Battle of Hefei ( 253 ) The Battle of Hefei , also known as the Battle of Hefei New City , was fought between the contending states of Cao Wei and Eastern Wu in 253 during the Three Kingdoms period . The battle . In the spring of 253 , Wu ' s Grand Tutor , Zhuge Ke , returned from Dongxing ( 東興 ) to the capital Jianye ( 建業 ; present - day Nanjing , Jiangsu ) . Ignoring the advice of several court officials , in the third lunar month , Zhuge Ke led a 200 , 000 strong army to attack the state of Wei in the north . By the fourth month , Zhuge Ke ' s force had reached south of the Huai River , and started attacking Wei ' s fortress Xincheng ( 新城 ; literally : " new city " ) , Hefei in the following month . Zhuge Ke ' s forces besieged Xincheng and launched fierce attacks on the fortress . Zhang Te , the Wei general defending Xincheng , managed to hold off the enemy with his 3 , 000 men for more than a month . The Wu forces sustained heavy casualties but were still unable to take Xincheng . Zhang Te said to the Wu army , " I ' ve no intention of fighting now . However , according to the law of Wei , when I ' m under attack for more than 100 days and reinforcements do not arrive , even if I surrender , my family will be spared from punishment . Since I first started resisting the enemy , it has been more than 90 days . This city originally had a population of more than 4 , 000 , and now more than half of them have died in battle . Even when the city falls , if someone does not wish to surrender , I ' ll speak to him and explain the possible implications of his choice . Tomorrow morning I ' ll send a list of names , you can first take my official seal as a token of trust . " Having said that , Zhang Te tossed his official seal to the enemy . Zhuge Ke believed Zhang Te and did not take the seal . That night , Zhang Te ordered his men to tear down houses and fences , and use the wood to reinforce damaged parts of the fortress ' walls . The next morning , Zhang Te announced to the enemy , " I ' ll only die in battle ! " , and firmly refused to surrender . The Wu soldiers were furious and attacked the fortress but were unable to breach the walls . At that time , the weather was extremely hot and the Wu troops were growing weary . A plague broke out and killed many Wu soldiers and caused more than half of the Wu army to fall ill . Zhuge Ke grew impatient and vented his frustration on his subordinates , causing much unhappiness among his men . Later , Wei ' s Grand Commandant , Sima Fu , led 200 , 000 relief troops to Xincheng , and attacked and defeated the exhausted Wu army . In the seventh month , Zhuge Ke had no choice but to order a withdrawal and the siege on Xincheng was lifted . Order of battle . Cao Wei forces Eastern Wu forces Modern references . The battle is featured as a playable stage in Koei ' s video game series " Dynasty Warriors " . In " Dynasty Warriors 7 " , playable under the new Jin dynasty story , the battle is known as the " Battle of New Hefei Castle " , and is not to be confused with another stage ( Battle of Hefei Castle ) , which refers to the Battle of Hefei ( 234 ) and does not appear in the game . In the game , however , Sima Shi , Sima Zhao , and Zhuge Dan also appear on the Wei side .