“Those Southerners were scared to death the moment they saw our mighty armies,” Sunder boasted. “Even Akula seems unable to convince his armies to stay and fight us.” As far as the Atlanteans were concerned, the war was already won. Their enemies were on the run and they had no reason anylonger to worry about them. At least, that is what they thought..........
Akula had waited patiently. He had allowed the victorious Atlanteans to march deep into the heartland of Africa and claim victory over his forces. Klamath, Liu Tzu and especially Kano were all very upset at him for letting the Atlanteans advance as far as they had. In their view, Akula had made a big mistake by retreating. But Akula saw things differently. He had a plan.
“They do not understand. If you want something, you have to give up something in return,” Akula said to himself. “Sure the Atlanteans have conquered a lot of territory, but they have also divided themselves over of vast territory. Every time they conquer one more mile, they are getting further and further removed from their ships, with which they invaded the continent. Their lines of supply are getting longer and longer, while ours are getting shorter and shorter. They have thus made themselves very vulnerable. Not to mention that they must be very tired by now after such a long campaign.” Now that the Atlanteans had stopped at the river, Akula realized that the moment had come. Now was the time to strike..........
The Atlanteans were caught completely by surprise by the attack. They had never thought that Akula had enough strength left to launch the offensive. Their enemies were supposed to be defeated. Akula took full advantage of the fact that the army of Atlantis was severely stretched and attacked them on both flanks, where their defenses were the weakest. The Atlanteans, who guarded the supply lines to the main force, resisted fiercely and fought ferociously, but in the end, the well-rested soldiers of Akula were victorious over the Atlanteans, who were drained after months of constant fighting and on top had to guard along a front thousands of miles long. Akula had succeeded in surrounding the Atlanteans and in cutting their lines of supply. All he had to do now, was wait until their meager supplies had run out and the Atlanteans would be forced to surrender.
Sunder was beside himself. He was outraged at his soldiers for allowing his enemies to breach their defenses. It was only a short time ago that they were marching victorious through the country. Now the situation did not look so bright. In fact, the situation was very bleak. His entire army was caught in a pocket and if they did not find a way out very soon, they would have no choice but to surrender or starve to death. Surrendering to the enemy was out of the question. Atlantis’ generals never surrendered and Sunder did not intend to be the first. On the other hand, starving to death was not exactly a valid option for Sunder. He was desperate.
“There has to be a third option,” Sunder said, “and there is.” It had never been done before and Sunder had no assurances that it would work. But he had no choice, he would have to do it.
--o--
Click on Part 10 for what happens next in this series.
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