Chapter 1512: True Knowledge Comes from Practice

"Chief Engineer Mi, is that layer covering the outside of the bastion fort just mud?" he asked suddenly after observing.

"Yes, just mud." After a brief pause, Mi Su answered at once. "Based on our experience in Europe, masonry structures under cannon fire produce flying fragments that easily cause additional casualties to the defenders. So we applied that experience to these bastion forts and covered the exterior with a very thick layer of mud, because mud can absorb the impact of cannonballs. But please rest assured, the fort's foundations are very solid, and the main structure is built with reinforced brick and stone — there is absolutely no need to doubt its sturdiness."

No need to doubt its sturdiness... Though the man spoke with such conviction, the Crown Prince still remained half skeptical.

But he did not know how to refute the man's words either, so he could only continue observing through his telescope.

The fort's forward slope was inclined, and behind it was a covered walkway. The connecting trench was also inclined, with an inner scarp wall and an outer parapet beyond the trench. Beneath the bastion structure there were also small ground-level works, designed with firing ports and overhead cover. The elongated outer wall works divided a wide trench within the forward trench and the main trench, and between the inner scarp wall and the encircling wall there was also a deep sunken walkway.

The massive bastion fort before him sprawled across his field of vision like a giant beast. Though it appeared magnificent, he could not tell whether it was outwardly strong but inwardly weak, or truly formidable.

Why not just put it to the test... I cannot judge the technique, but I can judge the result. The thought suddenly flashed through the Crown Prince's mind.

"Uncle, are there any cannons here that haven't been mounted on the emplacements yet?" He suddenly turned to the Minister of Works, Xu Housheng, who had remained silent the whole time.

"This bastion fort has a rated capacity of one hundred and eighty-four gun emplacements, but only ninety-some have been placed so far. There are still over forty cannons inside the worksite that haven't been hoisted into position, plus several dozen more cannons are still missing — ah, there's no helping it. Although these bastion fortresses are given priority for cannon allocation, there are simply too many places that need cannons, so we have to add them slowly..."

At this point, the Minister of Works blinked, as if he had finally realized something. "Could it be that the Crown Prince means to..."

"Yes, Uncle." The Crown Prince nodded. "This child does not understand engineering or architecture, so I can only look at the results. After all, our dynasty built these bastion forts precisely for defense — won't we know if they can defend simply by looking at the results?"

The Minister of Works hesitated for a moment, but in the end he smiled and agreed to the Crown Prince's suggestion. Then he turned his head toward Mi Su. "Chief Engineer Mi, send someone to notify the garrison here. Have them use cannons to bombard the bastion fort in a moment!"

Use cannons to bombard the bastion fort?

When Mi Su processed what he had heard, his blood surged and his face reddened.

These bastion forts were all designed with his involvement, built with his involvement, and he had watched them be completed bit by bit — they were the crystallization of his painstaking effort. Yet now the Crown Prince was actually saying they should bombard them with cannons. This was truly hard for him to accept.

"Your Grace, the construction of these bastion forts cost enormous sums and consumed a great deal of our energy. They are meant to defend against enemy attacks, not to be bombarded by our own people. Project acceptance has its standards, and we have already passed those acceptance standards. To now verify the project by cannon bombardment — this is simply..."

He had originally wanted to say "this is simply a joke," but in the end he held it back. "We expended tremendous effort to build these bastion forts. If any problems arise during the bombardment, I fear it will again require vast sums of money and manpower to rebuild..."

"I am not asking them to bombard it endlessly — just a few salvos to test it." Before Xu Housheng could speak, the Crown Prince cut in. "Chief Engineer Mi, since you are so confident in your fortress, there is no need to fear verifying it with cannon fire, is there? If it cannot even withstand bombardment from our own side, then what value does this fortress have? What meaning is there in spending so much of the state's money? As for damage — if the damage from the bombardment is not severe, the workers and materials haven't been withdrawn yet anyway, so we can just repair it promptly."

If the damage truly was severe, then the consequences would be far more than just that.

Seeing that both the Crown Prince and the Duke had already made their decision, Mi Su no longer dared to insist on his own opinion. He could only shake his head lightly. "Your Highness the Crown Prince, since this is your command, I can only obey. I hope the coming scene of bombardment will satisfy you."

Then, under the Minister of Works' order, an attendant beside him stepped out of the pavilion and ran down the hill.

Because this bastion fort had only just been completed, the actual garrison unit had not yet been formed, much less moved in. However, since the site was a large construction area, there had always been guard troops stationed there, and they would obey the Minister of Works' commands.

Very soon, a stir arose below the hill. After confirming the order, the garrison commander carried out the command of the Crown Prince and the Minister of Works, assembling all his soldiers. Then they hauled cannons one by one out of the weather-sheltering worksheds and pushed them toward the outer side of the bastion fort.

"Your Highness, the cannons they are pushing out are all field guns of relatively small caliber. The large fortress defense cannons are simply too heavy and require specialized equipment to transport and hoist, so moving them is truly inconvenient..." the Minister of Works quietly explained to the Crown Prince.

"No matter. Uncle, I only want to run a test, just to see the effect." The Crown Prince waved his hand.

After all, this bastion fort was situated deep inland. Given the Great Han's national strength and border situation, no one should be able to slowly transport massive siege cannons to the front of a bastion fort — at most, only some field guns. That would be sufficient for testing.

The Crown Prince watched the fortress and troops below with keen interest. Under his command, soldiers in neat uniforms were pushing cannons toward the bastion fort, almost as if he were directing a battle — this greatly satisfied the Crown Prince's heart.

Suddenly, a question occurred to him.

"Uncle, this fortress lies across the valley floor and can hold the critical pass — that is excellent, of course. But... with mountains pressing in on both sides, if someone were to exploit this terrain and push cannons up the mountains to bombard downward, wouldn't that be extremely dangerous, leaving us only able to passively take a beating?"

Hearing this question, the Minister of Works was slightly startled. He had not expected that his nephew, who had never been on a battlefield before, could arrive at a military problem through his own speculation — and it was indeed a very important problem.

However, as a professional, he and those engineers had of course considered every aspect before constructing this bastion fort, so naturally they were not stumped.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince is indeed perceptive. However, we already took precautions against this earlier." Calmly, he walked over to the Crown Prince's side. "When we selected the site for the fortress, we deliberately surveyed every adjacent mountain and calculated the firing range of cannons placed upon them. So please rest assured — the vast majority of the peaks, even if captured, would not threaten the fortress's safety. Furthermore..."

He extended his hand and pointed toward the tallest peak in the distance. "Furthermore, on the commanding height of that mountain, we have also designed a gun battery. Once the battery is completed, it can form a mutually supporting horn with the fortress, covering each other. And the battery has stores of grain and water, so it can hold out for a long time during wartime. An invading enemy unable to obtain local supplies would have to transport logistics from a thousand li away — the consumption would be far too great. They would not be able to hold out long before the fortress before having to retreat."

After hearing his uncle's explanation, the Crown Prince finally set his mind at ease.

By this time, the cannons had slowly been pushed to the base of the bastion fort.

"Your Highness, if this were wartime, they would not be able to reach the base of the bastion fort so easily." At this moment, seeking to highlight the advantages of his design, Mi Su suddenly spoke up. "No matter which face the enemy attacks from, they will be subjected to concentrated fire from the fortress, the frontal wall, and the ground-level positions. They should not dream of reaching the base of the fortress without suffering enormous losses."

As he spoke, he pointed here and there, and under his guidance, the Crown Prince was more or less able to see it clearly. So these oddly shaped inner and outer walls were all full of clever design. Under the direction of the gun ports, every possible route an enemy force could take to reach the front of the bastion fort would be covered by fire from several directions.

And the outer walls hidden deeper in were in turn protected by the trenches and positions beneath the fortress.

Even a layman could feel the power of this.

These Westerners really do have some skill. Next, let's see how well this bastion fort can withstand cannon fire.

At the command of the signal flags on the hill, the dozen or so field guns came to a halt one after another, then raised their muzzles and aimed at the bastion fort's outer wall and projecting bastions.

"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!"

The cannons suddenly roared in unison. The entire earth seemed to tremble. Smoke billowed out from the cannons and finally blanketed the entire position. Even standing far away, the Crown Prince could feel that deafening bellow.

The cannonballs shot out from the barrels, hurtling toward the bastion fort at extreme speed with terrifying momentum. Under the sustained cannon bombardment, the bastion fort itself seemed to shake. Dust flew, smoke spread, and the condition of the outer wall could no longer be seen clearly.

After several salvos had been fired, the Crown Prince felt it was about enough, so he made a hand gesture to his uncle. Under the Minister of Works' order, another signal flag was raised on the hill, and the bombardment below quickly ceased.

Once the smoke and dust surrounding the bastion fort had dispersed, the Crown Prince picked up his telescope again and looked down.

After the prolonged bombardment, in the areas where cannonball impacts were more concentrated, much of the thick mud covering the bastion fort's exterior had been blasted away. In some places, the brick and stone within were even faintly visible. However, the overall structure was still in fairly good condition. One or two of the gun emplacements on the wall had been blasted open, but on the whole they still retained their ability to counterattack.

It was plainly evident that under this level of attack, this bastion fort could maintain its defensive capability and could counterattack the enemy, inflicting heavy casualties upon them.

He could set his mind at ease — the state's money had not been spent in vain. As expected, one truly has to practice to know the result...