My planet is infested with Goblins

Chapter 73: The Wall Refuses to Break

Fresh Viridian soldiers continued pouring across the first siege tower bridge while the surviving members of the original assault company tried to reorganize around them.

The battlement beneath their feet had become slick with blood and crowded with abandoned shields, broken spear shafts, and bodies from both armies.

Every few moments, another wounded goblin was dragged back toward the tower while a rested soldier stepped around him and joined the line.

The foothold was still narrow, but it was no longer the desperate cluster that had first spilled from the tower. Shield-bearers now formed a rough front facing deeper along the wall, spearmen stood behind them, and crossbowmen inside the siege tower watched for any Caldris soldier careless enough to expose himself between the crenellations.

Above them, the Viridian banner remained planted in the broken masonry where another soldier had taken it after the first standard-bearer was wounded.

The humans had stopped throwing small groups against the goblin position. That worried the Viridian assault officer. He could see Caldris soldiers gathering farther along the battlement beneath the protection of a fortified wall tower.

Professional infantry were moving to the front, replacing militia who had fought during the first confused minutes. Large shields were arranged into tighter ranks while spearmen gathered behind them.

Crossbowmen climbed to the higher firing positions of the tower, and wounded defenders were taken down a stairway leading into Eastwatch so that fresh soldiers could come up in their place. The humans had learned the same lesson the goblins had during the first clash. Attacking in scattered handfuls only fed men into a killing ground.

The wall tower standing between the Viridian foothold and the next approaching siege tower dominated the section of battlement. Its stone structure rose above the wall itself, giving Caldris crossbowmen an elevated angle across the goblin position.

More importantly, stairs inside the tower connected directly with Eastwatch, allowing soldiers to move from the streets below onto the battlement without exposing themselves to the Viridian ballistas firing from the field.

As long as the humans held that tower, they controlled the strongest reinforcement route along this section of the eastern defenses.

The assault officer pointed toward it with his bloodstained sword. "We push toward that tower, but nobody breaks formation. Take the wall a few steps at a time."

The front ranks moved.

Viridian shield-bearers advanced slowly over the bodies scattered across the stone.

Whenever the Caldris soldiers ahead gave them space, they took it. Whenever the humans planted their shields and lowered spears, the goblins stopped and fought from behind their own cover. They no longer attempted to overpower their opponents directly.

The goblins crouched lower, using their smaller frames to hide behind shields while spearmen attacked exposed legs and sword-bearing troops waited for gaps to appear. Several yards of battlement changed hands, but each one cost men.

A Caldris soldier thrust his spear over the front rank and caught a goblin through the neck.

The Viridian soldier collapsed almost instantly, but the goblin behind him dragged the body backward while another stepped forward to close the opening.

A second human spear struck a shield and drove its bearer back half a step before a Viridian axe hooked around the edge of the human shield. Two goblins pulled together, dragging the defender off balance long enough for a short sword to stab beneath his armor. The humans withdrew several feet and reformed rather than allowing the fight to dissolve into another chaotic melee.

Then horns sounded from the wall tower.

The Caldris soldiers stopped retreating.

From inside the tower, fresh professional infantry emerged in organized ranks. At almost the same moment, more human soldiers appeared from farther down the battlement behind the Viridian position.

The assault officer understood immediately. The humans had not been yielding ground because they were losing control. They had been making space for a coordinated counterattack.

"Back into line!" he shouted. "Shields together!"

The goblins barely had time to reform before the Caldris reserve struck.

The human front rank advanced behind overlapping shields, with spears thrusting above their shoulders. They did not charge recklessly. They simply moved forward together, relying on their greater height and weight to compress the smaller goblins against one another.

The first impact forced the Viridian line backward almost immediately. Shields slammed against shields, boots scraped across blood-covered stone, and goblins in the second rank pressed against the backs of the soldiers ahead to keep them from falling.

One Viridian shield-bearer lost his footing and disappeared beneath the front line. Another was struck in the face by the rim of a human shield and stumbled sideways over the battlement before anyone could grab him. The Caldris troops kept advancing, gaining another yard of ground while their spearmen stabbed over the shield wall whenever they saw exposed helmets or shoulders.

The assault officer pushed himself into the second rank. "Do not push against them! Brace and cut low!"

The order passed through the goblin line.

The front rank crouched lower. Instead of trying to meet human strength directly, the goblins let several shields overlap at an angle while the soldiers behind them attacked beneath the Caldris formation. Axes struck shins and ankles.

Short swords stabbed toward knees. Spearmen thrust through gaps that appeared whenever the humans leaned too far forward during their push. The Caldris line continued advancing, but now each step brought another wounded soldier into the rear.

A human shield-bearer screamed when a goblin blade entered behind his knee. His collapse disrupted the two men beside him.

The goblins immediately attacked the gap, forcing the Caldris soldiers to halt long enough to restore their formation. That brief pause allowed the Viridian front ranks to plant their feet again.

The human counterattack had still reclaimed most of the ground the goblins had gained.

Behind them, the Viridian banner shifted closer to the siege tower.

The standard-bearer tried to move backward while keeping the banner upright, but a Caldris crossbow bolt struck him in the upper chest. He fell against the stone, and the banner dropped across the battlement.

Several human soldiers saw it.

Their formation surged forward.

"Banner!" someone shouted.

A Viridian soldier threw himself across the fallen pole before a human could seize it. A spear struck his shield and nearly pinned him against the stones. Another goblin cut at the spear shaft while a third grabbed the banner with both hands and dragged it free.

He rose with blood running from a wound along his arm and lifted the standard again.

Below the wall, thousands of Viridian soldiers saw the banner disappear and then rise.

Their response rolled across the battlefield like thunder.

The cheer reached the battlements even through the clash of weapons.

The goblins around the standard answered it with their own shouting and tightened their formation.

Farther along Eastwatch’s eastern wall, the second Viridian siege tower had finally reached its position. Its assault bridge crashed onto the battlement while the first foothold continued fighting.

Caldris defenders had been waiting for it. This time there was no moment of uncertainty. Human spears were already leveled at the opening when the first goblins rushed across.

Several died before reaching the end of the bridge.

One was struck in the throat and fell backward into the soldiers behind him. Another took a crossbow bolt through his shield and arm, blocking the narrow path until his comrades dragged him aside.

The humans immediately tried to advance onto the bridge itself, understanding that if they could reach the tower entrance, the entire second assault might collapse before the goblins established themselves.

Inside the tower, the Viridian commander shouted for his crossbowmen.

They moved toward the upper firing gaps and shot at almost point-blank range.

The first volley struck the Caldris front ranks hard enough to break their momentum. A human soldier pitched backward with a bolt buried in his face. Another dropped behind his shield after being struck beneath the shoulder.

Fresh Viridian shield-bearers used the opening to cross the bridge and throw themselves onto the battlement.

The second foothold formed, but only barely.

There was no room to organize properly.

Goblins stood almost on the bridge itself while humans pressed against them from only a few feet away. Bodies accumulated near the tower entrance, forcing incoming soldiers to climb over the dead. The defenders attacked constantly, determined to clear the second position before it could grow into something resembling the first.

On the field below, Grand Marshal Rakhar Veyr watched both siege towers through his viewing tube. He could see the Viridian banner at the first foothold, but the second remained too chaotic for him to determine exactly how much of the battlement his soldiers held.

What mattered was that the bridge remained open and goblin helmets continued appearing beyond it.

One of his commanders approached. "Grand Marshal, the third tower can be moved forward."

Rakhar lowered the viewing tube. "No."

"The second position is struggling."

"Then the second position stabilizes with the troops already assigned to it."

The commander frowned but waited.

Rakhar gestured toward the eastern wall. "There is already too much concentrated fire around those towers. Send another one into the same section and the humans have an easier target for their ballistas and fire. We gain nothing by crowding the wall."

The commander saluted and withdrew.

Rakhar ordered the Viridian ballistas to increase pressure on the wall tower and the human reinforcement routes around it. The ballista crews could not fire directly into the close fighting without risking their own soldiers, but they could target Caldris troops gathering behind the line.

One heavy bolt struck the battlement near a group waiting to reinforce the first counterattack, scattering them behind the tower. Another punched through a wooden screen protecting crossbowmen and forced the survivors away from their firing position.

The catapults continued throwing stones against farther sections of the eastern defenses, preventing Eastwatch from stripping those areas completely to reinforce the siege tower fights. The wall shook under repeated impacts, but the real contest now belonged to the men and goblins fighting across its narrow top.

At the first foothold, the Caldris counterattack came again.

This time the humans concentrated around the Viridian banner, perhaps hoping that capturing it would break the morale of the goblins below. Their shield wall pushed forward while spearmen attacked from behind. The Viridian line bent under the pressure.

The assault officer saw his soldiers bunching together.

"Give them ground!" he shouted. "Three steps! Keep the line!"

The order went against every instinct of the troops fighting there, but they obeyed. The goblins retreated several paces rather than allowing the human push to shatter their formation. Caldris soldiers followed, believing the foothold was collapsing.

Their line stretched.

That was what the assault officer had wanted.

"Now!"

Goblins positioned near the sides attacked inward. Axes hooked human shields while short-sword troops stabbed at exposed flanks. The Caldris formation suddenly found itself too extended to maintain the same pushing strength. The front ranks halted while the rear tried to close the gaps.

The Viridian line stopped retreating.

Neither side moved for several moments.

Then the humans began pulling back.

It was not a rout. Their officers simply understood that continuing the push would cost too many professional soldiers for too little ground. They withdrew toward the fortified wall tower in controlled groups while crossbowmen covered them from above.

The goblins did not chase.

The assault officer immediately raised his sword. "Hold where you are! Nobody follows!"

Some soldiers looked disappointed, but most were too exhausted to argue.

The same change occurred at the second foothold shortly afterward. Caldris had nearly driven the goblins completely onto the siege tower bridge, but repeated close-range crossbow fire and the steady arrival of fresh Viridian troops made the final few yards impossible to take cheaply. The human commander there eventually ordered his front ranks back several steps and rebuilt the defensive line around a stronger section of battlement.

The fighting did not stop completely.

Spears still thrust across the gaps.

Crossbow bolts still flew.

Wounded soldiers still screamed for help.

Yet the great Caldris counterattack had lost its momentum.

The wall tower remained firmly in human hands. Its crossbowmen still watched both Viridian positions from above, and the stone structure continued separating the two footholds. The goblins had not reached its entrance, much less connected their positions.

Viridian nevertheless remained on the wall.

The first foothold reorganized around its banner while fresh shield-bearers replaced those who could barely stand. The second rebuilt its line only a short distance from the siege tower bridge. Wounded goblins were pulled back into the wooden structures, and new soldiers crossed in the opposite direction.

Across the blood-covered battlement, Caldris defenders formed another shield line beneath the wall tower.

Neither side advanced.

For the first time since the assault bridges had fallen, both armies simply stood within sight of each other and tried to breathe.

The humans had launched their strongest coordinated effort yet to throw the goblins from Eastwatch’s wall before they could become established. They had driven both footholds backward, killed scores of Viridian soldiers, and nearly destroyed the second position.

They had still failed to remove them.

Above the first foothold, the Viridian banner continued moving in the morning wind while fresh goblins crossed the bridge beneath it.

The wall had refused to break.

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