Conscript armies bled recruits heavily during transport to training camps.

Evidence

It was soon discovered that the total number of men arriving at the conscription depots was often smaller than that originally raised from the villages. Out of a total of 14,426 men raised from the Northern Provinces (Gharbiyya, Minūfiyya, Manṣūra, Sharqiyya, Gīza, and Qalyūbiyya), for example, 428 men died just after being gathered from their villages and another 622 men either fled or were sent back because they were unfit in the first place. When Mehmed Ali was informed about this discrepancy in numbers he wrote to the Governor telling him that he had to “fill these gaps.” — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 476