As the first step in your campaign, your Spanish army realizes for the first time that you're serious about taking the land route to Rome and 3,000 of your Carpetani mercenaries desert. Not afraid of war, the Carpetani fear the length of the march and the impossibility of the Alps crossing. Do you?

• Detain them by force. Strike fear into the hearts of your men by sending loyalists to round up the deserters and make them slaves of the war and your will.
• Ask them to return. Appeal to the deserters about the importance of the cause and lure them with the spoils of war. 
• Trim off the fat and make a PR move. Since their desertion represent broader unrest in your forces, you ask your officers what men have doubts in their hearts. Then you dismiss the doubters and tell the rest of the army that soldiers leaving was your idea - not theirs, thus completely re-framing the issue.