AFRICUM MARE. ABOARD THE QUINQUIREME HECTOR.

Tiberius Gallus, precariously perched atop Hector’s mast, surveyed the seas around him. Ahead, just barely visible on the western horizon, were the thirteen ships of the Trojan Horse Fleet. Originally given that name as a joke, the eleven biremes and two liburnae which had been captured in ship-to-ship fighting with the pirates or (more recently) seized as prizes during the blockade, now were recognized by that moniker throughout the fleet. They had been left completely unmodified and thus were in no way identifiable as assets of the Mare Nostra Fleet. Eight of the ships had regular crew compliments, a combination of men taken from the other ships of the Mare Nostra Fleet combined with volunteers from the Fifteenth Legion. Although these ships, of course, had not been fitted with the corvus, they would nonetheless make formidable adversaries in a ship-to-ship engagement.

The remaining five biremes of the Trojan Horse Fleet had a much more specialized configuration. Packed with sawdust, pitch and oil, they carried a minimum crew and would be used as fire ships. The winds and currents along this portion of the African coast would work very much in their favor; if released at just the right point, they would be carried directly into the mass of enemy ships anchored just east of the Numidian fishing village called Tucca. If the fleet was no longer present once the Romans arrived, the secondary target—the Numidian Port of Chullu—was but a day’s sail away.

Scrambling down from his perch, he returned to his cabin, and once there, reviewed once more the orders he had laid out for the fleet. As he unscrolled his copy of the orders, he realized once again how grateful he was to Cato for the autonomy and confidence which his commander now placed in him. They had indeed come far since that day back in Ostia when his first plans for a sea campaign had been met with near scorn.

Mindful of the lessons of Brutus’ campaign in the East, Cato sought to ensure that there was little likelihood of the pirates slipping around the Roman fleet and conducting raids against Utica or Carthage in their rear. To that end, he had approved Gallus’ plan to conduct a broad sweep with the fleet along the African coast as it sailed west toward Numidian waters. Eight liburnae were stationed in a line abreast running north by northwest at five mile intervals. As part of this sweep, the Trojan Horse Fleet was in the lead, slightly ahead of the Roman liburnae to either side. To any coastal observers who happened to spy this formation, it would appear to be a large squadron of ships—presumably pirate allies converging to join Jugurtha’s cause—being shadowed at a distance by a solitary Roman scout. To the north of the Trojan Horse Fleet, but definitely beyond visual range of any coastal observers, the line of scouts would stretch out in an arc which would provide effective scouting coverage to just beyond fifty miles from shore. Any pirate attempt to conduct an end run further north than the region patrolled by the Mare Nostra Fleet would run the risk of encountering patrols from Agrippa’s forces, intent on maintaining their stranglehold on pirate forces trapped in southern Sicily.

The main striking arm of the Mare Nostra Fleet was sailing a few miles to the north east of the Trojan Horse Fleet. Flotilla 1, commanded by Gallus, consisted of the Quinquireme Hector, accompanied by 13 Triremes, 3 biremes and 3 liburnae. Flotilla 2 commanded by Cato aboard the Quinquireme Aeneas, 10 triremes, five bireme and one liburnae. These two flotillas were in mutual support of each other, ready to quickly converge on an enemy formation, but each had the ability to maneuver independently of the other, affording them the ability to swing around on an enemy fleet and seal off their retreat if the opportunity so presented itself.

The Trojan Horse Fleet was arranged so that its conventionally armed ships were in the lead, with the five fireships following in trail. Should their ruse fail and enemy forces attempt to engage them, the fireships would be somewhat screened by the conventional ships as they turned to flee in the direction of the two Roman Flotillas scant miles behind.

The plan was to proceed thus along the African coast until such time as they reached the vicinity of Tucca and the last known location of the enemy anchorage.

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ORDERS:

1. One Liburnae screen just off the African Coast. North and slightly ahead of this ship, the Trojan Horse Fleet will follow the coastline, remaining 10 miles from shore. Conventional ships (6 B, 2 L) will sail in the forefront, with the fireships (5 B) in the rear. If engaged, the formation will turn and flee in the direction of Flotilla 1 and Flotilla 2.

2. North of the Trojan Horse Fleet, 7 liburnae (5 with corvus, 2 without) fill form a screen running slightly northwest at 5 mile intervals. This screen formed up 30 miles east of Galata Island, and has been sweeping westward along the African coast, and will continue to do so until they converge in the vicinity of Tucca.

3. Flotilla 1 (Gallus) consists of 1 quinquireme, 8 Trireme (corvus) 5 trireme (NC) 3 bireme (corvus) and 3 liburnae (NC). They will follow 8 miles in trail north east of the Trojan Horse Fleet.

4. Flotilla 2 (Cato) consists of 1 quinquireme, 10 trireme (5 with corvus), 5 bireme and 1 liburnae (all with corvus). They are sailing 8-10 miles north of Flotilla 1 and will respond to any encounters the screening ships have with pirate forces. Flotilla 2’s liburnae will act as scout /messenger, conveying information between Cato and Gallus.

5. The ships will be particularly observant when sailing past the principal enemy ports of Hippo Regius and Chullu, and the costal town of Thapsus. They will be prepared to react to any sorties of ships issuing from either of these locations, or the chance detection of any concentration of enemy ships (at anchor or under way) along the coast en route.

6. Specific battle orders for an engagement at the primary target (Tucca Anchorage) or secondary target (Chullu Harbor) will be issued separately, as will the pre-battle speech.