My planet is infested with Goblins

Chapter 93: Message to the Viridian Throne

Night had settled over Eastwatch by the time Grand Marshal Rakhar Veyr finally returned to the administrative building that now served as his headquarters.

The city beyond the windows was quieter than it had been at any point since the siege began, though silence did not mean peace. Viridian patrols still moved through the streets, engineers worked around the damaged gates, and occasional shouts echoed from districts where isolated Caldris soldiers were being disarmed or escorted into custody.

Inside the former military offices, goblin officers carried ledgers, maps, and bundles of captured documents from room to room while scribes struggled to keep up with the flood of information arriving from every occupation sector.

Rakhar stood over a broad wooden table that had once belonged to Eastwatch’s provincial military command. A captured map of the eastern region had been spread across it and weighted down at the corners with daggers, stones, and an overturned ink bottle.

Five provinces were marked across the eastern territory of Caldris. Eastwatch Province occupied only one portion of that expanse, and Rakhar had ordered a dark line drawn around its borders to show the land that was now effectively under Viridian control.

Beyond it lay four more provinces, their cities, roads, rivers, and fortresses still largely untouched by the Divine Expeditionary Army.

Varek entered carrying several rolls of parchment and placed them beside the map. "The last preliminary reports from the southern and western sectors have arrived. The northern count is still incomplete, and they are still recovering bodies near the walls."

Rakhar did not look away from the map. "Then we call it preliminary. I will not send false numbers."

Rakhar finally straightened and looked toward the officers gathering around the table. He had ordered every major branch of the expedition to send representatives: supply, healing, engineering, prisoner control, siege crews, infantry, and occupation command.

The room quickly filled with scarred soldiers carrying tablets and reports. Several had not slept since the city fell, and none looked as though they expected to do so soon.

Rakhar pointed toward the nearest scribe. "Begin with the original strength."

"Thirty thousand soldiers crossed through the Gate Beyond Heaven under the Divine Mandate."

"Record that exactly."

The scribe began writing.

Rakhar turned toward the casualty officers next. "Current dead?"

The first officer glanced down at his figures. "Not final. We have confirmed losses from the early provincial fighting, the battle against the human counteroffensive, pursuit actions, road occupation, and the siege. The dead from Eastwatch are still being gathered from the walls and inner districts."

"Then make haste."

The officer nodded. "The eastern gate produced some of the worst losses."

Rakhar’s expression tightened slightly. Everyone in the room knew why.

The eastern entrance had consumed soldiers for little gain. Viridian had battered the gate, crossed exposed ground under bolts and stones, and repeatedly tried to force a narrow passage where the larger human defenders could concentrate their strength. Rakhar had eventually changed the plan, but only after enough blood had been spilled to teach the lesson properly.

"Write this," Rakhar said. "The eastern gate became an unfavorable assault point. Continued direct pressure produced losses without decisive progress. Command expanded the assault to the northern, southern, and western sectors."

The scribe hesitated and looked up.

Varek noticed it too. "You want that included in the royal report?"

"Yes."

"It reads like an admission of error."

"It is an admission of error."

Several officers shifted uncomfortably.

Rakhar rested both hands against the table. "If the king sends another army into another city and its commander repeats my mistake because I hid it to protect my pride, then those deaths belong partly to me. Leave it."

The scribe lowered his head and continued.

Rakhar moved on to the campaign itself. He dictated the progression without exaggeration. The expeditionary army had crossed successfully into the foreign world.

The portal zone had been secured first, followed by expansion into the surrounding countryside. Villages were occupied. Roads and bridges were controlled. Mills, granaries, crossings, and administrative settlements were seized where strategically useful. Larger fortified cities were isolated rather than stormed unnecessarily, allowing Viridian to take control of productive land while denying Caldris the ability to move freely through the province.

Then came the human counteroffensive.

Rakhar pointed toward a location farther west of Eastwatch on the map. "Their provincial command sent a field force against us. Professional soldiers. Disciplined. Stronger individually than our infantry."

Varek added, "Their commander fought well during the first engagement."

"Record that too."

The scribe continued writing as Rakhar summarized the battle. The Caldris army had resisted effectively in daylight. Viridian casualties were significant. Fresh reinforcements later allowed a midnight assault.

The human formation broke, its retreat became a rout, and Viridian pursuit troops destroyed the remaining organized resistance. Colonel Alaric Veyne, the commander of the force, was eventually killed with the last surviving group.

Rakhar did not describe it as glorious.

The destruction of that army had removed the largest mobile Caldris force capable of contesting the countryside, and Viridian had used the opportunity to complete the occupation of Eastwatch Province before turning its strength toward the provincial capital.

The officers around the table became quieter when Rakhar began dictating the siege.

"Eastwatch was not attacked immediately," he said. "We contained it first. Six thousand troops maintained the principal pressure while other formations completed control of the province. Once the countryside was secure and the surrounding fortified settlements were isolated, the mobile army concentrated against the capital."

The scribe recorded every stage.

Siege towers had been brought forward.

Catapults and ballistas had opened the bombardment.

Battering rams attacked the eastern gate.

Viridian troops gained footholds on the eastern battlements but failed to break the central defensive position quickly. The gate itself eventually shattered, yet the barricaded passage behind it remained too strong for a direct breakthrough.

Rakhar paused there.

"That is where the strategy changed."

The northern, southern, and western assaults had been activated in force. The humans had already concentrated too heavily toward the east and could not defend every wall equally. The northern tower reached first. Goblins secured a foothold, captured a wall tower, descended into the city, and eventually opened the northern gate from inside.

From there the city began collapsing sector by sector.

The northern force split into multiple groups. One pushed toward the center. Another moved westward. Another turned east to pressure the defenders from behind. The southern assault then gained two footholds, descended from the wall, seized the southern gatehouse from within, and opened another major entrance.

The western line weakened under pressure from both directions.

Then the south collapsed.

Then the east.

Rakhar dictated the sequence with the same tone he might have used to inventory grain.

"Western troops reached the central government district first. The government compound was surrounded and assaulted before its defenses could be fully reorganized. General Cedric Halvern died during the final defense of the main administrative hall. Lord Governor Marcellan Rusk surrendered and remains alive in our custody."

The room became still for a moment.

Even spoken plainly, that statement carried weight.

The governor of the province was a prisoner.

The provincial military commander was dead.

The capital belonged to Viridian.

Rakhar looked at the scribe. "Now write this carefully. Eastwatch Province, first of five provinces in the eastern region, has effectively fallen under Viridian control."

The scribe repeated the sentence under his breath before writing it.

Rakhar continued. "Do not write that the entire eastern region is secured. Four provinces remain. Some fortified cities inside Eastwatch Province also still hold Caldris troops, but they are isolated and no longer control the surrounding territory. Provincial administration, major roads, agricultural areas, and the capital are under our authority."

The king needed victory, but he also needed scale.

One province had fallen.

Four remained.

Rakhar turned toward the supply officer. "Occupation requirements."

The officer unfolded another report. "Eastwatch itself needs a permanent garrison. The northern and southern gates require engineers and guards. The eastern gate cannot be left without a strong force until repairs are complete. Roads need patrols. Prisoners need guards. The isolated cities still require containment forces. The portal line must remain protected."

"And the countryside?"

"Stable for now, but only because troops are everywhere."

Rakhar nodded. "That is the problem."

Victory consumed soldiers almost as efficiently as battle did.

Every village held required a few troops.

Every bridge required guards.

Every captured granary needed protection.

Every prisoner required supervision.

An army that conquered territory without receiving replacements would eventually become too scattered to continue advancing.

Rakhar looked toward the scribe again. "Begin the request."

This time the officers listened more closely.

"We require a second force from Viridian. Not another ceremonial expedition. Occupation troops first. Garrison infantry, engineers, healers, supply personnel, administrators, replacement siege crews, and fresh field formations."

Varek added, "Administrators?"

"Especially administrators."

Rakhar gestured toward the captured building around them. "We control humans now. Roads, grain, taxes, prisoners, disputes, warehouses, records. Soldiers can hold a street. They cannot govern a province forever."

One of the younger officers asked, "You expect the king to send civilians through the Gate?"

"I expect him to understand that conquest without government is temporary."

Rakhar stepped around the table and pointed toward the four unconquered provinces.

"If we intend to take these, then veteran troops cannot spend the rest of the war standing beside Eastwatch granaries. Fresh forces must replace them here."

The room fell silent again.

The scale of the next stage had become obvious.

This was no longer a raid.

Viridian was building a presence in another world.

Rakhar dictated additional instructions concerning the Gate Beyond Heaven. Its defenses were to be strengthened on both sides. The portal had become the expedition’s lifeline. Reinforcements, supplies, administrators, specialists, and messages would all depend upon it. Losing the gate would turn Eastwatch from a conquest into a trap.

When the formal report was nearly complete, Rakhar ordered the scribe to begin a separate page.

"This is for the king personally."

The scribe prepared fresh ink.

Rakhar spoke more slowly.

"The first province has fallen. The humans are stronger than their appearance suggests, particularly when defending prepared positions. Their soldiers are physically larger than ours and dangerous behind walls, shields, and narrow approaches. Their cities cannot be taken cheaply through simple numbers."

He paused before continuing.

"They can be defeated. Discipline, logistics, coordinated pressure, siege engineering, and proper use of our population advantage are sufficient. But the war will require more than the first expedition."

Varek watched him carefully.

Rakhar added one final passage.

"Under the command of the Divine Mandate, we have been given an opportunity beyond anything Viridian has attempted before. Our God has watched but has allowed his servants to fight this war through our own strength and judgment. We must prove that trust was not misplaced."

The scribe finished.

Rakhar reviewed the pages himself.

By midnight, the report had been sealed inside a reinforced case along with copies of maps, casualty records, captured Caldris insignia, and the official seal taken from the provincial government. A trusted courier was summoned and ordered to carry the case back toward the portal under escort.

Rakhar handed it over personally.

"You do not stop except to change mounts, eat, or sleep when necessary. If you die, your escort carries it. If they die, whoever remains carries it."

The courier struck a fist against his chest. "The king will receive it."

Rakhar watched the small mounted group leave the government district and disappear into the dark streets leading westward toward Viridian-controlled roads.

Only after they were gone did he return to the table.

Eastwatch Province had been marked.

Four others remained untouched.

Varek stood beside him. "You are already thinking about the next one."

Rakhar studied the borders in silence before answering. "The report tells the king what we have taken. This map tells me where our next move will be."

Outside, the Viridian banner moved above the captured government hall while the courier carrying news of victory rode toward the Gate Beyond Heaven. For the first time since the expedition crossed into Caldris, the King of Viridian would soon learn that his soldiers had conquered a foreign province.

Rakhar, however, kept his eyes on the four that remained.

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