In 252, in light of Sun Quan's death, the Cao Wei regent Sima Shi made a major three-pronged attack against Eastern Wu. Zhuge Ke's forces, however, were able to defeat the main Cao Wei forces, inflicting heavy losses. Zhuge Ke's reputation became even more established. In 253, he carried out a plan he had for a while – to gather up nearly all service-eligible young men of Eastern Wu to make a major attack against Cao Wei – despite opposition from a number of other officials. He further coordinated his attack with Jiang Wei, a general from Eastern Wu's ally state Shu Han. However, his strategy turned out to be faulty – he initially targeted Shouchun (壽春; in present-day Lu'an, Anhui) but, on his way, changed his mind and attacked Hefei instead, despite the fact that Hefei's defences were strong and intended to withstand major Eastern Wu attacks. Zhuge Ke's forces became worn out by the long siege and suffered plagues – which Zhuge Ke ignored. He eventually withdrew after Cao Wei reinforcements arrived, but instead of returning to the capital Jianye (present-day Nanjing, Jiangsu) to apologise for his erroneous strategies, he remained from the capital for some time and never apologised to the people for the heavy losses suffered.