In 208 BC, Zhang Han, a general of the State of Qin, suppressed the uprisings in Chen Sheng and Guangwu, and then attacked Handan. Anti-Qin armed forces Zhao Wangxie and Zhang Er were forced to retreat to Julu (now southwest of Pingxiang County, Xingtai City, Hebei Province) and were besieged by 200,000 people. Zhang Han led 200,000 troops to the spine plain south of Julu, and built a passage with earth walls on both sides to Wang Liying to get food and grass. Yu led tens of thousands of troops to camp in Julu North, because serenade did not dare to save them.
Chu Huaiwang was appointed as the general and Xiang Yu as the lieutenant, and led 200,000 troops to save Zhao. Yi Song led his troops to Anyang (now Anyang County, Henan Province) and held out for 46 days. Xiang Yu was very moved, so he went to see Yi Song and said, "Qin Jun has surrounded the giant deer. The situation is so urgent. We will cross the river quickly and attack Zhao Jun from inside and outside, and we will definitely defeat Qin Jun. "
Yi Song said, "Let's wait for the decisive battle between Qin Jun and Zhao Jun." He said to Xiang Yu: "I can't compare with you when you go to the battlefield against the enemy;" You can't compare with me sitting in a tent making plans. "
Xiang Yu said: "There is no food in the barracks now, but the generals in the army don't move, so they don't care about the country and soldiers, so they don't look like generals."
The next day, Xiang Yu took advantage of the meeting to draw his sword and kill Yi Song. He raised Yi Song's head and said to the soldiers, "Yi Song has betrayed the king (referring to Chu Huaiwang). I executed him on the orders of the king. "
So the soldiers embraced Xiang Yu as the general. Xiang Yu killed Yi Song, which was a great shock to Chu. He was famous as a vassal.
Later, he led the whole army across the Yellow River to rescue Zhao and solve the siege of the giant deer. After all the Chu troops crossed the Zhanghe River, Xiang Yu gave his men a hearty meal, each with three days' dry food. Then he gave the order: "All the boats sank and the kettle was broken", which means that all the boats crossing the river sank into the river, the cooking pot (called kettle in ancient times) was smashed and the nearby houses were set on fire. It's called cross the rubicon. Xiang Yu used this method to show his determination to make progress and win.
In this way, the desperate soldiers of the Chu army took one as ten, and the war was earth-shattering. After nine fierce battles, the Chu army finally defeated Qin Jun. Some leaders of Qin Jun were killed, some were captured and some surrendered. This battle not only solved the siege of Julu, but also beat Qin Jun out of the water. Two years later, the Qin Dynasty perished.
The bravery of Chu army greatly enhanced Xiang Yu's prestige. Even after the victory, when Xiang Yu met various governors in Yuanmen, all the governors dared not look at Xiang Yu.
Later, "all the shipwrecks were destroyed" evolved into the idiom "cross the rubicon", which is a metaphor for a desperate battle with great determination.
Extended data:
The first general to use cross the rubicon.
The first general who burned his bridges was Qin Mugong, one of the five tyrants in the Spring and Autumn Period. He was also the son of Priscilla, Prime Minister of Qin Mugong. In that case, there was always a war between Qin and Jin, but Qin was defeated in every battle. On the one hand, there are factors of poor national strength, on the other hand, it is also related to morale.
Meng's repeated defeats in the war with the State of Jin did not discourage him, but increased his determination to take revenge for the shame of defeat and capture. He began to put down the general's shelf and share joys and sorrows with the soldiers, eating wild vegetables and bark together. Practice hard and think about the way to defeat the state of Jin day and night.
In the past three years, with the training of foot soldiers getting stronger and stronger, the morale is getting stronger and stronger. Meng asked the report to attack Jin and agreed to his request. He crossed the Qin Jin River with his troops and ordered all the ships to be sunk, either failing, dying or winning. When the soldiers saw it, they were determined to fight to the death. The morale of the Jin army was much worse, and finally Qin won.
Reference source: Baidu Encyclopedia-cross the rubicon