British political ambitions The Conquest of Sudan and the 1899 Agreement The Egyptian army, led by Sirdar Kitchener Pasha, advanced and met the Sudanese at Omdurman on May 1, 1896. On June 7, it captured Firkah, which is 450 miles from Halfa. On August 25, it reached Kushi, and on September 22, it reached Dongola (1). Its vanguard advanced to Omdurman, and the British returned to Egypt to rest. Sirdar Kitchener hosted a banquet where Lord Cromer said, "The restoration of the Dongola province is only the first step. The time has come for the Egyptian flag to fly over the ramparts of Khartoum."

(1) The Dongola campaign consisted of 1253 cavalry, 953 artillerymen, 18 cannons, 618 camel corps, and eight infantry battalions. These were battalions that were reformed after the army was dissolved in '83, and five Sudanese battalions formed during the Mahdist revolt, totaling 10,715 fighters, followed by 1601 staff officers, 9423 irregular soldiers, and 600 porters, for a total of 16,680, including 700 officers. Before the army's advance, new Sudanese and two Egyptian battalions were established, and the Sirdar recruited over a thousand men from the Ababda, Kababish, and Khaligat tribes to protect the western and eastern deserts. England supplied this campaign with 870 men from some engineers and artillerymen and sent an Indian battalion that occupied Aswan. The campaign had 5000 horses and camels, ten blocks of short-statured conscript soldiers, and three blocks for the campaign. A battalion was recruited to lay railway lines. Twelve gunboats and seven armored gunboats were used, in addition to boats and launches. The Battle of Atbara took place on April 8, 1898, and the army of Prince Mahmoud was routed. The Sirdar prepared to advance on Khartoum, extending the railway from Abu Hamed to Atbara and the telegraph line from Berber to Suakin. England sent another battalion to assist in the advance. The army that marched on Khartoum consisted of four English cavalry battalions, nine Egyptian cavalry battalions, eight camel corps blocks, English artillery batteries, five Egyptian artillery batteries, an English infantry division composed of two battalions or eight companies, and an Egyptian division of sixteen companies, totaling 25,000 men, followed by two thousand Arab volunteers. The Nile fleet consisted of three gunboats with twenty guns. The Khalifa's army numbered about 52,000, including 4,950 cavalry, and 14,300 men armed with rifles. The decisive battle took place at dawn on Friday, September 2, 1898, on the plains of Karari. Ten thousand Dervishes were killed and more than that number were wounded. 490 English and Egyptians were killed or wounded. The English dead included three officers and 24 soldiers, and the Egyptian dead included two officers and 27 soldiers. The English wounded included 8 officers and 125 soldiers, and the Egyptian wounded included 15 officers and 286 soldiers.