On January 2nd, which coincided with a similar time in history, Caesar's transport fleet, fully loaded with soldiers, departed from Brindisi. They successfully crossed the Adriatic Sea and landed on the Epirus Coast.
The transport fleet was only discovered by patrol boats when returning at night. Bibulus hastily led his fleet out, but managed to intercept only a small portion of the ships.
Enraged, Bibulus burned all the captured sailors and ships and warned his subordinates not to make the same oversight again.
As a result, Pompey's fleet tightened their defense, preventing Caesar's transport fleet from ferrying more troops across the sea.
Caesar, already landed, had his reinforcements and supply lines cut off in the short term. Fortunately, the fleet had managed to transport nearly twenty thousand soldiers and several hundred cavalry ashore in one go. Although the fleet didn't have enough space to carry ample grain, the presence of this force allowed him to devise solutions.
