Editing Cannon (section)

=== Offensive and defensive use ===
While previous smaller guns could burn down structures with fire, larger and more powerful cannons forced engineers to develop stronger castle walls from enemy attacks.<ref name=":0" /> Cannons were used for other purposes, as fortifications began using cannons as defensive instruments. In India, the fort of Raicher had gun ports built into its walls to accommodate the use of defensive cannons.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Eaton|first1=Richard M.|last2=Wagoner|first2=Philip B.|date=2014|title=Warfare on the Deccan Plateau, 1450–1600: A Military Revolution in Early Modern India?|journal=Journal of World History|volume=25|issue=1|pages=5–50|doi=10.1353/jwh.2014.0004|s2cid=162260578|issn=1527-8050}}</ref> In ''[[The Art of War (Machiavelli)|The Art of War]]'', Niccolò Machiavelli opined that field artillery forced an army to take up a defensive posture and opposed a more ideal offensive stance.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Cassidy|first=Ben|date=2003|title=Machiavelli and the Ideology of the Offensive: Gunpowder Weapons in The Art of War|journal=The Journal of Military History|volume=67|issue=2|pages=381–404|doi=10.1353/jmh.2003.0106|s2cid=159716602|issn=1543-7795}}</ref> Machiavelli's concerns can be seen in the criticisms of Portuguese mortars being used in India during the sixteenth century as lack of mobility was one of the key problems with the design.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Khan|first=Iqtidar Alam|date=2005|title=Gunpowder and Empire: Indian Case|journal=Social Scientist|volume=33|issue=3/4|pages=54–65|jstor=3518112}}</ref> In Russia the early cannons were again placed in forts as a defensive tool.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Paul|first=Michael C.|date=2004|title=The Military Revolution in Russia, 1550–1682|journal=The Journal of Military History|volume=68|issue=1|pages=9–45|doi=10.1353/jmh.2003.0401|s2cid=159954818|issn=1543-7795}}</ref> Cannons were also difficult to move around in mountainous regions; offensives conducted with such weapons would often be unsuccessful in areas such as Iran.<ref name=":02" />