"Chief Engineer Mi, is the outer layer of this bastion covered with soil?" He suddenly asked after observing.

"Yes, it's soil." After being stunned for a moment, Misu immediately replied, "After our experience in Europe, masonry buildings will have fragments flying around under the bombardment of cannons, which can easily cause additional damage to the defenders.

.So, we applied our experience to these bastions and covered them with a thick layer of soil, because the soil can absorb the damage of the shells. But please rest assured, the foundation of the bastion is very solid, and the main trunk is reinforced.

It is built with bricks and stones, so there is absolutely no doubt about its sturdiness.”

Don't you have to doubt the solidity... Even though the other party said it so confidently, the prince was still hesitant to believe it.

But he didn't know how to refute the other party's words, so he had no choice but to continue observing with the telescope.

The front slope of the fortress is sloping, and behind it is a covered walkway. The connecting trench is also sloping, with an inner trench wall and a retaining wall outside the trench. There are also small ground fortifications under the bastion building, with eye-catching designs and

The roof, slender outer wall fortifications divided a wide trench between the front trench and the main trench, and there was a deeply recessed walkway between the inner trench wall and the surrounding wall.

The huge bastion in front of us is entrenched in the field of vision like a giant beast. Although it looks majestic, I don't know if it is strong on the outside or really powerful.

Just put it into practice... I can't see the technique, but I can see the results. This idea suddenly flashed through the prince's mind.

"Uncle, are there any cannons here that haven't been moved to the fort?" He suddenly looked at the Minister of Engineering, Xu Housheng, who had been silent next to him.

"This bastion has a rated gun position of one hundred and eighty-four, but only more than ninety cannons have been put up now. There are still more than forty cannons that have not been hoisted up at the construction site, and there are dozens more

There is a gap in the number of cannons - well, there is no other way. Although these bastions and fortresses give priority to replenishing cannons, there are too many places where cannons are needed, so we have to slowly add them..."

When he said this, Gong Xiang blinked, as if he finally understood something, "Could it be that the prince meant..."

"Yes, uncle." The prince nodded, "I don't know anything about workmanship and architecture, so I just have to see the results. After all, I built the fortress for defense. Wouldn't it be great if I could prevent it and see the results?"

The engineer hesitated for a moment, but finally smiled and agreed to the prince's opinion. Then, he turned to look at Mi Su, "Chief Engineer Mi, please send someone to notify the garrison here and ask them to come with cannons later."

Blast the bastion!"

Blast the bastion with cannon?

When Misu reacted, her blood surged upwards and her face turned a little red.

He participated in the design and construction of these bastions, and watched them built bit by bit. They were completely the fruit of his hard work. However, the crown prince actually said that he would use cannons to blast them, which was really hard for him to accept.

"Your Majesty, the construction of these bastions cost a lot of money and cost us a lot of energy. They are used to defend against enemy attacks, not to be bombarded by our own people. There are standards for the acceptance of projects, and we have already

After passing these acceptance standards, now using bombardment to verify the project, this is simply..."

He originally wanted to say, "This is just a joke," but in the end he endured it. "We spent a lot of effort to build the bastion. If something goes wrong during the shelling, I'm afraid it will cost a lot of money and time."

It takes manpower to rebuild…”

"I'm not asking them to keep shelling, I'm just testing it with a few rounds of shelling." Before Xu Housheng could speak, the prince took over the conversation, "Since you, Chief Engineer Mi, are very confident in your fortress, then

Don't be afraid to use shelling to prove it, right? If you can't even defend yourself against shelling, then what's the value of this fortress? What's the point of spending so much money on the country? As for the damage, if there is not much damage during the shelling,

, anyway, the workers and materials haven’t been evacuated yet, so it’s time to repair it as soon as possible.”

If the damage is really serious, the consequences will be far more than that.

Seeing that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and the Duke had already made a decision, Misu did not dare to insist on his opinion anymore. He could only shake his head gently and said, "Your Highness the Crown Prince, since this is your order, then I can only obey it."

.I hope the next explosion scene will satisfy you."

Then, at the order of the Gong Xiang, a follower who was following him walked out of the pavilion and ran down the mountain.

Because this bastion has just been built, the actual garrison troops have not yet been established, let alone stationed. However, because this is a large construction site, there are always guards stationed, and they will obey the orders of the Minister of Works.

.

Soon, there was a commotion at the foot of the mountain. After confirmation, the commander of the garrison carried out the orders of His Royal Highness the Prince and the Minister of Works, gathered all his soldiers, and then they fired cannons one after another from the cover.

He was pulled out from the wind and rain-proof work shed and pushed towards the outside of the bastion.

"Your Highness, the artillery they launched are field artillery with relatively small calibers. The large city defense artillery is too heavy and requires special equipment to transport and hoist it, so it is really inconvenient to move..." the worker explained softly to the prince.

"It's okay. Uncle, I just want to test it and see the effect." The prince waved his hand.

Thinking about it, this bastion goes deep into the interior. With the strength of the Han Dynasty and the border situation, no one should be able to slowly transport the giant siege cannon to the front line of the bastion. At most, it will be just some field cannons. It will be enough for testing.

.

The prince looked at the fortress and the army below with great interest. The soldiers in neat uniforms pushed the cannons towards the bastion under his order, as if he was commanding a war - this was extremely satisfying.

The prince's wishes.

Suddenly, a question occurred to him.

"Uncle, this fortress lies across the valley bottom. It can guard the main road, which is of course very good. However... there are mountains on both sides. If someone takes advantage of this terrain and pushes the cannon up the mountain to blast down, wouldn't it be very dangerous?

, can only be beaten passively?"

Hearing this question, Gong Xiang was slightly surprised. He did not expect that his nephew had never been on the battlefield before, but he actually thought of military issues based on his own guesses, and this issue was indeed very important.

However, as professionals, he and the engineers had of course considered all aspects of the problem before building this bastion, so of course there would be no problems.

"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is indeed aware of this. However, I have already taken precautions against this matter before." He walked to the Prince's side calmly, "When we selected the site for the fortress, we deliberately surveyed every nearby mountain.

, we have calculated the range of cannons placed on the mountains, so please rest assured that even if most of the mountains are captured, they will not threaten the safety of the fortress. In addition..."

He pointed to the tallest mountain in the distance. "In addition, on the commanding heights of that mountain, we also designed a fort. After the fort is built, it can be at an angle with the fortress and protect each other. And there is food on the fort.

and water storage, which can last for a long time in wartime. If the invading enemy cannot obtain local supplies, the logistics cost of transporting them from thousands of miles away will be too much, and they will not be able to survive long in front of the fortress before they have to retreat."

After hearing his uncle's explanation, the prince relaxed.

At this time, the cannon was slowly pushed to the bottom of the bastion.

"Your Highness, if it were during war, they would not be able to get to the fortress so easily." At this time, in order to highlight his design advantages, Misu suddenly spoke, "No matter which side the enemy attacks from,

, they will all receive concentrated fire from the fortress and front wall as well as artillery fire on the ground. They can't even think of hitting the fortress without paying huge losses."

As he spoke, he pointed, and under his guidance, the prince was almost able to see clearly. It turned out that these strange-shaped inner and outer walls had many ways. Under the guidance of the muzzle, every path had possible

Enemy troops that reach the bastion will be covered by artillery fire from several directions.

The outer wall, which is hidden deep inside, is protected by trenches and positions under the fortress.

Even a layman can feel this power.

Sure enough, these Westerners have some skills. Let's see how well this bastion can defend against artillery fire.

Under the command of the flag on the mountain, more than a dozen field guns stopped their artillery carriages, then raised their muzzles and aimed at the outer walls of the bastion and the protruding fortress.

"Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!"

The cannons suddenly fired at the same time, and the whole ground seemed to be shaking. Smoke spread from the cannons, and finally enveloped the entire position. Even standing far away, the prince could feel the deafening roar.

The shells in the barrel flew out quickly, hitting the bastion at an extremely fast speed with terrifying momentum. Under the continuous bombardment of the cannon, the bastion seemed to be shaking, dust was flying, and smoke was spreading.

It's unclear what the condition of the exterior walls is.

After several rounds of bombardment, the prince felt that it was almost done, so he made a gesture to his uncle. Under the order of the Minister of Works, a flag was raised on the mountain again, and the bombardment below quickly stopped.

After the smoke and dust surrounding the bastion dissipated, the prince picked up the telescope again and looked down.

After a long period of shelling, the thick soil covering the outside of the bastion was blown away a lot in places where the shells were concentrated. In some places, the masonry inside was even faintly exposed, but the general structure was still well maintained. On the wall

One or two of the artillery positions were blown away, but generally they still maintained their ability to counterattack.

It is obvious that under this level of attack, this bastion can maintain its defensive capabilities and can counterattack the enemy, causing heavy damage to the enemy.
Chapter completed!