My planet is infested with Goblins

Chapter 76: The Gate Gives Way

The battering ram crew pulled the suspended timber backward again before the shattered pieces from the previous strike had finished falling. The eastern gate was visibly failing now.

Several planks had split from one iron brace to the next, one reinforcement band hung partially torn from the surface, and the opening created by the repeated impacts had widened enough for the goblins beneath the covered structure to see occasional movement in the darkness beyond. Human voices came through the damaged doors more clearly than before, mixed with the scraping of heavy objects being dragged into position.

The ram commander did not need to understand the Caldris language to know what was happening. The defenders were building something behind the gate, but whatever waited beyond the doors would only be seen after those doors stopped standing.

"Same place," the commander shouted. "Do not spread the damage. Breakthrough int he spot that is already breaking."

The goblins along the beam tightened their grips. The timber swung backward until the heavy chains supporting it reached their limit, and then the commander dropped his sword. Dozens of bodies moved together.

The iron-capped head slammed into the weakened section of the gate with a violent crack, forcing one broken plank inward far enough that it did not completely return to its original position. The opening widened, and a brief cheer rose beneath the ram’s roof before the commander immediately called for another pull.

Above them, Eastwatch intensified its response. Stones fell from the gatehouse in increasing numbers, striking the ram’s reinforced roof and the ground around it. One heavy block crashed into the outer frame and tore away several protective planks.

The structure shuddered so violently that one of the goblins working the beam fell against the timber beside him. He recovered before the next swing, but the damage overhead left more exposed wood beneath the wet hides.

The defenders noticed it as well.

A clay vessel dropped from above and broke across the damaged portion of the roof. Burning liquid spread through the gaps in the coverings, immediately catching along the exposed timber beneath. Flames rose higher than they had during the previous attempts, licking across the side of the shelter and sending smoke downward toward the ram crew.

"Water crews forward!" an engineer shouted from outside.

Goblin shield-bearers moved first. Behind them came soldiers carrying buckets and soaked hides, advancing beneath crossbow bolts that struck the ground and shields around them.

One water carrier was hit through the thigh and collapsed before reaching the machine. The goblin behind him seized the dropped bucket without pausing and continued forward. Water splashed across the flames while others pressed wet hides against the exposed timber.

Inside the shelter, smoke thickened.

Several goblins coughed as they pulled the beam backward again.

The ram commander looked upward at the growing flames and then toward the cracked gate.

"Keep moving."

One of the engineers shouted from the side, "The frame may catch fire!"

"Then extinguish it while we work. You aĺ should multitask"

The beam swung forward.

Another impact struck the gate while fire still burned above the crew.

Farther across the battlefield, Grand Marshal Rakhar Veyr saw smoke rising from beneath the gatehouse. His expression tightened as he lifted the viewing tube. The battering ram remained in position, but flames were clearly visible along part of its roof.

Varek stood beside him. "That damage is worse than the last one."

"The crew is still operating the ram."

"If the main frame catches fire, they will lose the whole machine."

Rakhar lowered the tube. "Then give them more protection. Ballistas onto the gatehouse. Catapults keep the towers occupied."

Viridian ballista crews immediately adjusted their weapons. Heavy bolts began striking the upper defensive positions around the gate.

One tore through a wooden screen and scattered the Caldris crossbowmen behind it.

Another hit the edge of the battlement close enough to force several defenders to retreat into cover. Catapult stones followed, crashing against the towers flanking the gatehouse and breaking more of the wooden structures the humans had erected along the parapets.

The additional pressure gave the water crews enough time to control the fire. Flames disappeared beneath wet hides, leaving smoke and blackened timber behind.

Rakhar returned his attention to the wall above the gate.

The two Viridian footholds still held.

The first had edged closer to the fortified wall tower separating the positions, while the second had widened enough that fresh troops could enter without immediately stepping into the front line.

Eastwatch’s defenders had been forced to send more soldiers toward the gatehouse, and the goblin officers on the battlements had exploited every withdrawal.

The assault officer at the first foothold saw another group of Caldris soldiers leaving toward the gate and raised his sword.

"Forward two shield lengths. No farther."

His soldiers moved carefully.

The goblin shield line advanced along the battlement while spearmen thrust from behind it. Caldris defenders resisted at once, using their greater reach to keep the Viridian troops from closing too quickly. A goblin was struck through the shoulder and dragged backward. Another ducked beneath a spear and slashed at the human soldier’s leg, forcing him to retreat behind the next shield.

The Viridian line gained several more yards.

They were now close enough to the wall tower that the human defenders could no longer weaken that position without risking the entrance itself.

Caldris responded by sending another small reserve from inside the tower. The first foothold stopped advancing.

That distraction was enough to force the defenders to commit soldiers in this side of the front.

The soldiers remaining there had forced Eastwatch to commit troops that otherwise might have gone to the gatehouse.

The second foothold did the same. Fresh goblins continued crossing the siege tower bridge, replacing wounded soldiers and creating more depth behind the front line.

They did not attempt a reckless charge. Their purpose was to remain dangerous enough that Caldris could never strip the wall completely.

Below them, the ram struck again.

This blow tore one of the damaged iron bands almost completely free. The metal twisted outward and hung against the broken timber while a long split spread through the surrounding planks. Through the opening, the goblins could finally see more than darkness.

Something large stood behind the gate.

The next strike widened the view.

The ram commander leaned forward, trying to see through the fractured wood. Wagons had been shoved behind the doors. Heavy timbers crossed the entrance beyond them. He caught sight of human shields moving through gaps in the barricade.

"They built another wall behind it," one crewman said.

The commander wiped smoke from his eyes. "Then we break this one first."

The beam was pulled backward again.

The defenders continued dropping debris from above. A heavy stone hit near the right side of the ram’s roof, cracking a support and knocking part of the protective covering loose. Goblin engineers rushed to brace it with additional timber while the crew continued working.

Nobody suggested withdrawing now. The gate was too damaged, and every goblin beneath the structure could see it.

Another strike landed.

A major plank broke inward.

The opening was now large enough to reveal the barricade more clearly: overturned wagons, stacked timber, barrels, stones, and human soldiers positioned behind them.

Spearheads appeared between gaps. Crossbowmen moved farther back where they could fire through whatever opening the destroyed gate eventually created.

The ram crew stared only briefly.

The commander raised his sword.

"Again."

The impact that followed made the entire gate bend inward.

A messenger left the gatehouse approach and ran across the battlefield toward Rakhar. He arrived breathing hard and saluted.

"Grand Marshal, the gate is close to opening. The doors are splitting badly."

"Can infantry pass through?"

"Not yet."

"Then don’t celebrate too early, it is not open."

The messenger waited.

Rakhar pointed back toward the gate. "Tell them to continue until soldiers can move through the gate. Prepare the assault companies behind the ram."

Orders spread through the waiting infantry.

Shield-bearing goblins began gathering behind mantlets near the gate approach. Spearmen formed behind them, followed by soldiers carrying axes and short swords for fighting inside the cramped entrance. They could see the smoke beneath the gatehouse and hear each impact of the ram.

Every strike brought another cheer.

Eastwatch noticed the gathering infantry.

Human horns sounded above the gatehouse again. More defenders moved into the interior positions behind the barricade, although Rakhar could see only fragments of their movement through the broken doors. The humans clearly understood that the moment the gate collapsed, the fight would move directly into the entrance.

The battering ram struck again.

This time an entire section of timber near the center broke loose and fell inward. The opening became wide enough for the goblins beneath the shelter to see several human soldiers clearly.

One Caldris crossbowman fired through the gap.

The bolt struck a goblin near the front of the ram crew and dropped him instantly.

The crew dragged the body aside without stopping.

"Pull!"

The beam swung back.

"Forward!"

Another impact.

More timber exploded inward.

The left door sagged noticeably against the internal supports. One hinge had begun tearing free from the stone frame while the surviving reinforcement bands no longer held the damaged planks together properly.

The ram commander looked along his exhausted crew.

"Next one. Everything."

Dozens of goblins changed their grips and pulled the beam farther back than before. The chains creaked under the weight. Some of the soldiers were bleeding from minor wounds caused by falling splinters and debris, while others could barely breathe through the lingering smoke.

Nobody released the timber.

The commander waited until the beam reached the highest point of its backward swing.

Then his sword came down.

The goblins surged forward.

The iron head struck the fractured center of the eastern gate.

The sound was different from every blow before it.

Timber split across multiple points at once. One broken door folded inward while the weakened hinge tore free. The remaining planks crashed backward against the barricade behind them, sending pieces of wood and twisted iron into the entrance.

For a heartbeat, the ram crew simply stared.

Then the Viridian army outside erupted.

Thousands of goblins roared as the shattered outer gate disappeared beneath the gatehouse. Soldiers on the battlements heard the cheering and understood immediately what had happened. The Viridian banner above the first foothold was lifted higher while the assault troops there struck weapons against shields.

The ram commander stepped forward and looked through the opening.

His excitement disappeared almost immediately.

There was no clear road into Eastwatch.

The broken doors had revealed a dense barricade of wagons, heavy beams, barrels, stones, and timber packed across the entrance. Human shields stood behind it. Spears protruded through narrow gaps. Crossbowmen waited farther back with weapons already raised.

The outer gate had fallen.

The defenders had prepared another barrier before the first one ever broke.

A messenger hurried toward Rakhar with the news. "The gate is down."

Rakhar lifted his viewing tube.

Through the shattered entrance, he saw the barricade and the human soldiers behind it.

"Do not charge yet."

Varek looked toward him. "They finally have an opening."

"They have an opening into a killing ground."

Rakhar watched the Viridian assault companies gathering behind the battered ram. Above them, goblins still fought for sections of the eastern battlement. Below, the broken gate exposed the next line of Caldris defenses.

Eastwatch had lost its outer doors, but it had not lost the entrance.

The battered ram began withdrawing, enough to clear space for the infantry waiting behind it. Human spears remained leveled through the barricade, while Viridian shields gathered beyond the shattered timber. The first barrier protecting Eastwatch had finally fallen, and both armies were already preparing to fight over the one waiting immediately behind it.

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