and his son, and that he was driving them away from his lands in the best way. On the other hand, he presented his army commander with the idea of marching and moving from one land to another, and various other matters. Death had already begun to claim its victims among the Sultan's armies, destroying many of them. They were defeated and their hopes were dashed. All the armies were stationed in a mountain pass. Much was said about the necessity of this for Ibn Ayyun. The narrator said, "If Prince Ibrahim had confronted them in that pass with a contingent of his army, he would have defeated them, but he did not do so, to spare bloodshed and to avoid being accused of initiating hostilities." News of this spread throughout the Sultan's court, increasing the fear of the peace party and alarming the ambassadors of the states. It was clear that what was happening was not a matter of peace, but rather a move towards conflict. Much was said of blame and fighting, and the cutting off of the Egyptian armies from all the lands of the state. The British ambassador, Lord Ponsonby, showed a tendency to oppose Muhammad Ali Pasha and to dismiss Skranudski from the Sultan's court. The Sultan was hesitant to appoint General Skranudski to command the Ottoman armies.