Atlántidan War

Atlántidan War
Date April 155 – 151 BC Location Atlántidan Peninsula Result Creeperian victory Territorial changes Creeperian Confederation establishes client states in territories north of the Sil River Dissolution of the Atlántidan Confederation
Belligerents
Creeperian Confederation Amacha Chihueta Iloqutzi Imnoqueti Llohechue Tzachu Xuhuetí	Atlántidan Confederation Canibri Cistonia Deva Samo Xiabre
Commanders and leaders
Xiuhcoatl I Teyacotl Xotonal Centetzal Mazacoh # Teitonal Itotzi Ahuiliztli †	Cahualan Tezozomoc Xastalan † Teuimac (POW) Tonauac Acalan
Strength
Modern estimates: 5,000 (155 BC) 35,000 (153 BC) 30,000 (151 BC)	Modern estimates: 2,000–12,000 (155 BC) 50,000 (153–151 BC)
Casualties and losses
Modern estimate: 5,000+ killed 3,000+ wounded Contemporary sources do not list casualty figures	Modern estimate: 3,000–4,000 killed 6,000+ enslaved Contemporary sources claim 50,000 killed and 200,000 captured or enslaved

The Atlántidan War was fought on the Atlántidan Peninsula between the Creeperian Confederation and the Atlántidan Confederation during the late 150s BC.

During the construction of the pyramid, Xiuhcoatl I began a war against the Atlántidan Confederacy after a series of Atlántidan raids on Amacha towns and cities, including Tecuauh which was sacked in 154 BC. The Creeperans fought a series of battles in the Atlántidan Peninsula against the Atlántidans led by Cahualan. After a final defeat at the Battle of Acatepec in 151 BC, Cahualan and the remaining Atlántidan forces fled south of the Sil River, which demarcated the southernmost extent of the Atlántidan Confederacy resulting in its effective dissolution. The Atlántidans captured during the war were used for slave labor and sacrificed. The Creeperans would continue to raid and attack Atlántidan territory south of the Sil River until 540 AD to capture more slaves to be used in construction projects and to be sacrificed.

Background

The border between the Creeperian Confederation and the Atlántidan Confederation was demarcated on the Atlántidan Peninsula by the Linca River in the north and the Eo River in the south. The border was broadly established during the 900s BC by the Kingdom of Cuscatlán after a failed invasion into the peninsula and the subsequent treaty signed between Cuscatlán and the Atlántidan tribes. For the succeeding 700 years, minor clashes occurred between Creeperian states and the Atlántidan tribes in the area, but no major wars occurred between them.

Course of the conflict

Atlántidan raids: 155–154 BC

Beginning in April 155 BC, Cahualan, the leader of the Atlántidan Confederacy, launched a series of raids across the Linca and Eo rivers against towns and villages of the Amacha, one of the seven major tribes of the Creeperian Confederation. Cahualan's motive for launching the raids is unknown, mostly as a result of most of the Atlántidan script being undeciphered and poor Atlántidan record keeping, but historians have speculated that he may have wanted to garner political legitimacy or public support, as contemporary Creeperian sources believed that he usurped the throne to rise to power. The initial raids led to several towns and villages being destroyed and around thousands of people being killed or enslaved.

An Amacha stele dating the Sack of Tecuauh to
11 February 154 BC

Ahuiliztli, the leader of the Amacha, initially believed that the raids were minor unorganized raiding parties, but as raids continued to occur throughout the year, he mobilized an army to confront the raiders to achieve a decisive victory and bring an end to the attacks. In November 155 BC, the armies of Ahuiliztli and Cahualan engaged in battle near the Amacha city of Tenayuca. Despite being outnumbered, the Atlántidans defeated the Amacha army and forced them to retreat back to Tecuauh, the Amacha's capital city. While Ahuiliztli rallied more warriors and sent a message to the other seven tribes of the confederacy for assistance, the Atlántidans continued to launch raids of Amacha villages.

In January 154 BC, the Atlántidans moved to raid Tecuauh itself while the Amacha army was still in the city. Amacha scouts reported the Atlántidans' movements towards the city to Ahuiliztli who ordered the construction of fortifications around the city and to prepare for a siege. The fortifications were not yet complete by the time the Atlántidans arrived at Tecuauh, and on 11 February 154 BC Cahualan ordered a massive direct assault on the city, bypassing its incomplete fortifications. The Atlántidans attacked the city's walls in three manners: some groups attempted to climb over the walls, others attempted to force their way through the gates or break through the walls, while others began digging tunnels under the walls. After several hours, the Atlántidans broke through one of the city's gates and army forced its way into the city. According to subsequent Creeperian sources, the Atlántidans killed most of the city's population and Ahuiliztli was killed while making his last stand at the city's central temple dedicated to Huitzilopochtli.

Message of the city's fall arrived in Xichútepa several weeks after the fact while Xiuhcoatl I, the leader of the Creeperian Confederacy, was recruiting an army to assist the Amacha in forcing the Atlántidans to flee back over the Linca and Eo rivers. Upon hearing the news, Xiuhcoatl I called for all of the confederacy's tribes to supply armies to defend the confederacy against the Atlántidans. Over the course of several months, as the Atlántidans continued to launch raids in Amacha territory and gaining effective control of the Amacha's southern territories, Xiuhcoatl I amassed an army numbering around 35,000 warriors which he marched south towards Amacha territory in September 154 BC.

153 BC

A relief depicting Cahualan from the 150s BC

See also

• List of wars involving Creeperopolis