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Summary

3. SAHARA ADVENTURE SERIES - THE SCARLET RIDERS
 
The thrilling Sahara adventure series continues in this gripping third installment, “The Scarlet Riders”. Captain D’Arlan, an officer in the French Foreign Legion, sets out across the sweltering Sahara desert with a small contingent of soldiers. Their mission is to present a loyal elderly Arab chief named El Abbas with a medal on his 70th birthday, honoring his decades of friendship with the Legion.
 
However, en route, they witness a perplexing and ominous scene. A caravan of Arab men, women, and children is attacked by soldiers dressed in Legion uniforms. The caravan is gunned down mercilessly, leaving D’Arlan shocked and baffled. Who are these imposters abducting innocents while posing as Legion? What sinister plot is underway in the desert sands? Pressing onward to the El Wadak Oasis settlement, D’Arlan hopes old ally El Abbas can shed light on the mystery. But on arrival, they are met with rage and blame. El Abbas has been murdered. He is nailed to a cross, supposedly by the French Legion who also kidnapped the young people of the tribe. Utterly confused by the false accusations against the Legion, D’Arlan decides to spend the night and get to the bottom of this. But during the night, he and his men are ambushed and taken captive by the same false Legion soldiers from the caravan attack.
 
They find themselves prisoners in a secret desert tent camp, run by a German named Heinz Dietrich. There, D’Arlan’s men are hypnotized and brainwashed by Dietrich’s henchman, Helmuth. Now under mind control, they are coerced into training a clandestine Arab army in using advanced weaponry, to aid the beautiful Dulac warrior princess El Karima in a rebellion against the Legion. El Karima arrives and takes the hypnotized men away to her stronghold, except for Teuns Stegmann, whom she is besotted with. Imprisoned at El Karima’s palace, clever Italian soldier Vittorio Petacci secretly breaks her spell over Stegmann and tells him of their impending execution. Stegmann plots a daring escape and sabotages the weapons training. Pursued into the desert by Dietrich’s men and El Karima’s army, they stumble upon an astonishing discovery in a cave.
 
Meanwhile, the Legion’s Fort Dini Salam is besieged by twenty thousand vengeful Arabs, believing they were betrayed. Vastly outnumbered, Colonel Le Clerq faces impossible odds trying to defend against the onslaught. Refused reinforcements and surrounded, Le Clerq prepares for a fight until the last man. Just as annihilation seems imminent, the approaching Arab cavalry suddenly makes a mystifying maneuver. From the bleak sands, salvation emerges for the valiant Legion in their sandstone bastion. But is it too late to turn the tide of battle?
 
Will D’Arlan and his brave soldiers escape the desert and expose the truth? Can they thwart Dietrich and El Karima’s insidious plot against the Legion? “The Scarlet Riders” by the author Meiring Fouche once again deliver pulse-pounding action and diabolical intrigue in the scorching Sahara sun.

• Contemporary Fiction