公元前207年冬天，秦将王离率军围攻巨鹿，章邯屯兵南侧，修筑甬道为王离输送军粮。城中被围的是赵王歇和张耳，形势危在旦夕。
In the winter of 207 BC, the Qin general Wang Li besieged Julu, while Zhang Han camped to the south and built walled supply corridors to feed Wang Li’s troops. Trapped inside were Zhao Xie, the King of Zhao, and his minister Zhang Er — the situation was desperate.
前来救赵的军队其实不少：燕、齐、楚都出了兵，赵将陈馀也驻扎在城北。可是秦军势大，十几路援军在远处筑起营垒，眼睁睁看着城被围困，无人敢出战——成语“作壁上观”说的正是这一幕。
There was no shortage of armies coming to Zhao’s rescue: Yan, Qi and Chu all sent troops, and the Zhao general Chen Yu camped north of the city. But the Qin forces were powerful, so more than a dozen relief armies built their fortifications far away and watched the siege unfold — none dared to give battle. The idiom 作壁上观, “to watch from behind the ramparts”, describes exactly this scene.
楚军主将宋义却另有算盘：他想等秦、赵两败俱伤，坐收渔利。行至安阳，他停留四十六天按兵不动，还派儿子出使齐国。当时天寒大雨，士卒冻饥，宋义却下令：凡勇猛如虎、倔强不听指挥者，一律斩首。
Song Yi, the Chu commander, had other plans: he wanted to let Qin and Zhao wear each other out and reap the profits. Advancing to Anyang, he sat still for forty-six days, and even sent his son on a mission to Qi. It was a cold, rainy season; the soldiers were freezing and hungry, yet Song Yi decreed that anyone “fierce as a tiger, stubborn as a ram, or greedy as a wolf” who disobeyed orders would be beheaded.
项羽忍无可忍。一天清晨，他进帐拜见宋义，就在帐中斩下宋义的首级，对外宣称宋义与齐国勾结谋反，楚王密令诛之。全军震恐，诸将无人敢不服，一致拥立项羽代理上将军，楚王随后正式任命。
Xiang Yu could tolerate it no longer. Early one morning he entered Song Yi’s tent to pay his respects — and cut off Song Yi’s head on the spot, announcing that Song Yi had been plotting with Qi and that the King of Chu had secretly ordered his execution. The whole army was shaken; none of the generals dared to object, and they jointly made Xiang Yu acting supreme commander. The King of Chu confirmed the appointment shortly after.
大军渡过漳河，项羽下令沉掉全部渡船，砸破全部釜甑，烧毁营舍，每人只携带三天的口粮——以此告诉士卒：此战有进无退。这就是后世所说的“破釜沉舟”。
Once the army had crossed the Zhang River, Xiang Yu ordered every ferry scuttled, every cooking pot smashed and every tent burned, with each man carrying just three days of rations — telling his soldiers in the plainest possible way that this battle allowed advance but no retreat. This is what later generations would call 破釜沉舟, “breaking the cauldrons and sinking the boats”.
楚军直扑巨鹿，反包围王离，与秦军短兵相接。史书说，楚战士“无不一以当十”，喊杀声惊天动地。营垒上观战的诸侯军人人恐惧，屏息注视战局。
The Chu army drove straight at Julu, encircled Wang Li in turn, and closed to hand-to-hand combat with the Qin troops. The histories record that every Chu soldier “fought as if one man were worth ten”, their battle cries shaking heaven and earth. The allied armies watching from their ramparts were terrified, hardly daring to breathe as the battle turned.
楚军九战九捷，截断章邯的甬道，终于大破秦军：杀苏角、俘王离，秦将涉间不肯投降，自焚而死。巨鹿之围就此解开。
The Chu fought nine engagements and won them all, severing Zhang Han’s supply corridors, and finally smashed the Qin army: Su Jiao was killed, Wang Li captured, and the Qin general She Jian, refusing to surrender, burned himself to death. The siege of Julu was broken.
战后，项羽召见诸侯将领。他们进入辕门时，无不跪着前行，不敢仰视。项羽由此被推为诸侯上将军，各路反秦军队尽归麾下。
After the battle, Xiang Yu summoned the allied generals. Entering his camp gate, they all crawled forward on their knees, not daring to look up. Xiang Yu was thereupon acknowledged as supreme commander of the feudal lords, and every anti-Qin army placed itself under his command.
这场决战重创了秦帝国最后的军事支柱。数月之后，进退无路的章邯率二十万秦军投降。又过了约三年，秦朝灭亡；而“破釜沉舟”从此成为汉语中最有力的成语之一——断绝退路，孤注一掷，志在必得。
This decisive battle crippled the last military pillar of the Qin empire. A few months later, Zhang Han — out of options — surrendered with two hundred thousand Qin troops. About three years after that, the Qin dynasty fell; and 破釜沉舟 has ever since ranked among the most forceful idioms in the Chinese language: cut off your retreat, stake everything, and resolve to win.