<P> He encamped there to give his men time to rest after their exhausting work, and to collect further rations . Hannibal then addressed his army, and we are informed that they were made to appreciate the extent of the effort they were about to undergo and were raised to good spirits in spite of the difficult nature of their undertaking . </P> <P> The Carthaginians continued their march and at modern Albertville they encountered the Centrones, who brought gifts and cattle for the troops . In addition, they brought hostages in order to convince Hannibal of their commitment to his cause . Hannibal was concerned and suspicious of the Centrones, though he hid this from them and the Centrones guided his army for two days . As they marched through the Little St Bernard Pass near the village of Séez, the pass narrowed and the Centrones turned against the Carthaginians . Some military critics, notably Napoleon, challenge that this was actually the place where the ambush took place, but the valley through which the Carthaginians were marching was the only one that could sustain a population that was capable of attacking the Carthaginian army and simultaneously sustaining the Carthaginians on their march . </P> <P> The Centrones waited to attack, first allowing half of the army to move through the pass . This was meant to divide Hannibal's troops and supplies and make it difficult for his army to organize a counter-attack, but Hannibal, having anticipated deceit by the Centrones, had arranged his army with elephants, cavalry and baggage in front, while his hoplites followed in the rear . Centrones forces had positioned themselves on the slopes parallel to Hannibal's army used this higher ground to roll boulders and rain rocks down at the Carthaginian army, killing many more pack animals . Confusion reigned in the ranks caught in the pass . However, Hannibal's heavily armed rearguard held back from entering the pass, forcing the Barbarians to descend to fight . The rearguard was thus able to hold off the attackers, before Hannibal and the half of his army not separated from him were forced to spend the night near a large white rock, which Polybius writes "afforded them protection" and is described by William Brockedon, who investigated Hannibal's route through the Alps, as being a "vast mass of gypsum...as a military position, its occupation secures the defence of the pass ." By morning, the Centrones were no longer in the area . </P> <P> The army rested here for two days . It was the end of October and snowy weather, the length of the campaign, ferocity of the fighting, and the loss of animals sapped morale in the army's ranks; From their outset in Iberia, the Hannibal's troops had been marching for over five months and the army had greatly reduced in size . The majority of Hannibal's fighters were unaccustomed to extreme cold of the high Alps, being mostly from Africa and Iberia . According to Polybius, Hannibal assembled his men, declared to them that the end of their campaign was drawing near; that soon they would be in the Po Valley . In this account he is said to have gestured to the view Italy, showing his soldiers the Po Valley and the plains near it, and to have reminded them of Magilus, who had assured him of Gallic friendship and aid . He then gestured in the direction of Rome, raising spirits in the ranks . However, the Po Valley is not visible from Little St Bernard Pass and it is more likely that Hannibal pointed in the direction of the Po Valley but it was not in sight . After the two days of rest, Hannibal ordered the descent from the Alps to begin . </P>

Who crossed the alps with a herd of war elephants