Chapter 231: Fortify the Plateau

Chapter 231: Fortify the Plateau

The reports from the broken defensive line continued to worsen. Goblin groups were losing contact with one another, and Astragoths were moving through the defenses the goblins had abandoned. Noah knew the line outside the plateau could no longer be held. If the remaining soldiers stayed scattered, the Astragoths would reach each group separately.

He contacted the senior commander. "Pull everyone who can still move back to the plateau. Do not send anyone forward for equipment or lost positions. Once the men reach the plateau, put them to work on the defense."

The commander answered, "Groups are already coming in, but the landing area is filling quickly. We have wounded men, damaged equipment, and soldiers from different units arriving together. If we leave them where they gather, the plateau will be too crowded to organize."

"Move them as they arrive. Anyone who can still fight goes to an officer. Anyone who can work helps prepare the plateau. Keep the center clear enough for people to move."

The officers already on the plateau changed their orders. Soldiers who had been gathering around the old landing sites were separated and given tasks. Damaged equipment that blocked movement was pushed aside. Wounded goblins were carried away from the places officers planned to use for the defense. Large pieces of pod wreckage stayed where they were unless soldiers needed to move them.

The first groups returning from the fighting were directed straight toward the work. Riflemen joined the nearest officer instead of waiting for their original units. Weapon crews stayed with anything they had brought back that still worked. Soldiers without equipment helped clear the plateau or carried material to the areas where the defenses were being built.

The senior commander inspected the plateau while the work started. He contacted Noah after seeing where most of the soldiers had gathered.

"We do not need to clear the whole area," he said. "Most of the wreckage can stay where it is. The problem is that several places we need for the defense are still blocked, and some of the men are standing around waiting for someone to tell them where to go."

"Then give them somewhere to go. Clear what blocks the defense and leave everything else alone. I do not want men wasting time moving things that do not matter."

The commander reduced the clearing work and sent more soldiers to the defenses. Some dug where the ground could be worked quickly. Others moved pod sections, containers, damaged equipment, and other solid material into places chosen by their officers. No one tried to build permanent fortifications. They needed enough protection for the soldiers to fight from when the Astragoths reached the plateau.

Noah left the exact layout to the officers on the ground. They could see the plateau and judge where their soldiers would be able to fight. His instructions remained simple. Riflemen needed cover. Heavy weapons needed enough room to work. Soldiers had to be able to move behind the defenders without forcing other groups out of place.

Machine-gun crews moved their weapons into prepared areas once officers had enough room for them. RPG teams were placed with the groups most likely to need help against armored Astragoths. Tanks that could still move stayed behind the infantry while the construction continued.

Noah did not want the plateau filled with isolated groups that could not help one another. He told the senior commander to check the spacing between the different sections before too much work was finished.

The commander walked through several areas and found that some officers had spread their soldiers farther apart than necessary. He ordered those groups pulled closer before the men finished building around them. Other areas were left as they were because the soldiers already had enough support nearby.

One officer questioned the change. "If I move these men now, we lose some of the work they already finished."

"You will lose more if the Astragoths reach them and the next group is too far away to help," the commander replied. "Move them now while we still have time. You do not need to rebuild everything they leave behind."

The officer followed the order and shifted his soldiers closer to the neighboring group.

As each section became usable, officers placed riflemen inside it. The soldiers checked their weapons and learned which officer would command them during the next attack. Many groups contained goblins from several different units.

One officer asked whether he should send those men back to their original formations. The senior commander looked at the soldiers already working together before answering.

"If you send them across the plateau, some of them will be looking for officers who never made it back. Others will reach units that have already been combined with someone else. Keep the men you have. Make sure they know who is commanding them and where they are supposed to fight."

The officer kept the group together.

Noah agreed with the decision. Rebuilding the old formations would waste time and break apart groups that were already working. What mattered now was that every soldier had an officer and knew where he was expected to stay once the attack began.

Construction continued across the plateau. Officers stopped adding material once their soldiers had enough protection to fight. Workers then moved to sections that were still exposed. This kept the goblins from spending too much time on one area while another still needed work.

The senior commander also made sure the ground behind the defenders stayed open. Broken equipment and anything else that blocked movement was pushed aside. The plateau did not become neat, but officers and soldiers could move between the different groups without forcing others out of the way.

Crews that had returned without usable equipment were given new jobs. Tank crews without working vehicles helped with construction or joined other crews that still had tanks. Machine-gun crews that had lost their weapons either joined the riflemen or helped other heavy-weapon teams. Officers did not leave able soldiers standing around waiting for equipment that was not coming.

Observers outside the plateau continued reporting on the Astragoths. The enemy had moved beyond the abandoned goblin defenses and was still heading toward the plateau. Ordinary Astragoths remained in front, while armored creatures followed among the larger groups behind them.

The senior commander compared those reports with the work still unfinished. Most of the plateau could already be defended, but several groups still had little cover.

He contacted Noah. "The main areas are usable now. I still have sections where the men are too exposed, and some officers want to keep improving defenses that are already good enough."

"Move the workers to the exposed sections," Noah said. "If a group already has enough cover to fight, leave it alone. We are running out of time."

The commander passed the order down. Soldiers left completed areas and moved to the places that still needed work. Officers who wanted more material around their own men were told to prepare the soldiers they already had.

The remaining construction became simpler. The goblins were no longer trying to improve the whole plateau. They worked only where a clear problem remained.

Mechanics and crews checked damaged weapons and vehicles at the same time. Anything that could be fixed quickly received attention. Equipment that needed major work was set aside.

One tank crew was still working on a damaged vehicle after the other usable tanks had been prepared. The officer responsible for the vehicles walked over and asked the crew leader what was wrong.

"We have not opened the damaged section yet," the crew leader said. "If it is something small, we might be able to repair it. If the damage is deeper, we will not know until we get inside."

"How long will that take?"

"I cannot tell you until we open it."

The officer looked toward the other tanks. "Then leave this one. I need your crew helping with vehicles that can still fight. If we get time later, you can come back to it."

The crew left the damaged tank and joined the others.

Noah supported the decision. The goblins did not need every piece of damaged equipment repaired. They needed the weapons that still worked ready before the Astragoths arrived.

The officers made the same kind of choices across the plateau. A damaged machine gun that could not be repaired quickly was left alone. Soldiers who had been trying to fix it were reassigned. Another group abandoned work on a section of cover after the officer decided his men already had enough protection.

These decisions reduced the number of soldiers still working. More goblins were now standing in the places they would defend.

Noah turned his attention to command. The Astragoths could attack several parts of the plateau at the same time, and the officers there could not wait for permission every time they needed to move a few soldiers.

He contacted the senior commander. "Let the officers handle problems they can solve with the men already under them. I need to know if Astragoths get inside the defenses, if they lose a heavy weapon, or if they need help from another group. I do not need every small decision reported."

"That will make it easier to follow what actually matters," the commander said. "I will tell them to contact us when the problem reaches beyond their own men."

The order went out across the plateau. Local officers continued reporting enemy movement and serious problems, but they handled smaller decisions themselves.

The change also made the command structure clearer. Officers no longer waited for instructions on where to put a handful of riflemen or whether to move men within their own section. They made those choices themselves and contacted the senior commander only when they needed help from outside their group.

Another report came from the observers. The leading Astragoths were closer to the lower part of the plateau. The goblins could now clearly see the ordinary creatures in front and the larger armored Astragoths moving behind them.

Noah ordered the officers not to begin any more construction. Soldiers could finish work that was almost complete, but everyone else had to return to the groups they would fight with.

The order changed the activity across the plateau again. Men put down tools and picked up rifles. Heavy-weapon crews stayed beside their weapons. Tank crews remained with the vehicles that were ready. Officers walked through their groups and checked whether anyone was still missing from the place where he was supposed to fight.

One officer asked for more workers to strengthen a section that already had soldiers inside it. The senior commander checked the report and refused.

"Your men already have cover, and the weapons there can be used," he said. "I am not taking another group away from its own preparation to add more material. Check your soldiers and leave the construction as it is."

The officer accepted the decision and returned to his men.

The plateau was not finished, but the remaining problems were no longer serious enough to justify moving large groups of soldiers. A few sections had less cover than the officers wanted. Some damaged equipment remained where it had been pushed aside. None of it prevented the goblins from fighting.

The senior commander made one final check with the officers. Each group confirmed that its soldiers were present and its working weapons were ready. The mixed groups were left under the officers already commanding them. No one tried to rebuild the old formations before the battle.

The observers sent another report. The first Astragoths had reached the lower ground beneath the plateau. More groups were following them, including armored creatures.

Noah ordered all remaining work to end.

The last soldiers carrying tools returned to their assigned groups. Officers stopped moving men between sections unless a clear problem remained. The heavy-weapon crews stayed beside their guns, and the tank crews prepared to fire once targets came into view.

The senior commander contacted Noah after hearing from the officers. "The men are in place. Some sections are rough, but they can be defended. The weapons that still work are ready."

"Then keep everyone where they are," Noah said. "Do not move another group unless the attack gives you a reason."

The commander passed the order down.

Riflemen watched the ground below the plateau from behind the defenses they had built. Machine-gun crews waited beside their weapons. RPG teams watched for the armored Astragoths, while the remaining tanks stayed behind the infantry.

The first Astragoths began climbing toward the plateau. The goblin officers kept their soldiers behind cover and waited for the enemy to come within range.