My planet is infested with Goblins

The report from the western observation line reached Grand Marshal Rakhar Veyr only hours after Colonel Alaric Veyne’s column discovered the abandoned goblin position overlooking the road.

The scout who carried it arrived covered in mud and pine needles, having left two other watchers behind to continue following the humans from a distance. By the time he entered the Viridian forward headquarters, several additional messages had already reached Rakhar from other reconnaissance teams shadowing the same column.

Together, they formed the clearest picture Viridian had yet obtained of the provincial force moving east against them.

Rakhar stood over the central campaign map while his senior officers gathered around the table. The rough western sections had become increasingly detailed over the last several days as scouts filled in roads, rivers, settlements, wooded ridges, and abandoned Caldris positions.

Brackenford remained the most important permanent Viridian position shown on the map, while smaller markers represented patrol routes and temporary forward camps spread throughout the surrounding countryside.

The returning scout saluted.

"The human force continues east, Grand Marshal. They resumed movement after discovering our observation position."

Rakhar looked toward him.

"what about their numbers."

"Approximately eight hundred. We have observed nearly the entire column from three separate positions. Four to five hundred infantry, more than one hundred crossbowmen, cavalry, mounted scouts, engineers, laborers, and several supply wagons. They are also traveling with local hunters."

Rakhar nodded slowly.

"And their formation?"

"They change it depending on the terrain. Mounted scouts move well ahead when the road is open. In forests, they pull closer and send smaller groups toward the ridges. Crossbowmen are distributed throughout the column. Infantry protects the wagons. Engineers inspect suspicious trees and disturbed ground before the main force advances."

One officer beside Rakhar frowned.

"They built their entire marching order around what happened to the earlier reinforcement force."

"They would be fools if they had not," Rakhar replied.

The scout continued. "They found Observation Point Seven after one of their hunters noticed the tracks leading uphill."

Rakhar’s attention sharpened.

"Did they pursue?"

"No. Their commander inspected the position personally. One of his officers appeared to argue for pursuit, but the commander refused."

That detail caused several officers around the table to exchange glances.

Rakhar studied the human marker representing the column.

"Then their commander is not stupid."

A younger captain spoke from the opposite side of the table.

"We can still hit them before they get any closer. Twelve hundred men attacking from several directions would overwhelm them."

Rakhar did not answer immediately. Instead, he looked toward the map and considered everything Viridian had learned during the opening stage of the campaign. They had attacked roads, villages, patrols, wagons, and isolated military units. They had tested the humans in forests, narrow streets, and prepared ambushes. They had learned how human soldiers reacted when surprised and how quickly Caldris officers adjusted after surviving those encounters.

There was one question they had not answered.

How would a professional Caldris force fight when it knew the battle was coming?

Rakhar looked toward his officers.

"No ambush."

The captain blinked.

"Grand Marshal?"

"We have spent enough time hiding behind trees."

The room became quieter.

Rakhar moved the human marker farther east.

"They assembled eight hundred soldiers and sent them into territory they know contains an organized enemy. They are not reinforcing a village. They are not escorting a merchant convoy. They came east because Caldris forces needed to strike back."

Another commander nodded.

"A counteroffensive."

"Exactly."

Rakhar traced several roads ahead of the human formation.

"We already know we can destroy smaller units with ambushes. We already know we can raid their wagons. We already know how they behave when attacked from forests and narrow roads. Repeating the same lesson does not teach us anything new."

He looked around the table.

"This time, we meet them openly."

Several officers straightened their bodies.

One older infantry commander leaned closer to the map.

"You want a field battle."

"I want to know whether professional Caldris soldiers can stand against a Viridian formation when both sides know where the enemy is."

The infantry commander smiled slightly.

"That will answer several questions and helps us the rest of the campaign."

"It will answer more than another burned wagon ever could."

Rakhar began examining the terrain east of the advancing humans. He rejected the narrow valley that several officers had previously considered ideal for an ambush. It gave Viridian too many advantages from concealment and restricted human cavalry too heavily. If Rakhar wanted a true measure of the enemy, he needed ground where both sides could deploy.

A reconnaissance officer pointed toward a broad stretch of farmland beside the main road.

"This area is mostly open. Several low hills, but nothing steep. Forest begins farther north, and there is a shallow stream south of the road."

"Width?"

"More than enough for a thousand soldiers to deploy."

"Cavalry?"

"They can have enough maneuvering space."

Rakhar studied it for several seconds.

"That will do."

The decision surprised some of the officers.

A goblin commander near the rear of the room finally voiced what several were thinking.

"We are giving up terrain that favors us?"

Rakhar turned toward him.

"We are choosing terrain that the will not hesitate to fight us against."

The commander did not look convinced.

Rakhar continued.

"Viridian did not survive three thousand years by remaining creatures that could only fight from forests. Our infantry trains in formation. Our officers understand signaling. Our ranged troops drill against organized enemies. We have logistics, reserves, healers, engineers, and command structures built through centuries of war."

He pointed toward the human marker.

"The humans may think our victories came because we hide, surround, and strike from places they cannot see."

Rakhar’s expression hardened.

"I want that belief broken."

The officers around the table became noticeably more attentive.

One captain asked, "How many do we send?"

Rakhar considered the question carefully.

The Divine Expeditionary Army numbered thirty thousand, but deploying thousands against eight hundred humans would teach them little. It would also reveal far more of Viridian’s strength than necessary.

"Fifteen hundred."

Several officers nodded.

The number gave Viridian a clear numerical advantage without turning the engagement into a meaningless crushing of a much smaller force.

Rakhar began assigning formations.

"Eight hundred infantry. Two hundred ranged troops. Two hundred light infantry and mobile skirmishers. One hundred engineers and battlefield support. The remaining two hundred will include healers, messengers, command personnel, and reserve formations."

A cavalry officer asked, "No large mounted contingent?"

"Not for this battle."

Viridian possessed mounted forces, but Rakhar wanted the engagement centered on infantry discipline and ranged support. The humans had cavalry, and observing how they used it against a structured goblin battle line would itself be valuable.

The infantry commander looked toward the open-ground marker.

"How do you want the line formed?"

"Three sections. Strong center, flexible wings. Ranged formations behind the first line with clear lanes of fire. Reserves stay far enough back that the humans cannot immediately judge our full strength."

One officer raised an eyebrow.

"I thought you wanted them to see us."

"They will see enough soldiers to engage in a fight then we will surprise them with numbers."

Rakhar tapped the map.

The Viridian force would establish itself openly. Scouts would no longer conceal the existence of a major goblin army once the humans approached the battlefield. Rakhar wanted Alaric to see banners, organized ranks, command signals, and soldiers deliberately waiting across the road.

The humans would understand that this was not another raid.

It was an army asking for battle.

One of the younger officers looked almost eager.

"If they turn around?"

"Then their counteroffensive ends without us losing a soldier."

"And if they advance?"

Rakhar looked toward him.

"Then we fight."

There was no complicated trap behind the statement. No hidden force waiting to collapse the road. No prepared trees or concealed pits. Rakhar intended to use discipline, numbers, organization, and superior battlefield coordination to defeat the humans from the front.

Another officer asked whether ranged units should begin firing as soon as the humans entered range.

Rakhar shook his head.

"The battlefield commander will decide based on their formation. I do not want officers chained to instructions written before they see how the enemy deploys."

He looked toward the infantry commander.

"You will command the field."

The older goblin bowed his head.

"Yes, Grand Marshal."

Rakhar gave him only the broad objectives. Maintain cohesion. Do not chase retreating cavalry too far. Protect the ranged formations. Keep reserves available. If the human line breaks, exploit it, but do not allow individual units to scatter across the field searching for kills.

The Reclamation Corps would remain behind the combat force until the battlefield was secured. The Language Section had already requested access to captured military papers, and Rakhar ordered officers, banners, maps, orders, and literate prisoners treated as priority recoveries after the fighting.

"Do not destroy documents because someone thinks enemy paper makes good firewood," Rakhar said.

A few officers smiled.

Rakhar did not.

"I am serious."

The scouts received new instructions as well. They would continue watching the Caldris column, but they were no longer required to hide every trace of Viridian activity. Once the fifteen hundred soldiers began moving toward the battlefield, secrecy would become impossible anyway.

Rakhar wanted the humans to learn what awaited them before they arrived.

One commander questioned that decision.

"Why give them time to prepare?"

"Because I want them to fight in their full capacity."

Rakhar looked toward the open ground marked on the map.

"If they see fifteen hundred goblins waiting in battle formation and still advance, then we learn what they believe their army can do. If they retreat, what can we do."

Either result served Viridian.

The important thing was that Caldris could no longer tell itself that the goblins survived only because they refused open battle.

Orders left the headquarters throughout the afternoon. Runners carried deployment instructions toward the forward units. Supply officers prepared ammunition, water, medical equipment, spare weapons, and food for the selected formations. Engineers inspected the road leading toward the chosen ground, not to build traps but to ensure the army could move without unnecessary delay.

By evening, the first Viridian formations had begun assembling outside the forward camps.

Rakhar left the headquarters briefly to watch them.

Rows of goblin infantry formed beneath imperial standards while officers moved through the ranks checking equipment. Ranged troops counted ammunition. Healers prepared stretchers and field supplies. Messengers received signal codes for the coming battle.

These were not tribal warriors hiding in brush.

They were soldiers of an empire.

Rakhar watched the first battalion begin marching west.

One of his officers joined him.

"The humans will see us coming eventually."

"That is the point."

The officer looked toward the distant road.

"They may believe we are challenging them."

Rakhar gave a slight smile.

"We are."

More formations followed, their boots striking the road in organized rhythm.

Rakhar watched until the last major unit passed the edge of the camp before turning back toward headquarters.

"We already know we can kill them from the trees," he said. "Now I want to know if they can stand in front of us."

By nightfall, fifteen hundred Viridian soldiers were moving toward the open ground selected for the first true field battle of the campaign. Somewhere farther west, eight hundred Caldris troops continued marching east to hunt an enemy they believed preferred shadows, forests, and ambushes.

When they reached the next stretch of road, Viridian would no longer be hiding.

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