A great army mobilized with hundreds of cargo wagons stretching without an end in sight.
The cargo wagons were loaded with all kinds of supplies; besides provisions for ten days, everything else was filled with water.
Although Septimus was making various war preparations, he did not want to directly attack the city of Thala. He would try by every possible means to lure them into battle; the region of Thala and its city were simply impenetrable and difficult to besiege due to the proximity of the Sahara Desert.
The clone army had many disadvantages when besieging cities, and the best option would be to lure the enemy out and confront them head-on, but unfortunately the Numidians had no intention of pleasing Septimus.
In the end, Septimus had no choice but to lead his army toward Thala.
The desolate Sahara Desert stretched as far as the eye could see, and the clone army advanced across several kilometers, forming an enormous snake-shaped line that divided the entire desert.
Shortly after entering the Sahara, they were harassed by a large amount of enemy light cavalry.
The continuous flow of cavalry attacked the clone army from every direction, greatly slowing their march.
What should have been a four-day journey, Septimus discovered would last at least six days.
In addition, he discovered the enemy's strategy: the enemy's main target was his wagons transporting water.
No matter how well they hid them within the army, the enemy almost always seemed able to locate them.
The answer for Septimus was obvious: there was a traitor among the allied troops supporting the clone army.
The only traitors had to be mixed among the Numidian cavalry from different tribes who had sworn to support the clone army.
The allied Numidian cavalry consisted of light cavalry and was tasked with serving as sentinels around the army, having easy access to and information about most of the wooden wagons dedicated to transporting water.
Septimus's expression turned gloomy, and his eyes revealed murderous intent that little by little calmed down. It truly would be a waste because the hundreds of horses would most likely escape during the chaos of an unplanned massacre; revenge against the traitor would have to be planned meticulously.
The enemy cavalry was more numerous compared to the allied Numidian cavalry, and the factor of possible traitors also considerably reduced the defense against small cavalry raids in the surrounding areas.
The mobilization of the clone army stretched in a great snake-shaped line across the vast Sahara Desert, and the allied Numidian cavalry was insufficient to provide effective defense; the allied Numidian cavalry limited itself to the task of warning about possible large enemy armies nearby.
A normal army would face disaster with a traitor divulging information harmful to the army's survival, but the clone soldiers could adopt extreme or more efficient measures.
After discovering the problem, the clone soldiers closely monitored the allied Numidian riders, preventing them from knowing where the wooden wagons loaded with water were located.
The sudden distrust from the Roman army in black armor caused an uproar among the tribal leaders, who repeatedly requested an audience with Septimus.
On the other hand, Septimus wished he could discover the real traitors and slowly torture them.
During the first attacks on the water wagons, the enemy cavalry focused on damaging the water barrels without paying attention to the clone soldiers defending them.
Arrows and javelins struck the wooden barrels, creating holes through which the water flowed out and was slowly absorbed by the desert.
A clone centurion met with the agitated tribal leaders and, with a serious expression, said: "I have bad news to give you. Due to the enemy attack, our advance has been considerably delayed. Therefore, I announce that the army will stop its advance and immediately retreat."
The sudden news alarmed the tribal leaders, causing agitation and exclamations.
Most of the tribal leaders knew about the recent attacks on the wagons transporting water, but they did not know the situation was so serious.
Septimus regretted a little not having organized a clone cavalry and instead allowing a group of traitorous, greedy, and opportunistic tribal leaders to lead their warriors and serve as supporting light cavalry.
After the African campaign, it would be necessary to have a clone cavalry and not depend on allied cavalry.
But now Septimus's main problem was finding the hateful traitor or traitors in order to provide them with an enthusiastic skinning treatment and make a cloak from their skin.
The problems caused by the lack of water did not affect Septimus, and his confidence in winning the war remained high.
In the original history, during the Jugurthine War, old Metellus carried only enough fresh water and food for ten days. The clone army also carried provisions for ten days, and the discipline of the clone legionaries was superior to that of any army of this era.
On the other hand, the clone centurion coldly observed the tribal leaders.
"The cavalry now has the most important task. The enemy cavalry will undoubtedly harass and intercept us. Our cavalry must stop them and prevent them from harassing the infantry. Numidian cavalry is mainly light cavalry; they are good at harassing and intercepting, but their strength in direct combat is not very good. I believe you can complete the mission," the clone centurion shouted to the crowd of tribal leaders.
The tribal leaders calmed down and nodded without showing opposition.
The clone centurion assigned specific defense tasks to each tribal leader, dividing them into specific defense areas near the transported water.
Septimus's plan to catch the rats hiding within the allied tribal army was to divide them and provide them with specific and varied information in order to determine which tribes were traitorous.
The plan was simple, and anyone with a little caution would realize Septimus's intentions, but the traitors were opportunistic tribal leaders blinded by profit.
The entire clone army stopped and rested briefly until the next day.
The clone scouts split up and positioned themselves 10 kilometers away from the army.
Septimus would not entrust the safety of the clone army to possible traitors, and the attacks from the Numidian cavalry were incessant.
The night passed slowly, and the clone army prepared to leave the Sahara Desert.
Hundreds of wooden wagons full of provisions, water, and soldiers moved in a long endless line.
The allied Numidian cavalry was tasked with protecting and intercepting the Numidian cavalry that constantly took advantage of every opportunity to attack the wooden wagons transporting water.
The clone soldiers maintained vigilance against any attack and observed the actions of the tribal leaders without missing any clue to catch the traitor.
With the monotonous march and the constant harassment from the Numidian cavalry, the day passed slowly and night arrived.
The clone scouts mixed with the allied cavalry, and Septimus secretly mobilized hundreds of clone soldiers to watch the surroundings of the allied cavalry camp.
Previously, the allied cavalry had been tasked with providing support to the clone scouts and, as a consequence, they were scattered throughout the surroundings, creating perfect opportunities for the traitors to send information to the enemy.
Septimus did not want to alarm the traitor, but dispersing the clone cavalry while also keeping watch at the same time was a difficult task to accomplish; the Sahara Desert did not offer many hiding places for the clone scouts.
On the other hand, Septimus's efforts also bore fruit, and he managed to identify many traitors and possible traitors among the tribal leaders.
With each discovery, Septimus's anger flared more intensely, and it became difficult for him to restrain himself from initiating a massacre of the allied cavalry.
The discovery made by the clone scouts revealed that almost half of the tribal leaders were sending messengers to the enemy.
The contact between the allied Numidian tribes and the Kingdom of Numidia had not been interrupted at any moment, and a large part of the battles between both sides were fought to deceive the clone soldiers.
Just like the complex relationships within the noble circle of the Roman nobility, the Numidian tribal leaders shared extremely close family, commercial, and political ties of interest.
One must not be deceived by the occasional genocidal battles between Numidian tribes; their social circle was very complex, and connections between tribes were very frequent.
Septimus was not accustomed to dealing with conspiracies; the clones shared the same will and had no need to interact with the Roman noble circle and its complex social networks.
It could be said that within the circle of the Roman upper class, a Septimus without the replication ability would suffer many losses and a possible death.
The most serious consequence of Septimus's lack of experience within Roman social circles materialized when he was easily deceived by a bunch of tribal leaders."