Chapter 100: The Road Army Northwatch

Chapter 100: The Road to Northwatch

The Northwatch field army had chosen its battlefield carefully. The main road toward the provincial capital crossed a broad plain that narrowed between low hills to the west and dense woodland to the east, creating a position where a smaller force could prevent a larger army from using its full width.

Shallow trenches cut across the approaches, sharpened stakes covered the easiest paths forward, and ranks of Caldris infantry waited behind them with shields locked and spears angled toward the open ground.

Crossbow formations occupied the second line, while cavalry waited farther behind where the terrain widened enough for mounted movement. By sunrise, more than twenty-five thousand defenders had assembled, with militia and smaller formations still arriving from nearby settlements.

Northwatch had concentrated nearly everything it could move quickly without stripping the provincial capital itself. Professional soldiers occupied the most important sections of the defensive line, while provincial levies and militia filled the spaces behind them.

Their commanders clearly intended this battlefield to become the point where the Viridian advance finally stopped, or at the very least where enough goblins would die to buy Governor Edric Vaelor time to strengthen the capital.

General Vorak Thenn observed the human position from a low ridge several hundred paces away. Scouts had spent the night examining both flanks and identifying possible routes through the woods and hills. Their reports were spread across a field table beside him, showing a defensive position prepared with more care than anything the army had encountered since crossing into Northwatch. The human center was protected by trenches and stakes, the western flank leaned against difficult ground, and the eastern flank used thick woodland to prevent large formations from moving freely.

Against an army of similar size, Vorak would have hesitated before attacking it directly. He still commanded more than eighty thousand soldiers even after leaving thousands behind to surround fortified towns, guard bridges, protect supply depots, and secure the roads leading back toward Eastwatch. That difference in manpower changed what counted as an acceptable battlefield.

One officer pointed toward the woodland and suggested sending light formations through the trees to strike the human right from behind.

Another commander proposed a wider march around the western hills that could force the defenders to abandon their trenches. Vorak listened to both suggestions before shaking his head, because neither plan offered enough advantage to justify delaying the main advance for half a day.

"We are not spending hours trying to solve a problem our numbers can already solve," Vorak said. "Pressure the center and both flanks. Keep enough formations fresh that the humans never receive a proper rest, and do not let anyone mistake a simple plan for a careless one."

Orders spread quickly through the Viridian ranks. The first infantry line prepared to engage the human center directly under crossbow support, while additional formations shifted toward the western hills and eastern woodland.

Light troops moved toward the edges of both difficult areas, not to perform some elaborate hidden maneuver but simply to stretch the defenders farther than they wanted. Several thousand goblins remained behind the opening formations as untouched reserves.

Northwatch opened the battle with crossbows. Bolts descended into the leading Viridian formations as they crossed the open ground, killing some soldiers outright and striking others hard enough to break shields or knock them from their feet.

Viridian crossbowmen answered from behind the infantry, firing repeated volleys toward the human second line and forcing Caldris shooters to lower themselves behind pavises and prepared barriers whenever the incoming fire became too dense.

The first infantry clash favored the defenders. Human spears reached farther than goblin weapons, and the sharpened stakes prevented Viridian soldiers from simply rushing the line in a dense mass. Goblins trying to pass between the obstacles were stabbed before they could bring their shorter blades and spears into effective range.

Others reached the shield wall and attacked low at human legs, but the professional infantry held together well enough to push the first ranks backward.

For nearly an hour, Northwatch’s center barely moved. Human officers saw goblin bodies accumulating in front of the defensive works and began believing their preparations were working exactly as intended.

The professional soldiers remained disciplined, the militia behind them gained confidence, and crossbowmen continued firing whenever gaps appeared between Viridian shields. Some defenders began shouting that the goblins could bleed like anything else, and the words spread quickly through the line.

Vorak showed no concern. He had never expected the first formation to break twenty-five thousand defenders positioned behind prepared ground. Those troops were there to apply pressure, identify where the humans were strongest, and force Northwatch to begin spending strength from the first hour of the battle.

When sections of the opening Viridian line became exhausted, Vorak ordered them withdrawn in sequence. Fresh infantry stepped forward almost immediately, passing around tired soldiers who moved back toward water, healers, and reorganizing officers. The transition was controlled enough that the Caldris defenders could not exploit it.

A younger officer beside Vorak watched the humans cheer when the first goblin formations stepped backward. "They think we are retreating."

"Let them enjoy it," Vorak replied. "The next line will show them what they are facing."

The second Viridian formation struck the same defenses with soldiers who had not yet fought that morning. Engineers advanced under shields and began pulling stakes from the ground while crossbowmen concentrated fire on anyone exposed above the human line.

Northwatch still held, but the rhythm of the battle was changing. Human soldiers remained in place because the defenders did not possess enough reserves to rotate the entire front, while Viridian formations could be withdrawn, rested, and replaced without reducing the pressure.

The numerical difference became even clearer along the flanks. Thousands of goblins moved across the western hills in loose formations, while light infantry pushed through the eastern woodland and began appearing farther along the side of the human position.

Neither movement was particularly sophisticated. Viridian simply had enough soldiers to pressure the sections Northwatch could not afford to ignore.

The human commander reacted by committing cavalry against the western flank. Several hundred riders formed behind the defensive line before charging downhill toward goblins moving through the rough ground. Horses crashed into the first ranks with terrifying force, scattering smaller soldiers and allowing Caldris riders to strike downward with longer weapons.

The western formation bent backward under the impact, creating the first clear local success Northwatch had achieved outside its prepared center.

Vorak did not send nearby infantry running toward the riders. He ordered crossbowmen and fresh shield formations into the threatened sector instead. Bolts began striking horses while new goblin ranks appeared behind those already disrupted, forcing the cavalry to keep fighting against soldiers who had not participated in the earlier clash.

The Northwatch cavalry commander recognized the danger before his riders became trapped. He ordered a withdrawal back toward the human rear, and several goblins immediately tried to pursue until their officers forced them back into formation.

"Leave the cavalry," Vorak ordered. "Break the infantry first. Once the line collapses, the cavalry will have nothing left to protect."

The center continued grinding forward. A third Viridian formation replaced part of the second, and engineers had now cleared several passages through the stakes. Goblin infantry reached the shield wall more consistently, forcing the Caldris spearmen into repeated close combat.

Human soldiers still killed efficiently, especially wherever professional units remained intact, but their movements were slowing after hours of continuous fighting.

The Northwatch commander finally began committing his own reserves. Fresh professional infantry reinforced the center, militia strengthened the western side, and crossbow units were pulled from quieter positions to support the eastern flank.

The defensive line stabilized again, but it did so by consuming nearly every formation that had been held behind it.

One of Vorak’s officers reported the movement while pointing toward the human rear. "Most of their infantry reserve is committed now. They still have cavalry and some smaller formations behind the road, but very little remains untouched."

Vorak looked toward the thousands of Viridian soldiers still waiting behind his own line. "Then we begin spending ours."

Fresh goblin formations moved toward both flanks while the center maintained its pressure. The western attack widened around the low hills, and on the eastern side light infantry pushed farther through the trees until they began appearing beside the human formation rather than entirely in front of it. Northwatch still had soldiers capable of responding to either threat, but doing so forced them to thin other sections.

The human left began bending first. Its commander deliberately ordered several formations backward to avoid being flanked completely, but the movement opened a gap between militia and professional infantry near the center-left.

Viridian troops immediately pushed toward it, forcing nearby Caldris units to turn and close the opening. That weakened the straight defensive line that had protected them earlier.

Crossbow formations began moving backward, militia mixed with professional soldiers, and officers ran between units trying to restore alignment. The trenches and sharpened stakes that had given Northwatch its initial advantage were gradually being abandoned as sections of the army were forced away from them.

Vorak committed his main reserve at that moment. Thousands of fresh goblins advanced toward the weakening center and western flank, meeting humans who had already been fighting for hours.

The difference in exhaustion was visible almost immediately. Caldris soldiers still killed goblins in close combat, but they no longer possessed the strength to push them backward after each clash.

The western line lost ground steadily. Twenty paces became forty, and then entire formations began retreating toward the road to prevent themselves from being surrounded. The Northwatch commander finally understood that remaining on the field would lead to encirclement and ordered an organized withdrawal toward the provincial capital.

Professional infantry formed the rear guard while crossbowmen and militia began moving first. Cavalry shifted toward both sides of the retreating army in an attempt to discourage Viridian pressure, and for several minutes the withdrawal remained controlled.

Vorak allowed it to begin before ordering the next stage. "Pressure the rear guard. Light troops around both sides, but nobody scatters beyond command distance. We break the army without breaking our formations."

Viridian infantry struck the professional rear guard while lighter formations moved along the edges of the withdrawal. Crossbows fired whenever openings appeared between the human ranks. The rear guard fought well, but every step backward made maintaining order more difficult.

Wagons clogged sections of the road. Militia trying to move around them collided with retreating crossbow formations. Cavalry moved faster than the infantry and widened the gaps between groups.

One Viridian formation reached the flank of a militia column and attacked before it could reform.

That unit broke first. Men abandoned formation and ran toward the main road despite officers trying to stop them, while nearby soldiers accelerated their own retreat out of fear that they would be left behind. The collapse spread faster after that.

Professional formations continued resisting longer than the militia, but abandoned wagons, scattered crossbowmen, frightened horses, and fleeing soldiers destroyed the clean retreat routes they needed. Cavalry escaped more easily, which only deepened the impression among many infantrymen that the battle had already been abandoned.

Vorak allowed scouts and light troops to pursue enough to prevent the survivors from immediately regrouping, but he kept the main army under control. He had no interest in scattering tens of thousands of soldiers across Northwatch simply to kill exhausted men running through fields.

The provincial capital remained the objective, and every hour wasted on pursuit gave Governor Edric Vaelor more time to strengthen its defenses.

By late afternoon, the battlefield belonged completely to Viridian. Bodies, broken shields, abandoned spears, discarded crossbows, and overturned wagons covered the defensive ground. Hundreds of prisoners were gathered near the old trenches, while Viridian healers moved among their wounded and officers reorganized the units that had suffered most heavily during the first assaults.

The casualty count remained preliminary, but Viridian had clearly paid a substantial price in the opening attacks against prepared positions.

Even so, the main army remained overwhelmingly intact. Northwatch’s field army had suffered a different kind of damage because its surviving formations were scattered toward the provincial capital and nearby settlements without enough organization to quickly rebuild another comparable force.

Vorak stood beside the captured road as officers brought him reports on casualties, prisoners, supplies, and troops still capable of marching. He listened until the major formations had been accounted for before giving his next orders.

"Rest the front formations enough for them to eat, drink, and treat the wounded." Vorak said. "Clear the road before sunset, maintain every siege detachment behind us, and have the leading units ready to move again at first light."

An officer looked toward the distant road leading to the capital. "You want to continue tomorrow?"

Vorak nodded. "Governor Vaelor expected this army to stop us. I want him to see our banners before he has enough time to build another one."

The consequences were already reaching Northwatch’s capital. Edric received the first survivors before nightfall, and although their reports contradicted one another on the exact numbers and sequence of the collapse, every account agreed on the essentials. The field army had been shattered, the defensive position had been lost, and the goblins were continuing toward the city instead of remaining on the battlefield to consolidate.

Edric ordered another wave of messages sent toward Redhaven, Valemar, Stoneford, and the royal capital. His earlier warnings had asked for help against a dangerous invasion, but the new messages demanded immediate reinforcement against an army already approaching the provincial capital. He ordered militia into service, strengthened the city gates, and summoned every soldier still available from nearby districts.

His appeal to Governor Lucan Merrow of Valemar became more urgent as well. Edric argued that Northwatch was clearly the main target of the Viridian offensive and that the other eastern provinces could no longer afford to keep all of their mobile troops waiting behind quiet borders.

He requested cavalry, crossbow formations, engineers, supplies, and any infantry that could arrive before the goblins reached the capital.

Far away in Eastwatch, Rakhar received confirmation of Vorak’s victory and marked another day beside the northern invasion arrow on his campaign map.

Northwatch’s field army had been broken, its governor was asking the neighboring provinces for help, and Redhaven had already begun moving troops toward the northern front. Additional requests were reaching Valemar as the crisis deepened.

Rakhar kept the southern timetable unchanged. Training continued in the Valemar invasion camps, supply wagons followed ordinary schedules, and no unusual concentration appeared beside the southern border.

His commanders were forbidden from moving early simply because the northern campaign was progressing quickly, because the second offensive depended on Caldris becoming convinced that Northwatch was where Viridian had committed its next major effort.

Every quiet day along the Valemar frontier strengthened that assumption.

By the following morning, the first Viridian formations were already leaving the captured battlefield and resuming the march toward Northwatch’s provincial capital. Fortified towns still resisted behind them, and siege detachments remained around those walls, but none of those unfinished battles were allowed to stop the main advance.

The road toward Governor Edric Vaelor was open, and the goblins were moving down it in numbers Northwatch could no longer meet in the field. Far to the south, Valemar continued watching an apparently quiet border while Rakhar allowed the remaining days of his fifteen-day plan to pass.