Arabi remained to defend the homeland and stop the Khedive's orders, as he had deviated from the rules of the noble Sharia.

The Arabists seized the telegraph and railway lines. Admiral Seymour laid a telegraph line between Alexandria and Port Said, and the Khedive again declared Arabi's rebellion. However, these orders and proclamations were in vain, as the people were completely obedient to the National Party, to the extent that the country became a tool in the hands of the leaders of the revolution, who did with it as they pleased.

The Arabists advanced towards Alexandria and encamped at Ramleh. A detachment of the English advanced towards them on August 9th. They attacked them, but they retreated to Alexandria and then returned to them.

The fighting intensified, and the Arabists retreated and fortified themselves between Abu Qir and the Ramleh lines, then retreated to Kafr El Dawar. The English considered this a military situation in Egypt that required reinforcements, so they requested them from England, which sent them forces that arrived via Suez.

As for Arabi, he was in Kafr El Dawar with four regiments of infantry, a regiment of cavalry, a regiment of artillery, and a battery of machine guns, and a large number of soldiers. The English army that marched to fight Arabi consisted of fourteen thousand infantry and four regiments of cavalry. The naval forces were under the command of Admiral Seymour. Then, an Indian force composed of nine thousand soldiers joined this force. It is said that all the English garrisons in Malta, Cyprus, and Gibraltar joined the Egyptian campaign.

However, these preparations did not deter the Arabists from their resolve. Arabi wrote to the governors on August 11th to gather soldiers, numbering about ten thousand, including the guards, as they were closest to military operations, in response to the need for speed in serving the armies. He also ordered the governors to collect them from the people as reinforcements for the war, so do not ask about the methods by which they collected these forces. He began strengthening the fortifications and building towers. He built a dam four kilometers above Ramleh at Kafr El Dawar, and in Kafr El Dawar, a dam 10 meters wide and a trench 5 meters wide, separating the dam from the land, with more fortifications. The first defensive line extended beyond El Hilla for a distance of one thousand meters along the line extending from Ramleh to El Beda, and the heights and hills behind this line were made into strong positions up to Kafr El Dawar, all of which were fortified.