Eight Hundred Elite Soldiers Smash Through Ye City

Ye City.

Yuan Shao's military camp.

"Damn it! Those officers are off eating fine food and drinking the best wine while leaving us behind to eat this slop!"

"The officers all get the credit and receive rewards, while poor bastards like us foot soldiers get nothing."

After the officers in the camp collected their rewards, they all went to Yuan Shao's mansion to attend the banquet. The ordinary soldiers naturally began to vent their grievances.

Looking at the thin porridge and coarse grain flatbreads in their hands, the soldiers burned with anger.

The officers received glory and rewards, while they, the common soldiers, were fed nothing but these scraps.

It truly made one realize how comparing people to one another could infuriate them to death, and comparing goods to goods made one want to throw them away.

Furious as they were, they still had to eat this food!

Just at that moment, a commotion arose from outside.

"The Xu family is here to reward the troops!"

"Brothers, the Xu family has come to bring rations and rewards to the soldiers!"

Amidst the echoing shouts, the soldiers rushed out of the camp in droves, surrounding the carriages sent by the Xu family.

Who wouldn't want to eat good food and drink fine wine?

These soldiers naturally longed for such luxuries.

Xu Qian also put on a very enthusiastic display, instructing his family servants and guards, "Men, quickly distribute the wine and meat to the brothers!"

Xu Qian was a brother of Xu You and held a certain amount of clout in Ye City. At the very least, the low-ranking officers dared not offend him.

Furthermore, with the middle and high-ranking officers in the camp already gone, the remaining low-ranking officers thought to themselves: *Those commanders are off enjoying fine food and wine! It shouldn't be a crime for us to have some wine and meat, right?*

Besides, the Xu family had already brought the wine and meat right to their doorstep; it was impossible to ask them to haul it back.

"Brothers!"

"Eat up, everyone eat!" Some centurions and chiliarchs took the lead in consuming the wine and meat.

Seeing this, a triumphant smile appeared on Xu Qian's face.

The wine and meat were laced with potent sleeping powder. Once these provisions entered their stomachs, the officers and men in the camp would sleep for at least three days and three nights.

After dropping off the reward provisions, Xu Qian immediately led his family servants and guards away from the military camp.

Ye City.

Yuan Shao's mansion.

"General Su!"

"The wine and meat for rewarding the troops have all been delivered. In half an hour at most, once the drug takes effect, every single soldier in the camp will be in a stupor!" Xu Qian hurried over to report to Su Ming.

Upon hearing Xu Qian's report, Su Ming thought to himself that the grand undertaking was practically accomplished.

Once the majority of the soldiers in the camp were neutralized, the rest of the operation would become much simpler.

"Zhang Liao, lead a force of five hundred men and capture the West City Gate with all haste!"

"Taishi Ci, lead a force of five hundred men and capture the East City Gate with all haste!"

"Qu e, lead a force of five hundred men and capture the North City Gate with all haste!" Su Ming issued three consecutive commands.

Su Ming intended to seize the East, West, and North gates, deliberately leaving the South City Gate untouched.

This was the application of the military strategy of "encircling three sides while leaving one side open." Leaving the South Gate open provided an escape route for the remaining soldiers within the city.

Su Ming had to capture Ye City before dawn; otherwise, once daylight broke, anyone realizing Su Ming's lack of sufficient troops could easily trigger chaos.

Although the vast majority of the garrison forces in Ye City had already been neutralized by Su Ming, one must not forget that there were still numerous aristocratic clans within the city.

These prominent families all maintained their own domestic guards, retainers, and even private armies.

Once Ye City changed hands, interests would inevitably be redistributed, a prospect the aristocratic clans despised.

If these powerful families were to discover Su Ming's military weakness, they might well seize the opportunity to stir up trouble amidst the chaos.

Powerful though the Xu family was, they were no match for all the aristocratic clans of Ye City combined.

The purpose of Su Ming leaving the South Gate open was not only to let the remaining hostile soldiers flee, but also to allow these unstable elements among the noble families to escape.

Once these destabilizing factors departed Ye City, the city would become much easier to control.

In the art of war, encircling three sides while leaving one open was precisely based on this logic.

Why did Su Ming choose to leave the South Gate rather than the North, East, or West gates?

There was a profound strategy behind this as well.

To the north of Ye City lay Youzhou, to the east was Qingzhou, and to the west was Bingzhou.

Meanwhile, the South Gate led directly into Jizhou territory.

In the Battle of Guandu, Cao Cao had won a decisive victory. Consequently, all regions south of Ye City, including Ye City itself and the entire province of Jizhou, were destined to fall under Cao Cao's control.

The ordinary soldiers of Ye City were one thing, but as for the aristocratic clans, they would certainly carry away massive amounts of wealth when fleeing.

If they were allowed to escape to Qingzhou, Youzhou, or Bingzhou—

If Cao Cao failed to conquer Qingzhou, Youzhou, and Bingzhou in the short term, it would result in a massive outflow of gold, silver, and capital.

To put it in modern terms, this was known as capital flight.

By leaving the South Gate open, even if they fled Ye City, they would still not escape Jizhou.

The very first territory Cao Cao intended to secure firmly was Jizhou. Therefore, although these people escaped Ye City, they remained trapped within the palm of Cao Cao's hand.

That was precisely the meaning behind Su Ming leaving the South Gate open.

After dispatching Zhang Liao, Taishi Ci, and Qu e to capture the three gates respectively, Su Ming personally led the remaining men to seize vital locations such as the granaries, the treasury, and the armories.

"Charge!"

"Kill! Kill!"

"Where did these bandits come from? How did they breach Ye City?!"

By this time, the night had grown pitch black.

Amidst the heavy darkness, the sounds of battle echoed throughout Ye City.

The East, West, and North gates were captured one after another, and the patrolling soldiers within the city were intercepted and defeated in a piecemeal fashion.

Some aristocratic families on friendly terms with Yuan Shao attempted to use their household guards and private armies to stabilize the situation, but it was merely a drop in the bucket.

In the darkness, the entire city resounded with battle cries, making it impossible to gauge how many enemy troops had broken through.

Furthermore, critical locations such as Yuan Shao's mansion, the military camps, and the granaries had all been occupied by the enemy.

Crucially, all the military officers in Ye City above the rank of captain had been lured by Su Ming to Yuan Shao's mansion and killed.

With the dragon headless, there was no one left to command the defense.

Realizing that resistance was becoming increasingly futile and finding the southern gate wide open, the remaining resistance forces in the city were soon forced to flee out through the South Gate.

Around the Hour of Yin, roughly between three and four in the morning, Su Ming and his forces had completely secured absolute control over the entirety of Ye City.

With Ye City secured, Su Ming immediately summoned Xu Qian.

At present, the most unstable factor remaining in Ye City consisted of those aristocratic clans who were still sitting on the fence, waiting to see how things would play out.

The most urgent task of the moment was to deal with these prominent families.

Su Ming summoned Xu Qian and voiced his concerns.

After a brief moment of silent contemplation, Xu Qian replied, "General Su, I can go and persuade the families that are on good terms with our Xu family."

"However, there are quite a few clans in this city whose influence is in no way inferior to ours. They are all opportunists who sway with the wind. To make them submit, I fear we must first let them witness the General's true strength."

"If they were to discover that the General has brought only a little over eight hundred men, chaos is bound to erupt right here in Ye City!"