My planet is infested with Goblins

Chapter 80: The Northern Gate

Fresh Viridian soldiers continued pouring across the northern siege tower bridge even as the last Caldris banners disappeared from the captured wall tower.

The stone structure that had anchored the northern defense only minutes earlier was now crowded with goblin crossbowmen, shield-bearers, wounded soldiers, and officers shouting directions down the battlement.

The breach had grown too large to be treated as a temporary foothold. Viridian controlled enough of the northern wall to move troops without forcing every soldier through the same narrow strip of stone, and each new company crossing the siege tower made another Caldris counterattack less likely to succeed.

The northern assault commander stood near the captured tower entrance and watched the flow of reinforcements for only a moment before turning toward the inside of Eastwatch. The wall itself is vital, but thousands of goblins were still waiting outside the northern gate. If he could open that entrance, the siege tower would become almost irrelevant.

He ordered several squads to search the captured section for routes down. The first stairwell beneath the wall tower ended at a blocked lower doorway, but farther along the battlement another access stair remained open.

The Caldris soldiers who had used it to retreat had not possessed enough time to barricade it properly. Viridian shield-bearers descended first, moving cautiously around the curve of the stone stairs while more troops gathered behind them.

The moment the first goblin reached street level, he found himself staring into a northern district already half-abandoned. Civilians had fled deeper into Eastwatch during the fighting, leaving overturned carts, dropped bundles, and shuttered homes along the street. Scattered militia and professional soldiers remained, but they had expected to reinforce the wall rather than meet an enemy already descending behind it.

The northern commander reached the bottom with the second group and immediately stopped several goblins who began looking toward nearby buildings. "Nobody leaves formation. No looting. No chasing civilians. We take the gatehouse first."

The order spread quickly. More soldiers descended behind him until the force inside Eastwatch numbered several hundred and continued growing. The northern gatehouse stood only a short distance away, visible between rows of stone and timber buildings.

From this direction, its defenses looked completely different. The strongest walls, firing positions, and reinforced approaches faced outward toward the Viridian army beyond the city. The rear entrances were narrower and protected, but they had never been designed to withstand a major enemy force that had already captured the wall.

Caldris reacted before the goblins reached it. A group of professional soldiers and militia dragged two carts across the street leading toward the gatehouse, then reinforced them with timber and broken furniture. Crossbowmen appeared in second-floor windows overlooking the road.

Spearmen formed behind the hurried barricade while officers shouted for anyone still available in the northern district to join them.

The Viridian commander raised his shield.

"Forward."

The first goblin ranks advanced in disciplined formation. Crossbow bolts immediately struck their shields and armor. One soldier dropped after a bolt entered his neck above the rim of his shield, while another stumbled when a shaft pierced his thigh.

The front line closed the gaps and continued. Human spearmen waited behind the barricade until the goblins came within reach, then thrust over the carts.

The first clash stopped the Viridian advance.

A human spear smashed into a goblin shield and drove its bearer backward. Another spear slipped through the space between two shields and struck a soldier in the shoulder. Goblin spearmen answered from the second rank, but the barricade protected much of the Caldris formation.

"Axe crews!"

Viridian soldiers carrying axes moved forward beneath the shields. They struck at cart wheels, support beams, and whatever other pieces held the obstruction together. Crossbowmen behind the main formation fired toward the upper windows whenever human shooters exposed themselves.

The Caldris defenders fought fiercely, but the street gave Viridian enough space to operate.

Goblin soldiers could spread across the road instead of compressing into one passage. Fresh troops moved along both sides of the formation. When one shield-bearer fell, another could replace him without forcing an entire column to stop.

More goblins continued descending from the captured wall, and within minutes the force in the street had grown large enough for several ranks to press forward simultaneously.

The first cart broke apart.

Hooks caught its frame, and goblins behind the front line pulled on ropes until one damaged wheel collapsed. The obstruction twisted sideways.

Caldris soldiers surged through the opening in an attempt to kill the axe crews before the barricade failed completely. Human shields slammed into the front goblin ranks, and their greater strength drove several soldiers backward. One Viridian fighter was thrown into the side of a building hard enough to drop his weapon. Another disappeared beneath two human soldiers before an axe struck one defender behind the knee.

The fighting became chaotic for several breaths.

Then Viridian numbers begins to tilt the advantage to the attackers.

Goblin soldiers flowed around the edges of the small human counterattack. Spearmen attacked from the sides. Crossbow bolts came from behind the Viridian formation. The Caldris soldiers realized they were in danger of being surrounded and withdrew behind what remained of the barricade.

They were too late to save it.

A second cart was dragged aside.

The front Viridian ranks surged through.

The Caldris line broke backward toward the gatehouse.

The goblin commander immediately shouted for pursuit but kept his soldiers formation solid. He did not want the attack dissolving into dozens of individual disorganized fights through the side streets. Their objective remained straight ahead.

The rear gatehouse defenders had already begun improvising another position. Tables, barrels, timber, and carts were thrown together across the internal approach. Professional infantry formed behind it while crossbowmen turned away from the outer wall and toward the city. The gatehouse commander clearly understood what the goblins wanted now.

If Viridian reached the mechanism chamber, the northern gate was lost.

The goblin formation hit the second barricade before the humans finished reinforcing it.

Spears stabbed over the obstruction. Shields collided. Axes struck timber. Viridian crossbowmen targeted windows and upper walkways while more assault troops arrived from the wall. The Caldris defenders inflicted casualties, but their line lacked the depth of the eastern gate defenses. They had been assembled in minutes, not prepared over weeks.

The barricade began tearing apart.

A Viridian axe split one of the main braces. Hooks dragged a barrel pile sideways. A wagon shifted to create a narrow opening, and shield-bearing goblins immediately forced themselves through.

The humans tried to seal it.

Too many goblins were already coming.

The breach widened into a close fight directly outside the gatehouse rear entrance. Caldris soldiers used their size and heavier shields to hold the doorway, but every man who fell was difficult to replace. Viridian had hundreds behind the front line, with hundreds more descending from the wall.

The human formation finally yielded.

Some defenders withdrew inside.

Others were trapped outside and overwhelmed.

The goblins entered the gatehouse.

The fighting environment changed immediately. Wide streets became narrow corridors and small guard rooms where human strength mattered again.

Caldris soldiers defended doorways and staircases, forcing the goblins to fight for every room. A human spearman held one stairwell long enough to kill two goblins before an axe hooked his spear shaft and pulled it aside. The next Viridian soldier drove a short sword beneath his arm.

Room by room, the defenders were forced downward.

The northern commander pushed with the leading companies, constantly asking captured layouts from soldiers who had already moved through adjacent chambers. Their route became clearer when they heard the deep chains and mechanisms below.

"That way," an engineer shouted.

The gate mechanism chamber lay beneath the central structure.

The Caldris gate commander had gathered his strongest remaining soldiers there. Heavy locking beams remained seated across the northern doors, while several men were attempting to damage the controls and jam the chains. They had little time.

The Viridian assault hit them before the work was complete.

The doorway became a brutal choke point. Human spears reached through first, killing a goblin before he crossed the threshold. Shield-bearers pushed forward in pairs while soldiers behind them stabbed through gaps. The first attempt stalled.

The northern commander ordered the front ranks changed.

Fresh shield-bearers replaced the exhausted soldiers.

They attacked again.

The Caldris gate commander fought beside his men, shouting for them to hold the mechanism. He struck one goblin across the helmet and knocked him to the floor before another Viridian soldier attacked from beneath his shield. The human blocked the first blow but not the second.

He fell near the locking beam.

The defense weakened immediately.

Goblin soldiers poured into the chamber.

The last Caldris troops fought until they were surrounded. Several tried to retreat through a side passage, while others remained around the controls and were cut down. Within minutes, Viridian held the mechanism room.

The northern commander did not celebrate.

"Engineers!"

They arrived almost immediately.

The Caldris soldiers had damaged part of the control system, but not enough to destroy it. The chains remained intact. The winches could still move. The greater problem was the locking beams.

"Get those out."

Dozens of goblins crowded around the first heavy timber. They lifted together, straining until the end finally rose from its stone bracket. The beam dropped onto the floor with a tremendous crash.

A cheer spread through the chamber.

The second beam followed.

Outside the northern wall, Viridian soldiers saw their banners appearing above the gatehouse. The army waiting beyond the doors began shouting, though they did not yet know whether the gate could actually be opened.

Inside Eastwatch, Caldris reinforcements finally arrived.

The northern commander heard the warning before he saw them. Human troops were advancing through the district toward the gatehouse, perhaps several hundred strong.

"Form outside!" he ordered. "Hold the streets. Nobody reaches this room."

Viridian infantry rushed out through the rear entrance and formed shield lines across the approaches. The Caldris reinforcements struck moments later. Their charge drove the first goblin rank backward, but the street was already packed with Viridian troops coming down from the wall.

The commander turned back toward the engineers.

"Open it."

Goblin crews seized the winches.

The chains tightened.

Nothing happened at first.

The damaged mechanism groaned under the strain.

"Again!"

More soldiers joined the crews.

The winches turned.

The massive northern doors moved slightly.

A thin line of daylight appeared between them.

Outside Eastwatch, thousands of goblins saw it.

The resulting cheer was deafening.

The opening widened another foot.

Then another.

Viridian officers outside immediately began reforming their waiting infantry toward the gate. Soldiers pressed forward eagerly, but commanders forced them into ranks rather than allowing a stampede.

Inside, the Caldris counterattack intensified. Human infantry pushed the Viridian street line closer toward the gatehouse, understanding exactly what the widening light meant. Fresh goblins came down from the wall to reinforce the defenders.

The mechanism continued turning.

The doors opened enough for one soldier.

Then three.

Then an entire rank.

The northern commander looked through the widening entrance and raised his sword toward the army outside.

Viridian horns sounded.

The first shield-bearing company entered Eastwatch.

Another followed immediately behind it.

Then another.

Within moments, the stream became a flood. Goblin infantry marched beneath the captured gatehouse while Viridian banners snapped above them. Spearmen and crossbowmen followed the shield troops, and entire companies that had spent the battle waiting outside finally entered the city without needing a siege tower.

The Caldris soldiers attacking from the southern end of the northern district saw the new formations appearing and began withdrawing before they could be trapped.

The northern commander stood near the gatehouse entrance while the flow of soldiers continued around him. Only hundreds of goblins had crossed the northern wall during the first breach. Now the open gate allowed thousands to follow.

Above them, the Viridian banner remained fixed over the captured gatehouse.

Below, the northern doors stood wide open.

Eastwatch’s northern wall had been breached first, but the opening of the gate is the beginning of the end for the brave defenders of Eastwatch.

Column after column of Viridian infantry entered the city, and the battle that had begun outside Eastwatch’s walls was finally pouring into the streets behind them.

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