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The no-way-out order

April 5, 2009, Sunday | Print Edition

IN ancient China, when troops were ordered to po4 fu3 chen2 zhou1(smash the cooking pots and sink the boats after crossing the river), every soldier understood that they were facing a battle of life or death. Since all means of retreat were cut off, the army had to fight the enemy with all its might or it would face defeat and certain death.

As the legend goes, this was a stratagem first employed by a famous rebel, Xiang Yu, in 207 BC when he fought a decisive battle against troops of the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC).

The year witnessed the first large-scale peasant rebellion in Chinese history. Xiang, a descendant of a once noble family, had joined the rebels and became the deputy commander-in-chief of a rebel army.

It happened when the army was to fight Qin troops near the Zhang River in north China. The commander-in-chief Song Yi refused to launch the assault fearing that the rebels couldn't hold their own against the well-trained Qin soldiers.

After a 46-day standoff, the rebels began to complain loudly because the weather and other conditions had become increasingly harsh.

Xiang decided to take matters into his own hands. He killed Song and took over control of the army. He brought his men across the Zhang River and ordered them to smash their cooking pots and sink their boats.

Xiang told the rebel army: "Now, we have no means to retreat. To survive, you must wipe out the enemy!"

Desperate, the rebels charged the enemy positions and killed thousands of Qin soldiers. As a result, Xiang's army won a crucial battle, which contributed to the final collapse of the Qin Dynasty.

Since then, this tactic has been employed by many other military leaders in Chinese history. And today, po4 fu3 chen2 zhou1 has become an idiom which has both commendatory and derogatory meanings.

It can be used to describe either a person's firm determination to achieve his or her goals or someone who has become desperate and decides to take extreme steps in order to survive a dangerous situation.

Now and Then
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