Whilst I am privy to most of what the Consul plans for the near future and have many of the answers to the questions you ask, I would not presume to speak for the Consul but I will provide you with some form of answer for your question regarding the Consuls own incursion into Afrika.

He did not intend his incursion to have this “aggressive” turn, however, he has acted in the manner of bringing the battle to the enemy and ensuring he fights the battles HE wants to fight and where HE wants to fight them. This is exceptional tactical prudence as I am sure you can appreciate.

He has managed to destroy a weak Carthaginian army and a Consular sized one for very little loss to his Roman and Italian Troops. He is perhaps in as better condition than any of us had hoped because of his swift action there. He never pretended that he would be able to take on the full might of Carthage alone, and has never intended to do so but, as I have noted from his style of leadership, he will certainly push the issue as far as is humanly possible.

If Mars smiles upon him he may be fortunate enough to either decimate or destroy a further two Consular sized formations, provided he can isolate them in turn, and this would allow our full Invasion to progress far more swiftly and efficiently when it comes.

I know the task that the Consul has presented with me and granted me this Consular army with to perform. I am not at liberty to advise you of that task, but I am sure you will approve of its nature.

That is, of course, always assuming nothing changes in that time. As we all know, often the enemy are rude enough to not play by our battle plans and we are forced to change ours.