The Seattle Mariners battered down the Minnesota Twins in an 11-2 slugfest, with Julio Rodriguez, Luke Raley, Dominic Canzone, and Cal Raleigh all hitting home runs.
June 23, 1425
Dispatch to His Majesty, the King of Seattle, from the Siege of Minneapolis.
Your Grace,
It is with great pleasure that I compose these words for this report. Following our Army’s glorious victory against the Northern Chicago Alliance we continued our campaign and arrived on the outskirts of a city the locals call “Minneapolis & St. Paul.” The city is split in half and sits on the banks of a great river. Apparently there is some form of rivalry between those who reside on the St. Paul side, and those who dwell in Minneapolis proper. As the siege progresses I intend to determine if this rivalry can be turned to our advantage.
The army of these cities, nicknamed “The Twins” is in a sorry state. They were just recently sacked by the army of Milwaukee, and their morale has been crushed by our arrival. One of my top advisors, a man named Jorge Polanco, used to serve in the Twins army, but now is loyal to Seattle and to Your Grace.
Upon our arrival outside the gates of their castle — Target Field — I ordered the army to begin the construction of siege engines to hammer their walls in. Our war machines served us to great effect against the ancient, ivy covered walls of Chicago, and I saw no reason as to why they would fail us here.
But siege engines of this size take time to construct, and we would be vulnerable during the work. As such, I sent Bryan Woo to lead a party of camp defenders to fight off any of the Twins who dared to sally forth against us. Woo is a young commander, Your Grace, but he has a good head on his shoulders and fights well. Under his command the camp was kept safe against two separate attacks early on in the siege.
After the second attack I noticed a vulnerability in the enemy’s defenses. Our earliest siege engines were complete and being moved into position, and so I gave the order to attack trusting that they would arrive in time.
A small force carrying ladders led by veteran J.P. Crawford first snuck up to an exposed tower and snuck over the side. They climbed their ladders and crawled through the crenelations, attacking the defenders on the walls before the Twins knew what was happening.
At that moment, as the Twins were preparing a counter attack to retake the tower, our first catapults crested the hilltops and stood ready to loose boulders and greek fire down on the enemy. The crews under the command of Julio Rodriguez and Luke Raley performed with exceptional valor, both scoring direct hits on the enemy walls.
Following this, the Twins attempted yet another attack on the camp, and I was forced to recall our advance party from the tower to fight them off. The siege then entered a lull period as both armies returned to their encampments to lick their wounds. We continued the bombardment constantly, but to little effect. We scored a single direct hit during this time, an onager shot from a battery under the command of the recently reinstated Dominic Canzone.
However the enemy had not been idle. Their general had them hard at work constructing their own large weapons of war in an effort to counter us. While not as large or as powerful as our trebuchets and onagers, their mangonels and ballistas were just barely able to reach our hastily-fortified position. It grieves me to report that we took measurable losses before I was able to regroup our army at a safe distance. I must call particular attention to the young Bryan Woo, who managed this minor crisis well and prevented any serious harm from befalling Your Grace’s glorious army.
With the momentary peril behind us, it was a simple matter to adjust the aim of our weapons to destroy theirs. It took some time and a no small amount of patience, but eventually our siege engines were back at work hammering their castle. Julio Rodríguez’s crew managed to smash an enemy ballista, and left a large crack in one segment of wall.
At the sight of that vulnerability I finally gave the order for Count Cal Raleigh to bring up his big bombard cannon and breach their walls. With a dreadful thunder, the cannon fired out its shot and brought the battered wall down in a cloud of smoke.
With this breach, I now stand ready to send my soldiers up the glacis and into the very heart of the enemy’s castle. I estimate that after another three engagements, total victory can be ours. With such incredible artillery as ours, no force can stand against us.
I am and remain your friend and obedient servant,
Daniel the Lord Wilson
Commander of Your Grace’s forces of land and sea.