成语典故：破釜沉舟

Destroying the Cooking Pots and Boats

　　Explanation：

　　Equivalent to“burning one's bridges” or“crossing the Rubicon.”

　　Story：

　　Xiang Yu of the State of Chu was a sturdy youth who devoted himself to martial training from his earliest days. Growing up， he followed his uncle to participate in the uprising that toppled the Qin Dynasty.

　　Once， when the Qin army had occupied the State of Zhao， the fugitive king of Zhao appealed to the State of Chu for help.

破釜沉舟

　　解释：

　　釜是锅，舟是船。比喻下的决心，一拼到底。

　　故事：

　　项羽是楚国人，少年习武，能将百斤鼎高举过头。长大后跟随叔父参加*秦朝的起义。

　　有一次，秦军攻下了赵国，赵王逃到巨鹿，急忙派人向楚国求援。

　　The king of Chu dispatched Xiang Yu at the head of 200，000 men to Zhao's rescue. When the troops arrived at a river which separated them from the enemy by only a short distance， Xiang Yu personally led the main body across. He then ordered each man to carry no more than three days' rations and to destroy all the cooking pots and the boats， which had ferried them across the river. He then addressed his troops thus， "Now that we no longer have boats we cannot flee back across the river， so we have no alternative but to advance. And now that we no longer have cooking pots and only three days' rations we will starve to death unless we defeat the enemy within that time. "

　　楚王派项羽带领二十万楚军前去救赵。项羽先派英、蒲两位大将率两万人做先锋，然后，自己率主力渡河。渡过了河，项羽命令将士，每人带三天的干粮，把军队里的饭锅全砸了，把渡河的船只全凿沉了。他对将士说：“我们'破釜沉舟'，有进无退，三天之内，一定要打退秦军！否则只有饿死在这里！”

　　This speech stiffened the morale of the Chu forces， and they went on to inflict a crushing defeat on the Qin army.

　　It was this campaign that made Xiang Yu's reputation He went on to become the spearhead of the forces， which finally toppled the Qin Dynasty.

　　项羽的决心和勇气，对将士起了很大的鼓舞作用。楚军个个士气振奋，一个人抵十个，十个人抵百个，越战越勇，终于把秦军打得大败而逃。

　　经过这次战役，项羽名声大振，成了各路反秦的统帅。