There were not many people left in the old city of Hetuala, and most of them followed Nurhachi to the flat land after the Manchus took Liaodong.Most of the people who stay here are old and frail and accustomed to life here and are reluctant to leave.Even the nobles plus slaves, there were less than 10,000 people, and there were also 3,000 cavalry battalions sent by Shengjing to protect the grain and grass.The estates of the nobles were generally more than ten miles away from the old city, evenly distributed in the basin to the west.Usually, the nobles sent more than a dozen family members to guard the slaves in the manor, and rarely came over except for the grain they came to plant and the game they hunted.In this winter, they can't come.After figuring out the location of the manor, the army commander Niu Fangliang gave an order, each unit acted separately, one battalion was responsible for one manor, try not to shoot, and act at the same time to eliminate the family members in the manor and release those suffering slaves.Many of the people who followed the army fled from these estates.When they heard that the troops were going to attack the manor, they all took the initiative to lead the way and followed the troops.In the second half of the night, the troops took the former slaves of the Manchu nobles and set off in knee-deep snow.Units that are not assigned to tasks are used as reserves to prevent accidents at any time.The operation went very well.The family members in the manor would never have dreamed that in the rear of this deep mountain, there would be an army of the Northwest Army.Their main task was to prevent the slaves from escaping.But in this winter, the snow covers the mountains, and the slaves are thinly dressed, and if you let them out, they won't run.The snow was white in all directions, and the direction could not be identified, and it would not take an hour to freeze to death.At this time, the cats were sleeping in the house with a fire kang, and the slaves were huddled together to keep warm in a dilapidated house where there was no spark, for fear of freezing to death in this cold night.Even so, the next day dawned, and I didn't know who would never be able to open their eyes again.The Manchu aristocracy did not care about the life and death of the slaves.Their Eight Banners are fighting, and their children and relatives are in the Eight Banners Army.There is no money to fight a war, but there is something to be divided into: gold and silver, land, women, and of course the men who have been captured.When the slaves died, the strong slaves who were assigned to the relatives in front of them would be sent over to replace the old, weak, sick and disabled who died, which was much better than raising these sick ghosts whose bodies were exhausted and could not work and eat only food.When the Northwest Army killed the guards and liberated the slaves, there were Han people among the slaves, and they were the Ming army in the past.More are the people of the Central Plains who were arrested.Their young children were killed by the Qing army, and their daughters and wives were divided by the Qing army, and became the playthings of the Manchu nobles, and were even tortured to death.Looking at the miserable situation of the slaves and listening to their sufferings, the soldiers of the Northwest Army were angry, and the slaves were even more angry.Hearing that the Northwest Army was going to attack the old city of Hetuala, the slaves picked up any form of weapon that could be used to kill the enemy, and followed the Northwest Army away, and they couldn't stop it.Li Dingguo originally planned to try to sneak attack the city after dawn, but the slaves couldn't wait, and their wives and daughters were being tortured by the Manchu nobles in the city.As soon as Li Dingguo saw that the situation was out of control, he had no choice but to order the troops to follow and attack.This city used to be the top of the mountain where Nurhachi and his ancestors were kings.Later, with the increase of power, the former Ming had no way to deal with them, so they also went down to the flat bottom.Therefore, the east side of the old town of Hetuara is a difficult hill, and the west side is a flat land.The outer city was built along the tributaries of the Laohun River, ten miles long from east to west, and six miles wide from north to south.The inner city is where the Yellow Belt live, with a radius of two miles, on the flat ground on the east side of the mountain.The light reflected in the snowy night, and the defenders of the cavalry camp in the city saw the slaves running towards the outer city, followed by many troops coming down from the mountains.Although it is far away and it is difficult to see clearly, there is no doubt that the other party is the enemy.The defenders immediately reported to the defending capital.Du Tong was taken aback when he saw that there were no less than 10,000 people on the other side, and hurriedly ordered the city gate to be closed and the soldiers to go up to the city for defense.In winter, the snow outside the city is thick, which is not conducive to the field battle of war horses, and the opponent has many people, so it is right not to order to go out of the city to engage in battle.At the same time, he felt the seriousness of the situation and sent a team of soldiers to Shenyang to report to the Manchu court.By the time the slaves rushed to the moat, the gates were closed.By this time the moat had long been frozen and solid, and the slaves crossed the moat, shouting and moving on.The Manchu soldiers were already equipped with muskets, and when the slaves approached the city gate and came within range of the muskets, they all immediately ordered to shoot.With the crisp sound of gunfire, a cloud of blue smoke rose from the city, and a large number of slaves fell to the ground, and red blood stained the snow-white fields under the city.Li Dingguo, who was standing in the distance, had already seen all this in the telescope.The unorganized and undisciplined slave's nonsense completely disrupted his plans for a sneak attack.The Qing army had muskets in their hands and cannons on the city's head, and a strong attack would inevitably cause heavy casualties.He has a limited number of soldiers in his hands, and after taking the city, he will hold on until the beginning of spring next year, and Wang Shuo will send a large army over.He had no choice but to give the order and sound the horn to retreat.With the sound of horns whining on the hillside, the Northwest Sergeant quickly retreated into the mountain.Seeing that the slaves had suffered many casualties and that the Northwest Army had retreated, their minds that had been carried away by anger gradually calmed down, and they also retreated into the mountains with the Northwest Army.The enemy situation was unknown, and the Qing army did not order to go out of the city to pursue.He only had 3,000 soldiers, and it was difficult to defend the entire city, so he had to go to the inner city where the emperor's relatives lived, and discuss countermeasures with the prince who stayed behind.The left-behind prince belongs to Nurhachi's generation.After listening to the report, I didn't understand what was going on for a long time.It is said that there are no major hostile forces near this old city, where did this army come from, is it that the holy Shenyang City has fallen, and Wang Shuo's army has come to the door of the house and said: "This is impossible, if this is the case, our soldiers should have retreated here a long time ago." ”The prince also felt that Du Tong's analysis was reasonable, but the impossible thing happened under his nose, there must be a reason, Du Tong analyzed, this may be the Koreans in the mountains or the Jurchen tribes in the north, I heard that our old city defense is empty, and there is a lot of grain and grass to accumulate, so I took the opportunity to come and pick up the cheap.The old prince felt that this explanation was also a bit far-fetched.Aixinjue Luo has already become the emperor, and his power has passed through the Heilongjiang River in the north.These Jurchen tribes also have to be controlled, and they dare to rebel with their little ability to rob the nest of the Qing Dynasty, isn't this impatient But no matter who these people are, they have to ensure the safety of the old city first.The old prince sent people to inform from house to house that all adult men, who could carry bows, arrows, knives and guns, would immediately follow the capital to defend the city.After a short effort, three thousand old and weak people gathered in the city, and they all took up arms to defend the city.At this time, the Manchu nobles still had the ability to hunt in the mountains, and no matter how old or young, everyone could shoot a hard bow and go to the battlefield to fight.Li Dingguo was worried.The old city of Hetuara is easy to defend and difficult to attack, if it can't be taken quickly, when the Manchu army arrives, his 20,000 horses will have to be handed over to the ice and snow outside the city: