The campaigns have been looking into the affairs of these regions, so that if something happens to us, the army will be lost. The army will only be surrendered to the command of such a great army to Hicks Pasha, the warrior, who is ignorant of the necessity of placing a detachment behind the great army to protect it from the enemy's treachery, and he does not care what is said about you. The Governor-General of Sudan replied that his opinion is that, given our lack of confrontation with any of the Arabs or their sheikhs since our establishment, and until now, he sees only their continued disobedience to the government. The previous soldiers who agreed to place them in detachments were not sufficient to protect our retreat line, and perhaps the Arabs would covet them after we advanced with the army, and no one could benefit the other. It would only be a reduction in our current strength. To increase my knowledge of the situation and affairs of Sudan and its Arabs, I see no need to place detachments behind us and advance with the army, gathering it towards El Obeid [and from God] after defeating them. As for appointments and what the army needs at that time, its presence will be from a route whose distance does not exceed seven days, not to mention that we are convinced that the Arabs will be in our hands sooner than scattering our forces here by two hundred and there by three, which will only result in weakening our forces, the Arabs mocking us, and not relying on what is said. That the force with Muhammad Ahmad was nothing, and as long as you are the commander of the army and those present are the leaders of the army, what appears to you is not an obstacle to consider. Hicks Pasha replied that the strongest opinion is not to place detachments, and that each of you should write down your thoughts and opinions and send them to us for safekeeping. They all agreed and left, determined to present each of their ideas as he wished. We remained with His Excellency Hicks Pasha and His Excellency Effendi El Mekdar, and the discussion continued on this matter as well, and no obstacles were mentioned other than what His Excellency Effendi El Mekdar had explained. Then we resumed our time, returning to our camp (1). On Wednesday, October 3, 1883, in the morning, Colonel Frankhar, Chief of Staff, and those who accompanied him, took note of the importance of the decision taken by the council regarding military detachments.