Scipio battles Hannibal
You have changed History! It is entirely possible that, if Scipio
had waited for Hannibal to cross the Ticinus, Hannibal may have moved north,
gone around the Roman forces, and then down the east coast of Italy.
That move by Hannibal might have been disastrous for the Romans.
It is true that you must keep your army occupied, and the Romans
were not yet fully aware of Hannibal's tactical genius, so earlier conflict
seemed better. (Oh, how things seem.) Scroll down...
One of the
factors playing into Scipio's decision may have been the Food Factor.
He knew that an army away from home, like Hannibal's, would need to move
frequently in order to find food. A group of 50,000 men requires
tremendous resources, much more than they can transport with them.
Scipio could not allow Hannibal to make an "end run" on him, cross over
the Apennine Mountains, and escape down the east coast of Italy, so he
wanted conflict as soon as possible. (Silly guy.) Upon completing his bridge, Scipio
crossed over with his troops, and, ironically, came into contact with Hannibal
when neither General was entirely expecting it. Hannibal, seizing
the moment, literally threw his troops into the Roman line, causing
great concern at his aggressiveness. Meanwhile, he sent a detachment
around to the rear of the Roman force, which caused panic among the Romans,
disintegrating their order. Soon the battle was a rout, and
Scipio was wounded in the process. To have their consul wounded was
a great concern to the Romans, so they withdrew from the field in great
disarray. They destroyed their bridge behind them, which kept Hannibal
from pursuing them further. Still, their defeat was complete.
Scipio had his army travel even at night in order to put a safe distance
between themselves and Hannibal. This would lead to another important
choice.
Word was quickly
sent to Rome that Scipio had been wounded, and the Senate recalled Sempronius
from Sicily, ordering him to reinforce Scipio at once. Having learned
a painful lesson, Scipio advised that the combined Roman army find a defensive
position, from which they could prevent Hannibal from advancing further.
Sempronius, however, was anxious to prove his greatness as a General, and
wished for immediate conflict. The anxiety became greater when Roman
detachments won some skirmishes with Hannibal's men. Sempronius wondered why he should
fear Hannibal in Italy, when Romans had defeated Carthaginians in Africa
during the First Punic War. He had personally not seen any reason
to fear Hannibal, and wanted to pursue action at any moment. He knows
that Hannibal is subject to the Replacement Factor, and he is not.
Rome can draft new soldiers at any time, but Hannibal can only add to his
army by capturing native, paying mercenaries, or waiting for help from
Carthage. Each of these options is becoming less available with every
passing day. By now, it was late in the year,
and the war "season" would soon be over. It was already an unusually
cold and wet December, and both armies were miserable living out in the
open. The two forces found themselves on opposite sides of the same
branch of the Po, which was swollen by the continuing rains. On a dark and stormy night (really),
Sempronius found that his camp was under attack by a Carthaginian detachment.
He quickly rallied his men, and began to fight back. The Romans had
great success in this encounter, and Sempronius was greatly excited.
He now had an important decision to make: should he pursue Hannibal's
troops while he had them on the run, or wait until a better day with better
weather? What would you do?