The relief force under General Wolseley, which set out from Wadi Halfa, was divided into two columns at Korti - a 1,200-strong "flying column" or "desert column" of camel-borne troops which would cross the Bayuda desert to reach Metmemma on the Nile and meet Gordon's gunboats there, and the main column which would continue to advance along the Nile heading for Berber. The troops reached Korti towards the end of December, the small "Desert Column" reaching Metemma on 20 January 1885, fighting the Battle of Abu Klea on 18 January and Abu Kru (or Gubat) en route. There they found four gunboats which had been sent north by Gordon four months earlier, and prepared them for the trip back up the Nile. When the news of the defeats reached "Ansar" besieging Khartoum, terrible cries of lamentation rose from the besieging force, which led Gordon to guess that the "Ansar" had been defeated in battle and that Wolseley must be close.