My territory is filled with block creations.

Chapter 28 The population is still too small.

Thorne really didn't expect the villagers to react so strongly. He originally thought he would have to spend a lot of time talking to them, but the villagers were even more anxious than he was, and they couldn't wait to pick up their weapons and go find trouble with those goblins.

In fact, it's not that difficult. Goblins, those short, sleazy creatures with green skin, are basically no different in combat strength from ordinary wild dogs when fought individually.

If they were to fight a human alone, they could basically overpower the goblins.

However, when goblins start to gather in large groups, quantitative changes will lead to qualitative changes.

The cowardly become fierce, the timid become vicious, as if their companions are their greatest support. In addition, goblins always choose to fight outnumbered, which often causes considerable trouble for lone humans or human teams.

In addition, its rat-like reproductive ability makes it a rather representative monster in the wilderness.

According to Raymond, who was already dead, the mine was said to have at least a hundred goblins.

Simply throwing a dozen or so villagers into the fray without thinking is definitely not a good idea. That's not fighting goblins; that's just sending the villagers to their deaths.

Necessary training is essential, and Thorne has made some progress on the training program.

The reason Lester and Doug were trained to use swords and axes in combat was mainly because the areas available for fighting in the forest and towns were very small, making it difficult for them to use spears effectively. Moreover, it wasn't very effective for just the two of them to use spears.

But if it's about leading the villagers to attack that goblin cave, a spear formation of more than ten villagers would be a different story.

The longer the spear, the stronger it is. People can crowd together, stack their spears on top of each other, and form a battle formation like a hedgehog, then charge straight forward.

Moreover, once Lester and his men have purchased enough iron ingots, they can use them to make shields. The villagers in front and on the sides will hold up the shields, while the villagers in the center will hold up their spears, wedging themselves into the gaps in the shields, creating a veritable medieval tank.

The only pity is the number of people. The village is still too small. The villagers, who are already scattered among many jobs, also have to take turns receiving weapons training.

Road construction slowed down, wheat planting slowed down, and city wall construction slowed down as well.

Ultimately, it came down to the fact that there were too few people. However, Thorne did not show this concern. The villagers were still angry at the moment, and he couldn't very well dampen their spirits.

"In that case, your work will be divided into two groups, alternating between them. One group will work while the other trains, and you will switch shifts every five hours."

After Thorne finished speaking, he subconsciously looked at Alex, and then realized that Alex still had to work overtime to build the water pump, so he couldn't bother her for the time being.

Thinking of this, he looked directly at the villager who had volunteered to show Raymond around the village: "What's your name?"

"My lord, my name is Karl!" Karl replied quickly.

"You'll be in charge of assigning everyone to classes. Once you've done that, have the trainees come to the threshing ground to find me." Thorne finished speaking, and Karl immediately agreed, "No problem, Lord!"

Thorne nodded, dismissed the villagers from their dormitories, and walked to the worktable.

It has to be said that the reason I dared to attack the goblin's lair with just a dozen or so villagers was that weapons and equipment were secondary; the main reason was the endless wheat field across the river, growing at a visible speed.

There's a saying that's very true: war is essentially about logistics. If it were like other cities in this era, people would generally not know where their next meal would come from, and they would live each day just to find out what they would eat next.

Let alone attacking goblins, they lacked confidence even in building city walls. However, at this moment, the wheat fields across the river could almost endlessly feed the people.

Although it only had one type of flour, it was still far better than most other common people of that era.

Moreover, this wheat can also be used to make other things that would definitely produce a sharp, crackling sound if other ordinary people in this era saw them.

Using wheat to make training dummies is an act that seems absolutely wasteful.

Soon, nearly 20 training dummies were neatly arranged on one side of the threshing ground. Although the village had far fewer than 20 people, it was enough to make up a round number.

This also represents his hopes for the future; although the village has few people now, the population will definitely increase in the future.

Next, they began making weapons for the villagers' training. As one stone spear after another was placed on the shoulders of the training dummies, a surprisingly orderly beauty emerged.

Soon, Carl had also selected the first batch of people to take over training, including himself, a total of 5 people, and they went to the threshing ground to find Thorne.

Training with a spear is not as complicated as training with a longsword or axe. You just need to hold the spear with both hands and thrust it straight forward.

This kind of training doesn't require exceptional physical coordination! The villagers simply held the spears in their hands and stabbed twice before quickly finding the right feeling for generating power.

After letting the villagers train here, resting when they were tired and eating bread when they were hungry, Thorne walked towards Alex, who was urgently making a water pump not far away.

Seeing that the waterwheel was already taking shape, Thorne picked up a shovel and a pickaxe and dug vertically down next to the waterwheel, creating a huge empty well. He then used cobblestones to fill the bottom and sides of the empty well.

Finally, add a shady shed, fill the empty well with water, and it should be enough for a period of time.

Even if we can capture the iron mine, we should at least be able to wait for Lester and Doug to return.

With just three pieces of iron—no, including the dagger I shaped into a disc—I only need two pieces of iron to make a bucket. Then, using the bucket's alchemical properties, I can create water from a nearly limitless source.

By then, the water problem would be considered initially solved. The next problems to be solved would be the goblin mine and Mr. Loren, whose name was only known but whose face was never seen.

The most needed resources to solve these two problems are livestock, supplies, and manpower. If we have livestock, such as chickens and cattle, as well as arrows and leather armor, then none of that will be a problem.

Resources will enable the village to develop to the next stage as quickly as possible, at which point it will be much easier to generate electricity and develop businesses.

Finally, there were too few people, which lengthened the construction time of the village and the training time, making it impossible to support a full-time professional soldier.

Moreover, the so-called mine in the northern mountain range is only known to exist in one location, but its exact location is unknown, and a small team needs to be sent out to investigate.

"If only the population were bigger." In the evening, Thorne watched as Alex set up the water pump and water flowed into the empty well.

"Hmm... I might have a way to help you," Alex suddenly said.