to serve as forward attack mechanisms for Wu ships. In response, the Wei regent Sima Shi sent three separate forces to attack Wu, with the main one focusing on the Dongxing dam. Zhuge Ke, along with the veteran Wu general Ding Feng and others, caught the enemy off guard by pretending to lower their guard, and inflicted a devastating defeat on them and forced them to withdraw from Dongxing. Battle of Hefei In 253, Zhuge Ke prepared for another invasion of Wei and said that he wanted to take advantage of Sima Shi's "youth and inexperience" (even though Sima Shi was 45 years old then). Despite strong opposition from some Wu officials, Zhuge Ke rallied an army from among all able-bodied men in Wu for the invasion. He also coordinated the invasion with Jiang Wei, a general from Wu's ally state Shu Han. (At the time, Jiang Wei was also actively launching a series of campaigns against Wei at Wei's western border.) However, Zhuge Ke's strategy turned out to be flawed when he switched his target from Shouchun (壽春; around present-day Shou County, Anhui) to Hefei, even though Hefei's defences were much stronger and built to withstand enemy attacks. After a long siege, the Wu forces failed to breach Hefei's walls. When a plague broke out in the Wu army, Zhuge Ke ignored it and continued to press on the siege. He only withdrew after hearing that Wei reinforcements had arrived. Instead of returning to the Wu imperial capital Jianye to apologise for his mistakes, he stayed away from Jianye for some time and refused to take responsibility for the Wu defeat. Downfall, death and posthumous rehabilitation When Zhuge Ke returned to Jianye later in 253, he attempted to wipe out all dissent against him by punishing those who disagreed with him. He also made plans for another invasion of Wei, despite much resentment from the people over the heavy losses incurred from the previous campaign. Sun Jun, a Wu general distantly related to the Wu emperor Sun Liang, decided to launch a coup d'état against Zhuge Ke to oust him from power. He lied to Sun Liang that Zhuge Ke was secretly plotting to usurp the throne and then set up a trap for Zhuge Ke. (The extent of Sun Liang's involvement in the coup d'état is unclear. However, historians traditionally consider him to have understood and approved Sun