Chapter 99: The Northern Hammer Falls

Chapter 99: The Northern Hammer Falls

Before dawn, the northern staging grounds of Eastwatch Province were already awake.

Campfires burned beside roads crowded with infantry, engineers, crossbow formations, supply wagons, and siege crews preparing for movement.

Viridian banners rose above ranks that seemed to stretch from one military camp to the next, while officers moved along the formations checking assignments for the final time.

Nearly one hundred thousand goblins had been selected for the Northwatch offensive, making the army more than three times larger than the force that had originally crossed the Gate Beyond Heaven to begin the Divine War.

Grand Marshal Rakhar Veyr watched from a raised section beside the northern road as the first formations prepared to depart. He would not accompany the invasion as its direct field commander because Northwatch was only the first half of the strategy he had already set in motion.

Eastwatch remained the center of the wider campaign, and fifteen days from now another army would move toward Valemar. General Vorak Thenn therefore stood at the head of the northern force, surrounded by officers who had already received the doctrine Rakhar expected them to follow.

Rakhar looked toward Vorak before the general mounted. "Do not let any fortifications slow down your pace. The provincial capital is your objective, and anything that can be contained without stopping the army should be contained."

Vorak nodded and answered that if an enemy position blocked the road, they would break it, while anything that could be bypassed would be surrounded and left behind. Rakhar approved but reminded him that overwhelming numbers were useful only if they created more angl3s of attack rather than encouraging wasteful attacks.

Vorak struck his fist against his chest before turning toward the road. Horns sounded through the staging ground soon afterward, and the northern army began its advance in earnest.

The largest columns moved along the main route toward Northwatch, while several supporting formations took parallel roads intended to secure bridges, crossroads, and supply points. Siege equipment followed farther behind so that heavy towers, catapults, ballistas, and battering rams would not slow the fastest infantry formations during the opening push.

Caldris scouts saw them long before the border was crossed, exactly as Rakhar had intended. Mounted observers disappeared from distant hills while Viridian columns continued north without changing formation or making any effort to conceal their numbers.

By sunrise, the leading scouts had passed the provincial boundary, and within the hour the first large infantry formations entered Northwatch beneath rows of Viridian standards.

The first Caldris soldiers encountered were border patrols that had been watching the roads for days. Most retreated as soon as the scale of the advance became clear, carrying warnings toward nearby settlements and military posts.

One smaller garrison attempted to hold a fortified checkpoint built where the road narrowed between low stone embankments.

Several hundred human soldiers formed behind wooden barriers and sharpened stakes, supported by crossbowmen firing from raised platforms that overlooked the approach.

Vorak received the report while the main column was still approaching. One officer suggested bringing the entire leading formation forward to overwhelm the checkpoint quickly, but Vorak rejected the idea because twenty thousand soldiers did not need to stop behind a position defended by hundreds.

He ordered three companies forward under shields, positioned crossbowmen along the embankments, and instructed engineers to clear the stakes once the defenders had been sufficiently suppressed. The formations behind them were ordered to continue preparing for movement rather than crowding the road.

The humans fought hard despite the difference in numbers. Their crossbow bolts struck the advancing shields, and long spears punished goblins who tried to force themselves between the barricades too quickly.

Several Viridian soldiers fell during the first push, but fresh ranks replaced them almost immediately. Crossbowmen spread along both sides of the road and began firing into the raised Caldris positions while engineers dragged away sections of the obstacle under shield cover.

The checkpoint collapsed in less than an hour, but the victory still cost Viridian blood. Once the first barricade broke, goblin infantry poured through in numbers the defenders could not match.

The surviving humans attempted to withdraw toward the rear road, only to discover that mounted scouts and light infantry were already moving around the position. Some escaped into the countryside, while others surrendered or died near the broken barriers, and the main Viridian column resumed their movement before the last bodies had even been removed from the road.

That pace continued deeper into Northwatch as the army refused to let minor resistance dictate its schedule. By midday, the leading formations encountered a fortified town positioned beside one of the major routes toward the provincial interior.

Its stone walls were far stronger than the border checkpoint, and several thousand defenders had already closed the gates. From the battlements, Caldris soldiers watched the approaching formations and prepared for what they assumed would become a full siege.

Vorak inspected the town from a nearby hill and asked how many roads passed around it. A scout commander reported that two routes remained usable, with the western road narrow but clear and the eastern route several hours longer because it crossed a shallow river.

Vorak studied the fortifications only briefly before ordering nine thousand soldiers to remain behind with engineers, ranged troops, and enough supplies to maintain a prolonged containment.

The officer beside him warned that nine thousand soldiers would not capture the fortifications quickly. Vorak answered that they did not need to capture them quickly because the town’s value came from its ability to obstruct the road, and once the main army moved around it, that value disappeared.

He ordered the siege detachment to close every gate, prevent sorties, and wait for later reinforcements while the rest of the army continued along the western route.

The defenders did not understand what was happening until thousands of goblins began marching past their town instead of toward its walls. Siege lines formed outside the gates, but most of the Viridian army continued northward in dense columns. By evening, the town remained under Caldris colors, yet it no longer stood between the invasion and the provincial capital. It had become a trapped stronghold behind a front that was already moving beyond it.

Reports of the invasion raced ahead faster than the main columns could march. Governor Edric Vaelor received the first warning shortly after midday inside Northwatch’s provincial capital, where a courier arrived after riding hard enough that his horse collapsed in the palace courtyard.

The message confirmed what Edric had argued during the governors’ council only days before: Viridian had chosen Northwatch, and the invasion was not a collection of raids but a massive advance involving several columns.

Edric summoned his senior commanders immediately and ordered every prepared measure activated. Border garrisons incapable of holding were to withdraw before being surrounded, provincial troops were to concentrate along the roads leading toward the capital, militias were to begin assembling, and every important granary was placed under military protection.

He also ordered messages dispatched simultaneously to Redhaven, Valemar, Stoneford, and the royal capital, warning them that the northern invasion had begun in overwhelming strength.

The message sent toward Redhaven was especially urgent because Northwatch stood directly between Redhaven and the advancing goblins. Edric reminded Governor Seraph Dorne that if Northwatch collapsed, Redhaven would become the next exposed province without another territorial barrier in front of it.

His appeal to Valemar was more direct: the direction of the main Viridian offensive now appeared clear, and Governor Lucan Merrow should release mobile forces that could reinforce the northern defense before the goblins reached the provincial capital.

While those messages rode south and west, Vorak continued pushing forward without allowing the political reaction behind the Caldris lines to slow him. Another human force attempted to defend a bridge late on the second day. Several thousand soldiers had formed behind prepared obstacles while workers damaged sections of the structure before Viridian reached it.

Vorak sent engineers forward under heavy crossbow cover while another formation moved toward a nearby ford identified by scouts, forcing the defenders to respond to two crossing attempts at once.

The Caldris commander recognized the danger before complete encirclement became possible and ordered a withdrawal. Viridian engineers moved onto the damaged bridge immediately, repairing the worst sections while infantry secured both banks.

The main army began crossing before sunset, and supporting troops occupied the nearby roads so the retreating defenders could not return once the repairs were completed.

By the third day, Viridian formations controlled several important crossroads, while supply units had already established temporary depots behind the advance. Fortified towns that resisted remained surrounded by detachments, but the bulk of the army continued toward the center of Northwatch.

Vorak’s field strength was gradually decreasing as soldiers were left behind, although his main body remained far larger than anything Eastwatch had faced during the early stages of the previous invasion.

One officer brought Vorak the latest manpower figures while they marched and reported that nearly seventeen thousand troops had already been detached for sieges, road security, bridge protection, and supply positions.

Vorak studied the figures and replied that the army still possessed more than enough strength to continue. If the detached forces eventually required replacement, future waves from Eastwatch could assume those duties while the veterans rejoined the advance.

The officer warned that continuing at the same rate could leave the main body with only half its original strength before reaching the capital.

Vorak reminded him that the Grand Marshal had not assigned one hundred thousand soldiers so that all one hundred thousand would stand beneath the same wall. The manpower existed precisely so resistance could be contained without bringing the offensive to a halt.

That evening, Viridian scouts returned with informations. Northwatch was beginning to assemble a substantial field army along the primary route toward the provincial capital.

Multiple garrisons had joined it, militia formations were arriving, and additional forces were expected from deeper inside the province.

The exact numbers remained uncertain, but the gathering army was clearly much larger than the scattered resistance Viridian had crushed during the opening days.

Vorak spread the scout sketches across a field table inside the command tent. The humans had chosen ground near a broad plain crossed by the main road, with low hills protecting one flank and woodland restricting movement on the other.

Their intention was obvious: establish a position strong enough to stop the direct Viridian advance before it reached the provincial capital.

One commander suggested bypassing the field army and continuing along secondary roads, but Vorak rejected the idea. A fortified town could be contained because it could not move, while a large field army left behind would threaten every convoy, siege detachment, and supply line the goblins had established.

This was not a position to surround and forget; it was an enemy force that had to be broken.

Vorak ordered the main formations to begin concentrating while crossbow units moved forward and scouts examined both flanks. He did not intend to spend days attempting elaborate maneuvers around the human army when Viridian possessed the numbers to confront it directly. The coming battle would determine whether the road toward the provincial capital remained open, but Vorak refused to begin the engagement before his formations were properly assembled.

Back in Eastwatch, Rakhar received the first detailed reports from Northwatch before the third day ended. The invasion was proceeding according to plan, and intercepted movements confirmed that Northwatch was already requesting support from Redhaven and Valemar.

Caldris couriers were leaving the province in large numbers, while the northern governors were beginning to react exactly as Rakhar had predicted during the planning council.

Rakhar marked the third day beside the northern invasion arrow and studied the southern half of the campaign map. Twelve days remained before the Valemar offensive was scheduled to begin, and he had no intention of moving that timetable forward simply because Northwatch had reacted quickly.

A southern officer asked whether the Valemar army should begin concentrating closer to the border, but Rakhar ordered the existing camp pattern maintained so that the quiet southern frontier would continue reinforcing the illusion that the main eastern war had already begun in the north.

Training continued in the southern camps while wagons remained distributed among normal supply depots and occupation routes. No unusual concentration was permitted near Valemar, because Rakhar wanted its governor watching Northwatch absorb the first invasion and gradually deciding that his own province had escaped the immediate blow.

Northwatch had been given the answer the eastern governors wanted, and Rakhar needed them to believe that answer long enough to act on it.

Far beyond Eastwatch, Vorak’s army continued gathering opposite the first major Northwatch field force standing between it and the provincial capital, while fortified towns remained surrounded behind the advance and Viridian patrols guarded the roads connecting the invasion back to Eastwatch.

The first hammer had descended and was still driving northward, while the second remained deliberately motionless in the south. Rakhar needed only twelve more days before the quiet along the Valemar border would end.