Chapter 137: Four Ways to Win

Chapter 137: Four Ways to Win

Viridian struck the enemy, and Noah immediately saw that the southern empire had already prepared the battlefield around the moving Draeven column.

Several vehicles moved at the front while infantry spread along the fields on both sides, watching orchards, irrigation channels, and stone walls for movement.

Farther ahead, goblin workers had weakened an embankment overlooking the road. Once the lead vehicles entered the narrow section below, the slope collapsed across the route in a wave of soil, timber, and broken stone.

The first truck stopped almost immediately while the vehicles behind it were forced to slow down.

A ballista bolt then smashed into a military truck near the middle of the convoy, throwing men from the rear as the vehicle lurched sideways across the road.

Another heavy bolt struck one of the lighter armored transports before Draeven infantry located the firing position and opened fire toward the tree line. Viridian did not remain long to trade shots, and the ballista crews abandoned their positions before the first mortar round landed.

Crossbowmen disappeared through irrigation channels while Draeven soldiers spread outward to secure the surrounding fields.

Several vehicles attempted to leave the blocked road, but water released from nearby canals throughout the night had turned much of the neighboring farmland into deep mud.

The first utility vehicle lost speed within seconds, and another became trapped while trying to maneuver around it.

Noah watched the convoy begin breaking apart as the formation lost the mobility that had held its soldiers and vehicles together.

Several squads remained with the stranded machines while another group pushed toward higher ground. Viridian immediately attacked the growing gaps rather than wasting troops against the strongest concentration of Draeven soldiers.

One isolated squad disappeared behind an orchard after goblin soldiers closed from both sides. Another group withdrew toward the landing area but abandoned a damaged vehicle after a ballista crew appeared farther ahead along the road.

The fighting continued throughout the morning without producing a single overwhelming assault. Instead, the Draeven force became smaller in sections until its remaining formations could no longer reconnect with one another.

By midday, the last organized position had been surrounded near a cluster of farm buildings.

Viridian waited until the volume of gunfire weakened before advancing from several directions and eliminating the remaining defenders.

The academy interface changed shortly afterward and marked the Viridian invasion force as destroyed.

Round Four remained active, it is because three other detachments were still fighting across Noah’s world.

Noah had already shifted his attention toward Varkesh, where the central empire was tightening its own battlefield.

The Draeven force there had abandoned its earlier attempt to push freely through the surrounding region and was now moving toward a fortified town controlling several important roads.

Mortars struck positions ahead of the column while infantry advanced around the vehicles.

Varkesh gave ground instead of trying to stop the movement directly, allowing defensive groups along the road to withdraw before Draeven reached effective firing distance.

Another formation pulled out of a nearby village and disappeared behind low hills. The opening looked inviting enough that the Draeven column continued deeper toward the town while the units guarding its rear became increasingly stretched.

Then Varkesh closed the roads behind it. Goblin formations emerged from settlements that had seemed abandoned only hours earlier, while regional garrisons moved along side roads and occupied bridges and intersections farther back.

The Draeven force turned to reopen its connection with the landing area. Machine guns cleared one approach and forced several hundred goblins away from an exposed field, while mortar fire broke another formation before it could reach the road.

Varkesh simply filled the gaps with new troops. More soldiers arrived from neighboring settlements, and the pressure continued from several directions instead of collapsing after the first repulsed attack.

Noah watched the encirclement tighten through the rest of the day. Draeven could break through individual Varkesh positions, but every breakthrough seemed to reveal another formation waiting farther behind.

By evening, the invaders had begun withdrawing toward their original landing region. Several transport airships appeared the following morning and descended toward open fields near the shrinking Draeven perimeter.

The first transport successfully reached the ground and took aboard several wounded soldiers before rising again. Varkesh reacted before the next aircraft could repeat the maneuver and began moving ballista crews from nearby fortifications toward likely landing areas.

The second transport descended under immediate fire from multiple positions. Most bolts missed and one struck the underside without causing serious damage, but the pilot pulled away before reaching the ground.

A third aircraft circled farther north and found Varkesh infantry already occupying the field beneath it. The transport refused to descend into the waiting crossbow formations and eventually climbed away.

The Draeven soldiers below were forced back toward their original landing area as their easiest escape route disappeared. They began fortifying the remaining position with vehicles, machine guns, and whatever field defenses they could establish.

Varkesh did not rush the perimeter immediately. The ring tightened slowly while isolated posts were cut away from the central position and prevented from receiving fresh ammunition.

One outer post fell after its firing weakened, while another was abandoned when Varkesh troops occupied the road behind it. The remaining Draeven soldiers concentrated near the landing site, where overlapping machine-gun positions made every open approach dangerous.

The final advance cost Varkesh heavily, but the attackers continued changing routes instead of feeding soldiers into the same killing ground.

Eventually, one formation reached the perimeter through a line of storage buildings and forced the battle inside the Draeven position.

Once the fighting spread through the enclosed area, the prepared fields of fire became less useful. The last pocket collapsed before sunset, and the second invasion marker vanished from Noah’s view.

Noah turned north and found Skargrim preparing a very different ending. A large portion of the northern Draeven force was moving south through the valley in a convoy carrying supplies and wounded soldiers.

Trucks occupied the middle while infantry marched along the sides, and several armed vehicles protected the front and rear. The road ahead narrowed between steep slopes covered in scattered trees and exposed stone.

Skargrim allowed the convoy to enter the narrow section without revealing how many troops were waiting above. The first vehicles passed through one bend, followed by the center of the column and finally the rear elements.

Only after most of the force had entered did the terrain around them begin changing. Trees crashed across the road ahead while boulders and felled timber blocked the route behind.

The convoy stopped between the two barriers, and Draeven infantry dismounted almost immediately. Machine guns opened toward the ridges while mortar teams began firing at likely positions above the trapped vehicles.

The first shells struck empty ground because Skargrim had already shifted its soldiers to new positions. Crossbow bolts came from farther up the slope, and a heavy projectile struck a truck near the center of the convoy hard enough to ignite part of its cargo.

Draeven infantry began climbing toward the high ground in an attempt to drive the goblins away. The first group made progress until the slope narrowed between two rocky outcrops, where Skargrim soldiers appeared above them and attacked before disappearing again.

A second group attempted to climb the opposite ridge and encountered the same problem. Every Draeven advance drew soldiers away from the convoy, but none of them lasted long enough to secure the heights permanently.

Noah realized Skargrim was not trying to destroy the trapped force immediately. The northern goblins were keeping the convoy fixed in place while forcing its soldiers to spend ammunition, manpower, and time attacking terrain that refused to stay cleared.

The Draeven soldiers spent much of the afternoon reopening portions of the road. Each success lasted only briefly because another tree fell farther ahead or new debris appeared across sections engineers had already cleared.

Small Skargrim groups repeatedly targeted anyone working on the obstacles. By nightfall, the convoy had barely moved, and the firing from below had already become more selective.

Skargrim began its first serious descent before dawn. Goblin formations moved from several directions, using rocks and trees for protection while crossbowmen kept pressure on the trapped soldiers below.

Draeven rifles and grenades drove back the first attack. A second assault came against the middle of the convoy, while another struck the rear before defenders could fully reposition.

Noah watched the trapped force struggle to decide where to concentrate. Once one of the vehicle positions fell, Skargrim soldiers began moving along the road itself and attacking the convoy from within its formation.

The center broke first, dividing the remaining Draeven troops into smaller groups. Several soldiers attempted to fight toward the southern barrier but found the route beyond it already filled with northern goblins.

By midday, the convoy had been destroyed. The loss also removed most of the supplies supporting the remaining Draeven positions elsewhere in the valley.

Smaller enemy groups began abandoning their posts and moving toward the original landing area. Skargrim followed them from the ridges and repeatedly blocked the roads.

By evening, the northern invasion had ended and the third marker disappeared. Noah immediately turned west, where Luminous remained the last empire still fighting.

The Draeven force there was approaching the river crossing after occupying several settlements during its inland advance. The main bridge remained intact, and the road beyond it led directly toward a trade town on the opposite bank.

Luminous troops were almost nowhere in sight around the crossing. Most of the Draeven force moved over the bridge without resistance, followed by vehicles, infantry, and rear support elements.

Once the majority of the forward force had crossed, part of the bridge collapsed behind them. The western support failed first and dropped a section of roadway into the river, preventing vehicles on either side from reconnecting easily.

Luminous moved as soon as the separation was complete. Goblin soldiers appeared from the town’s outer districts and nearby farmland while another force struck the smaller Draeven group trapped on the coastal side of the river.

The invaders tried to restore the crossing and drove back the first goblins approaching the broken bridge.

Engineers began examining the damaged span while riflemen protected them from the riverbank.

Transport airships soon appeared overhead to support the divided ground force. One descended toward the forward detachment while another circled above the river and searched for a safe landing point.

Noah noticed movement around several large buildings near the town as Luminous crews uncovered heavy weapons hidden behind reinforced walls and earthen screens.

These were larger torsion engines and naval ballistae that had been hauled inland from the western ports during the previous day.

The first volley missed and forced one airship to climb. A second transport approached from another direction and descended lower as it tried to reach Draeven soldiers gathering near the town.

The Luminous crews waited until the aircraft committed to the descent. Several oversized bolts then rose toward it from different positions around the river.

One passed behind the tail while another struck the lower hull. A third bolt smashed into the rear section near an engine assembly and forced the transport into an unstable climb.

The airship drifted toward the riverbank before striking the ground beyond the town. Its hull suffered visible damage, yet most of the main structure remained intact after the crash.

Luminous soldiers reached the wreck before Draeven could recover it. The surviving aircraft climbed higher and avoided making another low approach over the prepared area.

On the ground, the divided invasion force began losing territory. The smaller rear detachment near the damaged bridge fell first after repeated attacks pushed its survivors against the river.

The larger forward group withdrew into the trade town and occupied warehouses, workshops, and stone buildings. Several early Luminous assaults failed after soldiers tried to cross streets that were still covered by Draeven rifles and machine guns.

The commanders changed their approach before repeating the same mistake. Later attacks moved through adjoining buildings while crossbowmen occupied upper floors and infantry broke through interior walls.

By the following morning, the surviving Draeven soldiers controlled only several stone warehouses near the water. Luminous entered through rooftops and rear entrances at the same time, forcing the defenders into smaller sections until organized resistance finally ended.

The fourth marker disappeared and the academy interface expanded across Noah’s vision. Round Four had been completed, bringing his total score to four hundred points.

Noah gave the score little attention because his focus remained on the Luminous riverbank.

Goblin craftsmen were already surrounding the downed airship and examining a machine far more intact than any aircraft previously recovered from the assessment.

The craft had suffered damage to one engine, part of the underside, and several internal sections, but most of its structure had survived.

For the first time, one of Noah’s empires possessed something close to a complete Draeven aircraft rather than scattered components from a destroyed wreck.

Recovery was also beginning across the other fronts. Varkesh collected radios, mortars, rifles, and damaged vehicles, while Skargrim crews stripped equipment from the ruined convoy and Viridian teams transported captured machinery away from the farmland.

The academy interface changed again before those efforts had progressed very far. A new personnel count appeared, and the scale of the increase immediately drew Noah’s full attention.

Round Five would contain ten thousand Draeven soldiers. The system provided no invasion locations and did not reveal how many deployment points would be used.

Noah studied the figure while the four empires began repairing the damage from their separate wars. Ten thousand soldiers could divide into multiple formations, establish proper bases, hold supply routes, maintain reserves, and continue fighting after casualties that would have destroyed the forces used in earlier rounds.

The first four rounds had given Noah’s goblins experience against small expeditionary detachments. Round Five would be the first time Draeven could send an army large enough to sustain a real campaign across his world.