It means to make up your mind and do whatever it takes to the end
The origin of "burning the boat and sinking the boat" is:
In the second year of Qin II (208 BC), Qin General After Zhang Han suppressed the uprising of Chen Sheng and Wu Guang, he defeated the anti-Qin armed forces in Chu, killed Xiang Liang, and defeated Handan. The anti-Qin armed forces Zhao Wangxie and Zhang Er retreated to Julu (today's southwest of Pingxiang, Hebei) and were captured by Qin general Wang Li. 200,000 people were besieged. Zhang Han led his 200,000 troops to camp in Jiyuan, a few miles south of Julu, and built a passage with earthen walls on both sides directly to Wangli's camp to provide food and fodder. Zhao general Chen Yu led tens of thousands of troops to camp in Julubei, but he did not dare to rescue because of the small number of soldiers. King Huai of Chu sent Song Yu as the general, Xiang Yu and Fan Zeng as the generals, and led a main force of 50,000 to rescue Zhao. At the same time, he sent Liu Bangxi to attack Qin. In October of the Third Period, the Song army marched to Anyang (today's east of Caoxian County, Shandong) and stayed for 46 days without entering. They wanted to sit and watch the fight between Qin and Zhao to reap the benefits of the fishermen. Xiang Yu killed Song Yu in anger and was appointed as general by King Huai of Chu.
In December, Zhao general Chen Yu sent 5,000 men to fight, but all of them were killed. At that time, Qi, Yan and other anti-Qin armed forces had reached Chen Yu's camp, and they did not dare to fight. Xiang Yu sent Generals Yingbu and Pu to lead an army of 20,000 across the Zhang River to cut off the enemy's passage. Generals Yingbu and Pu won the first battle, cutting off the connection between Zhang Han and Wang Li. Xiang Yu immediately led the entire Chu army across the river and ordered the entire army to burn cauldrons and boats. Each man carried three days' rations to show his determination to fight to the death. The Chu army outnumbered ten, fought bravely, and defeated Zhang Han's army in nine battles and nine victories. Qi, Yan and other reinforcements also rushed out of the camp to help in the battle, captured Wang Li, killed his deputy general, and broke the siege of Julu. From then on, all the anti-Qin generals obeyed Xiang Yu. Zhang Han stood firm in Jiyuan to confront Xiang Yu, and sent his general Sima Xin to the Qin court for help. At that time, Zhao Gao of Qin was in power, was suspicious of the generals, and wanted to kill Sima Xin. Sima Xin sneaked back to Jiyuan and advised Zhang Han to make good plans as soon as possible. Zhang Han hesitated between surrendering to Chu and retreating. Xiang Yu sent General Pu to lead his army to cross Sanhujin (ancient Zhangshui ferry, southwest of today's Zi County, Hebei Province) day and night to cut off the Qin army's return route, and led the main force to defeat the Qin army. Zhang Han had no way to advance or retreat, so he led 200,000 troops to surrender. The main force of the Qin army was destroyed. It means to be determined and to do whatever it takes to the end
The origin of "burning the boat" is:
In the second year of Qin II (208 BC), Qin general Zhang Han suppressed the uprising of Chen Sheng and Wu Guang After that, after defeating the anti-Qin armed forces in Chu, killing Xiang Liang and breaking Handan, the anti-Qin armed forces Zhao Wangxie and Zhang Er retreated to Julu (now southwest of Pingxiang, Hebei) and were besieged by Qin general Wang Li with 200,000 people. Zhang Han led his 200,000 troops to camp in Jiyuan, a few miles south of Julu, and built a passage with earthen walls on both sides directly to Wangli's camp to provide food and fodder. Zhao general Chen Yu led tens of thousands of troops to camp in Julubei, but he did not dare to rescue because of the small number of soldiers. King Huai of Chu sent Song Yu as the general, Xiang Yu and Fan Zeng as the generals, and led a main force of 50,000 to rescue Zhao. At the same time, he sent Liu Bangxi to attack Qin. In October of the Third Period, the Song army marched to Anyang (today's east of Caoxian County, Shandong) and stayed for 46 days without entering. They wanted to sit and watch the fight between Qin and Zhao to reap the benefits of the fishermen. Xiang Yu killed Song Yu in anger and was appointed as general by King Huai of Chu.
In December, Zhao general Chen Yu sent 5,000 men to fight, but all of them were killed. At that time, Qi, Yan and other anti-Qin armed forces had reached Chen Yu's camp, but they did not dare to fight. Xiang Yu sent generals Yingbu and Pu to lead an army of 20,000 across the Zhang River to cut off the enemy's passage. Generals Yingbu and Pu won the first battle, cutting off the connection between Zhang Han and Wang Li. Xiang Yu immediately led the entire Chu army across the river and ordered the entire army to burn cauldrons and boats. Each man carried three days' rations to show his determination to fight to the death. The Chu army outnumbered ten, fought bravely, and defeated Zhang Han's army in nine battles and nine victories. Qi, Yan and other reinforcements also rushed out of the camp to help in the battle, captured Wang Li, killed his deputy general, and broke the siege of Julu. From then on, all the anti-Qin generals obeyed Xiang Yu. Zhang Han stood firm in Jiyuan to confront Xiang Yu, and sent his general Sima Xin to the Qin court for help. At that time, Zhao Gao of Qin was in power, was suspicious of the generals, and wanted to kill Sima Xin. Sima Xin sneaked back to Jiyuan and advised Zhang Han to make good plans as soon as possible. Zhang Han hesitated between surrendering to Chu and retreating. Xiang Yu sent General Pu to lead his army to cross Sanhujin (ancient Zhangshui ferry, southwest of today's Zi County, Hebei Province) day and night to cut off the Qin army's return route, and led the main force to defeat the Qin army. Zhang Han had no way to advance or retreat, so he led 200,000 troops to surrender. The main force of the Qin army was destroyed. Historical Records of Xiang Yu: "Historical Records of Xiang Yu": "Xiang Yu led his troops across the river, but all the ships were sunk, the cauldrons were broken, the huts were burned, and he held three days of food to show that the soldiers would die and none of them would return the favor."
In 209 BC, a peasant uprising led by Chen Sheng and Wu Guang broke out in Chinese history. After Chen Sheng and Wu Guang died, the two armies led by Liu Bang and Xiang Yu gradually grew stronger.
In 207 BC, Xiang Yu's rebel army fought a battle with the main force of the Qin army led by Qin general Zhang Han in Julu (today's Xingtai area, Hebei); Xiang Yu was not afraid of the powerful enemy and led his troops across the Zhang River (which flows from the northeast to the southeast of Julu) of a river). After crossing the river, Xiang Yu ordered the whole army: "Sink all the ships, break the cauldrons and steamers, burn the houses, and hold three days of food to show that the soldiers will die and none of them will return the favor." In the battle of Julu, the Qin army was defeated, and Xiang's troops shocked the princes.
Historical background:
When Chen Sheng and Wu Guang rebelled in Daze Township, Xiang Liang and Xiang Yu in Wuzhong (now Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province) rose up and responded. Xiang Liang's father, Xiang Yu's grandfather, was Xiang Yan, a famous general of Chu State. Xiang Yu's father died when he was young, and he grew up under the care of his uncle Xiang Liang. He was determined to avenge his country at a young age. His uncle taught him calligraphy, but he didn't do it; he asked him to learn swordsmanship, but he didn't work hard either. Xiang Liang was very angry and scolded him for being useless. But Xiang Yu said: "When I read and write, I can only remember names. Once I learn swordsmanship, I can only fight with a few people. I want to learn the skill that one person can defeat ten thousand people." Xiang Liang heard what Xiang Yu said and thought that his nephew He was ambitious and asked Xiang Yu to learn the art of war. Because Xiang Liang was good at making friends, he would rush to help others when there was any big problem. The local people liked him very much, and he became the leader of the heroes in Wuzhong. Even the local officials respected him.
When Qin Shihuang passed by Wuzhong on his last tour, many people came to watch. When the people standing on both sides saw the majestic (lǐn), luxurious and magnificent emperor's car approaching, they all stood dumbly, not daring to breathe (chuǎn). Only Xiang Yu, who was standing a head taller than the others in the crowd, stared at his big bright eyes under his thick eyebrows and blurted out: "What's so great about this, anyone can replace him!" Xiang Liang was so frightened that he quickly covered Xiang Yu's mouth. He quietly warned: "You are talking nonsense here. If others report it, you will destroy the nine tribes." Back home, Xiang Yu complained to his uncle and said: "You always let me practice martial arts and learn the art of war on weekdays, which makes me never forget home. The hatred of the country, why are you so timid today?" Xiang Liang said: "We are going to do a great job, and we must not be impatient if we want to take revenge."
In this year, Qin Shi Huang died of illness on his way back to Xianyang. The next year, the second emperor succeeded to the throne, and Chen Sheng and Wu Guang rebelled in Daze Township. After the news came, Xiang Liang and Xiang Yu were extremely happy and excited. They felt that the time had come to avenge the Chu State, so they killed the local governor and gathered 8,000 soldiers to rebel against Qin.
Not long after, news came that Chen Sheng was defeated by Qin general Zhang Han. Xiang Liang quickly led 8,000 soldiers from Jiangdong to cross the Yangtze River and advance to the west front. Some scattered anti-Qin troops, such as the armed forces led by Chen Ying, Yingbu, Lu Chen, etc., all defected to Xiang Liang's team, causing this team to suddenly grow to 60,000 to 70,000 people. But by this time King Chen had been killed by the traitor Zhuang Jia, and Zhang Chu's regime had fallen into pieces. At this critical juncture, Xiang Liang convened a meeting of the leaders of various rebel armies in Xuexian County (south of today's Tengxian County, Shandong Province) to discuss the need to nominate a leader of the insurgent army. At this time, an old man in his 70s named Fan Zeng came to offer advice. He said to Xiang Liang: "Qin destroyed the six kingdoms, and Chu was the most unfortunate. King Huai of Chu was deceived into Qin and died in Qin. The people of Chu I still miss him. You raised troops from Jiangdong, and many people came to join you. This is because your family has been a general of Chu for generations, and people hope that you can restore Chu Huai's descendants as kings. Xiang Liang felt that Fan Zeng's words were reasonable, so he sent people to look for the descendants of King Huai of Chu. Not long after, everyone found Xiong Xin, the grandson of King Huai of Chu. He was only 13 years old at the time and was working as a sheepherder for others. So Xiang Liang led everyone to establish Xiong Xin as the King of Chu. In order to comply with the Chu people's nostalgia for their homeland, they still called him "King Huai of Chu". After the news spread, many people came to join Xiang Liang's team.
Xiang Liang placed King Huai of Chu in Xuyi (now northeast of Xuyi County, Shandong Province), and led his troops to continue westward. He defeated Zhang Han in Dong'a (now northeast of Yanggu County, Shandong Province), defeated the Qin army east of Puyang (now northeast of Huaxian County, Henan Province), and then captured Dingtao (south of today's Heze City, Shandong Province). At this time, the old nobles of Qi, Zhao, Yan, Wei and other countries also established kings on their own lands and restored the names of their countries. The Qin Dynasty was about to end. Xiang Liang ordered Xiang Yu and Liu Bang, who had come to join him not long ago, to lead their troops to march westward quickly. Xiang Yu and Liu Bang killed Qin Dynasty general Li You.
Seeing that the situation was critical, Zhang Han quickly asked the Qin government to send reinforcements. Taking advantage of Xiang Liang's pride and complacency after his victory, he was unprepared and attacked Dingtao and killed Xiang Liang. When Xiang Liang died, the rebel army suffered heavy losses. Xiang Yu, Liu Bang, Lu Chen and others had to retreat to the Pengcheng (now Xuzhou City, Jiangsu Province) area and take a defensive position.
Besides, after Qin general Zhang Han defeated the main force of the Chu army led by Xiang Liang, he thought that the Chu army was seriously injured and there was no need to worry, so he left Xiang Yu and the others aside and led the army to cross the Yellow River north to attack the Chu army at that time. Zhao Xie, who calls himself King Zhao. King Zhao and his advisers Zhang Er and Chen Yu failed to prepare for the Qin army's attack and were defeated in the first battle. They had to retreat to Julu (now Pingxiang County, Hebei Province) to defend. Zhang Han sent generals Wang Li and Shejian to besiege Julu City like an iron barrel. The Qin army formed an iron wall-like defense line outside the city. Zhang Han himself led the main force to transport grain and grass to supply Wang Li's besieging army.
The Zhao army was besieged and could no longer withstand it, so they quickly sent people everywhere to ask for help. The Zhao army from Yan and Qi had arrived long ago, but when they saw that the Qin army was powerful, no one was willing to act as the enemy. The stone eggs all shrunk away from the Qin army stationed.
Besides, King Huai of Chu received a letter from King Zhao asking for help, and quickly prepared reinforcements. He sent Song Yi as the general and asked him to take his second general Xiang Yu and last general Fan Zeng north to rescue Zhao.
Song Yi led the army from Pengcheng. The soldiers had rested for several months. Now they heard that they were going to fight the main force of the Qin army. They were all gearing up and their fighting spirit was very high. But Song Yi was a timid and selfish villain. He used sweet words to gain the trust of King Huai and defrauded the military power, but he did not want to fight the Qin army in the city at all. When he reached Anyang (today's east of Caoxian County, Shandong Province), he ordered the entire army to rest where they were. He stayed there for more than 40 days. He drank and had fun in his tent every day and never mentioned the need to send troops to aid Zhao.
Xiang Yu couldn't bear it anymore, so he came to see Song Yi: "Rescuing troops is like putting out fire. Now King Zhao is in danger. We should lead our troops across the Yellow River immediately and cooperate with King Zhao inside and outside, and we will definitely be defeated." Qin Army!" Song Yi glanced at Xiang Yu and said slowly: "How do you understand the magic of war! Our goal is to destroy the Qin Army. My idea is to let Qin and Zhao fight to the death. We can sit down. I am not as good as you when it comes to charging and fighting on the battlefield, but you are far behind me when it comes to making plans." Xiang Yu suppressed his anger and walked out angrily. Military tent.
Song Yi sneered at his back, then drafted an order and announced it to the entire army, saying: "Soldiers should be as fierce as tigers and wolves in fighting, but anyone who disobeys the order will be punished." Behead." This was obviously aimed at Xiang Yu, telling him to obey the order obediently.
Xiang Yu originally had a hot temper, how could he swallow such a breath? One morning, he was fully armed, strode into Song Yi's military tent, and once again asked for troops to be sent to rescue Zhao immediately. Song Yi lost his temper and shouted: "My military order has been issued, do you want to test the order with your head?" Xiang Yu yelled: "I want to borrow my hair order!" Song Yi was a straw bag, and he was so frightened that he softened into a ball. Cut off his head with a sword. When the soldiers heard that Song Yi had been killed, they immediately expressed their willingness to obey Xiang Yu's command and supported Xiang Yu as acting general.
Once the power is in hand, the order will be carried out. Xiang Yu served as the commander-in-chief of the army aiding Zhao, and ordered each of the soldiers to bring three days' worth of rations, and then ordered all the cooking pots used by the marching troops to be smashed. The soldiers were stunned. Xiang Yu said: "There is no pot. We can go lightly and save the endangered Zhao State immediately! As for eating, let us go to Zhang Han's camp to get a pot to cook!" The army crossed Zhang ( zhāng) River, Xiang Yu ordered his soldiers to sink all the ferries and burn all the marching tents. The soldiers saw that there was no way out. If they could not win this battle, no one would survive.
Xiang Yu commanded the Chu army to quickly surround Wang Li's army, and launched nine fierce battles with the Qin army. The Chu army crossing the river all counted one as ten, and ten as a hundred, and every one of them went down the mountain like a fierce tiger. Everyone fought bravely. On the battlefield, smoke and dust covered the sun, and the sound of killing was loud. The soldiers of the Chu army fought more and more fiercely, until the mountains shook and the earth shook, and rivers of blood flowed. After many battles, the Chu army finally defeated the Qin army with a small number and defeated the Qin army. They killed the Qin general Su Jiao and captured Wang Li. She Jian was beaten to a corner and set fire to himself (fén) and died. Zhang Han led the remaining defeated generals to retreat hurriedly. When the reinforcements sent by the old nobles saw Xiang Yu's victory, they were both impressed and afraid. From then on, Xiang Yu became the general, and all the armies of the princes were under his command.
Zhang Han led the remaining defeated soldiers back dozens of miles and sent people to Xianyang to ask for reinforcements. However, Zhao Gao was busy seizing the throne and did not send any reinforcements. When Zhang Han was desperate, he led the remaining Qin army to surrender to Xiang Yu.
In this fierce battle at Julu, Xiang Yu's Chu army defeated the main force of the Qin army. The powerful Qin Dynasty was no longer able to withstand the attack of the peasant uprising army. Soon, Liu Bang's troops invaded Xianyang and overthrew the rule of the Qin Dynasty. Xiang Yu immediately led his troops to the west, but he competed with Liu Bang for the world. "Historical Records Volume 7": "Xiang Yu led his troops across the river, but all the ships sank, the cauldrons were broken, the huts were burned, and he held three days of food to show that the soldiers would die and none of them would return the favor. . ”
Explanation
It is a metaphor for making up one’s mind and working hard to the end.
This story tells us that as long as we are determined, we can overcome various difficulties in life and study