My planet is infested with Goblins

Chapter 79: Overwhelmed

The northern siege tower continued feeding Viridian soldiers onto Eastwatch’s battlement faster than the defenders could force them back. The first goblins who had crossed the bridge had suffered heavily, but unlike the eastern wall, where professional Caldris infantry had been waiting in depth, the northern defenders were a thinner mixture of militia and regular soldiers.

Their spears still killed goblins, their shields still stopped the first rushes, and their crossbowmen continued firing from the nearby towers, but there were fewer men waiting behind the front line to replace every casualty.

The difference was not dramatic enough to make the fighting easy, yet it was enough for the Viridian foothold to expand far more quickly than the first foothold in the east.

Shield-bearing goblins pushed several yards away from the siege tower while spearmen crowded behind them. Each time the Caldris line tried to stabilize, fresh Viridian troops arrived across the bridge and replaced exhausted soldiers at the front.

The humans could kill the first rank and wound the second, but there was always another rank climbing from inside the siege tower. Within a short time, the goblins had enough space to organize rather than simply fight for survival around the bridge.

From his eastern command position, Grand Marshal Rakhar Veyr could not see every detail of the northern battle, but a chain of signal posts and messengers kept him informed. The reports were arriving quickly enough that he could follow the changing situation almost as it happened.

"The northern foothold is widening," a messenger reported. "The defenders are attempting to form a new line near the closest wall tower."

Rakhar looked toward Varek. "And their reinforcements?"

"Moving north from inside the city. Some are coming from the eastern reserve."

Rakhar raised the viewing tube toward Eastwatch’s eastern battlement. He saw the movement almost immediately. Several groups of Caldris soldiers were leaving positions behind the central wall tower and descending toward the city streets. Those men would eventually reach the northern wall if Viridian gave them enough time.

Rakhar lowered the tube. "First eastern foothold advances. Second does the same. No reckless attack, but make the humans turn around."

The orders traveled forward.

On the eastern battlement, Viridian shield-bearers responded almost immediately. The first foothold pressed toward the fortified wall tower that had separated the goblins for hours. Caldris defenders who had begun withdrawing were forced to halt and reform.

Spears lowered. Crossbowmen returned to firing positions. The second foothold advanced several yards as well, threatening to widen the area already under Viridian control.

The humans had no choice but to cancel part of the transfer.

Some soldiers continued north.

Others stayed east.

Neither sector received everything it wanted.

Rakhar watched the change and said, "That is the battle situation now."

Varek nodded. "Not taking any ground?"

"Taking away their ability to choose where their soldiers should be deployed."

Before Varek could answer, another distant cheer rose from the western side of Eastwatch.

A runner arrived shortly afterward.

"The first western siege tower has reached the wall. Assault bridge is down. Our troops are crossing."

Rakhar gave a short nod. "Maintain the southern bombardment. No towers there yet."

Varek glanced toward him. "You are keeping them nervous."

"They cannot know which threat is real until it is already on the wall."

The southern catapults continued hurling stones against their assigned sectors. Ballistas fired at exposed defensive positions, while Viridian infantry remained visibly assembled beyond the walls.

Eastwatch could not safely strip the southern defense because the troops standing there had no way to know whether siege towers would begin moving five minutes later. The possibility of another assault required soldiers almost as effectively as an actual assault.

Meanwhile, the northern fight intensified.

The Viridian commander who had established the foothold recognized the wall tower ahead as the most important position in his sector. The structure rose above the battlement and contained interior stairs connecting the wall directly to Eastwatch.

Caldris crossbowmen fired from its upper openings, while soldiers used the protected stairway to bring reinforcements onto the wall.

As long as the humans controlled it, they possessed a solid anchor around which the northern defense could reform.

The goblin commander raised his sword toward the tower.

"We take that. Don’t chase beyond until the tower is ours. We must first secure it."

His shield-bearers advanced.

The humans understood the danger just as quickly. Professional infantry were moved toward the tower entrance while militia gathered behind them.

Crossbowmen filled the upper firing positions. Several weaker sections of the battlement were deliberately abandoned so that more soldiers could concentrate around the structure.

That decision gave the goblins room.

Viridian troops spread farther along the wall, forming a broader line than anything they had managed in the east.

They used the lessons learned during the earlier fighting. Nobody tried to defeat human shield-bearers through raw strength.

Goblin soldiers remained low behind their shields, attacked legs whenever the humans pushed, and used axes to hook defenses aside while fresh troops rotated into the front line.

The humans still inflicted heavy casualties.

A Caldris spear struck through a goblin shield and buried itself in the soldier behind it. Another goblin was lifted from his feet by the impact of a larger human shield and thrown toward the outer edge of the battlement.

Crossbow bolts from the tower killed several Viridian soldiers before they could even reach the main line.

Yet every human casualty mattered more.

A professional soldier falling in the north could not be replaced as easily as he might have been several hours earlier. The city’s reserves were already being divided between the east, west, gatehouse, and threatened southern sectors.

The first major Caldris counterattack came before the goblins reached the tower.

Human horns sounded, and a compact formation of professional infantry advanced along the battlement behind overlapping shields. The impact drove the Viridian front backward almost immediately. Goblins lost several yards. One soldier was pushed over the wall, while another vanished beneath the feet of his own comrades.

The Viridian commander did not try to hold every inch.

"Give ground together! Do not break!"

The goblins retreated in formation.

The humans followed.

For several moments, the counterattack seemed successful. Then the Caldris front ranks began slowing. They had already spent hours responding to alarms around the city before reaching the north. The goblins they were fighting now had crossed the siege tower only minutes earlier.

Fresh Viridian shield-bearers replaced exhausted soldiers.

The human push stopped.

The goblins attacked.

Axes pulled at shields. Spears stabbed beneath the human line. Short blades found gaps whenever tired Caldris soldiers raised their defenses too slowly. The humans began yielding the same ground they had just recovered.

A messenger reached Rakhar with the report while another arrived almost simultaneously from the west.

"Western foothold established. A second tower is advancing."

"Northern defenders counterattacked but have been pushed back toward their wall tower."

Varek looked across Eastwatch. Horns were sounding almost continuously now. Signal flags rose and fell from several towers, sometimes so quickly that one order appeared before another had disappeared.

"They seems to be asking for reinforcements everywhere."

Rakhar watched the signals through his viewing tube. "Then somewhere in one of the sectors should be receiving close to none."

On the northern wall, that somewhere was rapidly becoming obvious.

The Caldris defenders withdrew around the wall tower. Several militia units moved inside while professional infantry formed near the entrance.

The structure became a compact fortress separating the expanding Viridian-held battlement from the next section of human defenses.

The goblins surrounded the approaches.

Crossbowmen began firing at the upper openings. Shield-bearers moved forward beneath the tower while axe troops prepared behind them. The first attempt to reach the doorway was met by stones thrown from above and crossbow bolts fired from protected windows. Two goblins fell before the axe crews could touch the entrance.

The commander ordered more shields forward.

Farther along the wall, Caldris soldiers attempted to fight their way back toward the tower. They had realized that the men inside were becoming isolated. A group of perhaps several dozen professional soldiers charged along the battlement, hoping to reopen the route before Viridian completely surrounded the position.

Goblin infantry intercepted them.

The two groups collided in a violent melee only yards from the tower. Human strength drove several Viridian troops backward, but there was no room for the Caldris soldiers to maneuver around them. Fresh goblins moved into the fight from the siege tower foothold until the relief force could advance no farther.

Inside the wall tower, the axes kept working.

The entrance cracked.

A heavy blow split one of the planks.

Another widened the damage enough for a spear to thrust through.

The defenders tried to brace the door from inside, but the goblins outside continued hacking at the same section until the damaged timber finally collapsed inward.

Viridian shield-bearers entered first.

The interior was narrower than the battlement. Stone stairs turned sharply upward, and Caldris soldiers defended every level from higher ground. The first goblin through the doorway was struck by a spear almost immediately. The second raised his shield over his head and forced himself onto the first steps while the soldiers behind him pushed forward.

The fighting became brutal and cramped.

The humans had the advantage of elevation, but they were badly outnumbered. Every Caldris soldier who fell opened another step. Every goblin who died was replaced from the doorway below.

The Viridian troops climbed.

One landing fell.

Then another.

Crossbowmen firing from the upper level were forced backward as goblin soldiers reached the stairs beneath them.

The final defenders retreated toward the roof.

Outside, the Caldris relief force made one last attempt to reach the tower entrance. They were stopped several yards away. The humans could see their own banner still flying above the structure, but they could no longer reach the soldiers beneath it.

The last fight on the upper platform did not last long.

Several Caldris defenders tried to retreat along the adjoining battlement. Others remained around the flag and continued fighting until the goblins reached them. The Viridian soldiers overwhelmed the position through sheer numbers and exhaustion.

A goblin standard-bearer climbed onto the roof.

He seized the Caldris banner and pulled it down.

For several seconds, the flagpole stood empty above the northern wall.

Then the Viridian standard rose.

The reaction outside the city was immediate. Thousands of goblins on the northern field cheered as the banner opened in the wind.

Soldiers crossing the siege tower bridge struck weapons against shields. Even formations waiting in reserve joined the shouting when they realized what had happened.

Rakhar saw the banner through his viewing tube.

Varek stood beside him. "That is more than a foothold."

"It is."

"We finally have one of their towers."

Rakhar lowered the tube. "Then do not waste it by running away from it."

Orders went north immediately. The captured structure was to be secured before any deeper advance. Crossbowmen would occupy the upper positions. Fresh infantry would reinforce the interior. Wounded soldiers would be moved back toward the siege tower. The tower would become an anchor around which the northern foothold could expand.

The Caldris soldiers on the neighboring wall sections began withdrawing toward the next defensible positions. They were not running, but the line had changed permanently. Eastwatch no longer controlled its northern defenses as one continuous wall.

Rakhar looked across the city while fighting continued in the east and west and southern catapults maintained their bombardment.

Varek glanced again toward the Viridian banner above the captured tower. "They have lost more than a few yards now."

Rakhar watched the flag move against the smoke-filled sky. "The tower is useful, but that is not what’s important in this small victory. "

"What does?"

Rakhar shifted his gaze across Eastwatch’s divided defenses.

"It proves that they have no adequ troops to reinforce everywhere."

On the northern wall, fresh Viridian soldiers continued pouring across the siege bridge while goblin crossbowmen took position inside the captured tower.

The first major fortification built into Eastwatch’s walls had fallen into Viridian hands, and for the first time since the siege began, the city’s defensive line had been broken in a way that could not be erased by simply pushing the goblins back a few yards.

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