My planet is infested with Goblins

Chapter 75: The Gate Begins to Crack

The battering ram crew did not wait for the echoes of the first strike to fade before pulling the suspended timber backward again. Inside the reinforced wooden shelter beneath Eastwatch’s eastern gatehouse, dozens of goblins leaned into the ropes and handles fixed along the massive beam, their boots scraping against the packed earth as the ram swung toward them.

Dust drifted from the stone arch overhead, disturbed by the impact that had shaken the gate moments earlier. Beyond the heavy doors, muffled human voices shouted orders, while above the ram the steady hammering of arrows against wet hides and timber continued without pause.

The ram commander watched the swing reach its limit, waited until the crew settled into position, and brought his sword down.

The goblins threw their weight forward together, and the iron-capped head smashed into the same section of the gate with a deeper impact than before.

This time, the doors shook hard enough for the ram crew to hear wood creaking behind them.

The gate itself remained closed, held in place by whatever supports the Caldris defenders had built on the other side, but the sound immediately changed the mood beneath the shelter. Several goblins shouted in approval until the commander ordered them back onto the beam.

The ram was pulled backward for a third strike while the defenders above increased their efforts to destroy it.

From his position farther across the battlefield, Grand Marshal Rakhar Veyr watched the gatehouse while keeping one eye on the two Viridian footholds already established on Eastwatch’s eastern battlement. The city had spent the morning answering one threat after another, and the consequences were becoming increasingly visible. Human soldiers who had previously reinforced the central wall tower were now moving toward the gatehouse. Others remained locked in combat with the goblins around the siege towers. Every movement weakened something else.

Varek stood beside Rakhar with a viewing tube raised toward the battlement. "They are sending another company toward the gate."

Rakhar looked toward the first Viridian foothold. "Then the wall defense gets thinner."

He signaled to the nearby runner. "Tell the first foothold to press toward the tower. Controlled advance only. I do not want them charging into a brickwall strongpoint."

The order traveled toward the wall while the ram struck again.

The third impact produced a sharper cracking sound. The doors still held, but the crew beneath the gatehouse could now hear splintering from the point where the iron head repeatedly landed. That sound was encouraging to the siegers that they no longer needed the commander to remind them to keep moving. They pulled the beam backward again as arrows rattled against the roof.

The Caldris defenders understood the danger just as clearly.

Stones began falling from directly above the gatehouse. One struck the ram’s reinforced roof and shattered against the outer planks, knocking several crewmen off balance beneath it. Another landed near the left wheel, splintering part of the protective frame. The machine shook, but the main structure survived.

Then fire came down.

A clay vessel shattered across the roof and spread burning liquid over the wet hides. Flames crawled along the outer layer and caught on exposed timber where previous impacts had torn away part of the covering.

"Fire crew!" someone shouted.

Goblin water carriers rushed toward the ram under shields. Crossbow bolts immediately fell among them. One carrier collapsed before reaching the gatehouse shadow, spilling half his bucket onto the ground. Another goblin grabbed it without slowing and continued forward.

Water splashed across the flames while soaked hides were pressed against the burning timber. Smoke filled the upper part of the ram’s shelter, forcing the crew below to cough and squint.

Varek saw the smoke rising. "If that catches beneath the coverings, we may lose the whole frame."

Rakhar kept watching. "The beam is still moving."

"We can pull it back before the fire spreads."

"And drag it across the killing ground again?"

Varek said nothing.

Rakhar finally looked toward him. "If the main frame catches, we withdraw it. Until then, they keep striking."

The next impact came while smoke still rose from the roof.

The iron-capped timber hit hard enough to make the damaged coverings shake loose above the crew. A thin splinter of wood fell from somewhere beyond the gate. The goblins beneath the ram cheered again, but their commander immediately called for another pull.

The fire crews extinguished the last visible flames moments later.

On the battlement above, the first Viridian foothold began moving again.

The goblin assault officer saw fewer Caldris soldiers facing him than during the previous counterattack. It gave him room to act. He ordered his shield-bearers forward in several short steps, with spearmen and axe-wielding soldiers behind them.

The humans resisted fiercely.

Spears thrust over overlapping shields, forcing the goblins to crouch low and attack beneath the longer weapons. The Viridian formation advanced only a few yards, but those few yards brought them closer to the fortified wall tower separating the two footholds.

Crossbow bolts fired from the tower’s protected openings struck the front ranks. One goblin dropped with a bolt through the neck. Another was pulled backward after a shaft entered his shoulder.

The assault officer did not order a charge.

"Hold here. Make them keep men in that tower."

That was all Rakhar needed from him.

The second foothold expanded as well. The goblins there had spent much of the earlier fighting trapped near the siege tower bridge, unable to create enough room for fresh troops to deploy. With some Caldris defenders diverted toward the gatehouse, the pressure eased. Shield-bearers moved farther along the battlement while wounded soldiers were pulled back into the tower.

For the first time, the second foothold began to resemble a permanent position instead of an accident that Caldris might erase with one strong counterattack.

Eastwatch was now attempting to defend the same eastern section with too many simultaneous demands.

The ram struck again.

A metallic shriek followed the impact.

The crew stopped for half a breath.

One of the iron braces attached to the outer face of the gate had begun bending away from the timber. They could not see the interior supports, but the damage directly in front of them was becoming obvious.

"Same point!" the commander shouted. "Keep hitting the same point!"

The crew hauled the beam back.

Above them, the Caldris defenders attempted something more desperate.

Several human soldiers dragged a heavy timber beam onto the gatehouse platform. From the angle, Rakhar could see enough to understand their intention. If they dropped it directly onto the ram, the weight might crush the roof or jam the machine beneath the gate.

He pointed toward the gatehouse. "Ballistas. Upper platform. Now."

Viridian ballista crews adjusted as quickly as they could. The first heavy bolt struck the stone beside the defenders. The second tore through a wooden screen and forced several soldiers to scatter. A third crossed the gatehouse platform at chest height and struck one of the men helping position the beam.

The defenders lost control of it.

The heavy timber rolled forward prematurely and fell from the battlement.

It crashed beside the battering ram instead of on top of it, striking the ground with enough force to break part of the ram’s side covering and scatter several goblins. The main frame remained intact.

The Viridian soldiers watching from farther back erupted into another cheer.

Rakhar allowed himself a small nod.

"Keep the ballistas on that platform."

The catapults also continued battering the towers around the gatehouse. Their stones did little to the main stonework, but every impact forced defenders behind cover and disrupted attempts to organize larger attacks from above. One projectile smashed through a wooden barricade on the wall walk, sending fragments into the soldiers gathered there.

The battering ram struck again.

This time the gate reponded with a clear crack.

Even Rakhar heard it faintly across the field.

A messenger emerged from the gatehouse approach not long afterward and ran toward the command position.

"The doors are splitting, Grand Marshal."

"Are they open?"

"No."

Rakhar’s expression remained unchanged. "Then continue they are not yet broken."

The messenger waited.

"Tell the ram crew they stop when the doors can no longer stand. Not before."

The goblin saluted and ran back toward the gate.

Varek looked toward Rakhar. "You are not giving them much room to celebrate today."

"They can celebrate inside the city."

The ram crew had already resumed their rhythm by the time the message returned. Pull, swing, impact. Pull, swing, impact. Each blow landed against the same damaged section. The sound changed gradually. The first strikes had been solid, almost as though the beam had hit a single piece of timber. Now every impact was followed by splintering and the groan of bent reinforcement.

The Caldris defenders continued trying to stop them.

More stones fell.

More arrows struck the roof.

Another fire vessel burst across the outer covering, but the water crews were ready before the flames could spread far.

The ram never stopped for more than a few moments.

On the wall, the Viridian footholds kept the defenders occupied. The first assault position pressed close enough toward the central wall tower that Caldris had no choice but to reinforce it again. Human soldiers who had begun moving toward the gatehouse were recalled halfway.

Rakhar watched the shifting formations and understood that Eastwatch’s ability to respond freely was deteriorating. Every reinforcement order now created an immediate problem somewhere else.

The city still possessed plenty of soldiers.

What it was losing was flexibility.

Beneath the gatehouse, the ram commander saw the first major split after another heavy impact. A crack ran through several planks around the battered center of the gate. One outer board had bowed inward. Part of the iron reinforcement had torn loose and hung crookedly against the damaged wood.

The goblins beneath the shelter began shouting.

The commander did not stop them this time.

He pointed toward the crack. "There. Every strike goes there."

The beam was pulled backward.

Another impact landed.

The split widened.

A thin opening appeared between two broken planks, revealing only darkness beyond.

The gate was still being held from the inside by heavy beams and barricades, but for the first time the goblins could see through the structure they had spent the morning hammering.

The ram crew became louder.

The next pull was stronger.

Dozens of goblins leaned backward together until the chains holding the suspended timber stretched tight. Smoke drifted from the roof above them, arrows continued striking the protective coverings, and distant fighting echoed from the battlements overhead.

The commander raised his sword.

"Again!"

The beam surged forward.

Its metal head smashed into the weakened section with a violent crack. One plank split almost from top to bottom, and another section broke inward several inches before the supports behind it caught the movement.

The outer gate remained standing.

It was no longer whole.

The goblins stared at the widening damage for only a moment before returning to the beam. Above them, Caldris soldiers continued fighting to keep Viridian from taking the walls, while below, the battering ram crew pulled back for another strike against a gate that had finally begun to fail.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!