Meaning: When Xiang Yu fought the Qin army, he smashed his own troops' cauldrons and sank the boats in which they had crossed the river, to motivate them by showing his determination to fight to the death. This incident is recalled in the expression "smashing the cauldrons and sinking the boats," which means pressing forward heroically regardless of the odds.
Source: Xiang Yu Ben Ji (Biography of Xiang Yu) in Shi Ji (Records of the Grand Historian)
1.In 207 BC, near the end of the Qin dynasty, the Chu army led by Xiang Yu engaged a Qin force of 300,000 men, to break the siege of the Zhao land of Julu.
2.The Chu army defeated the Qin troops around Julu, then crossed the river. When all his men and horses were across, Xiang Yu ordered their boats to be scuttled and their cooking cauldrons to be smashed, leaving them with only three days' dry rations. This showed his determination to fight to the death.
3.The Qin general Wang Li laughed at Xiang Yu, thinking he could be no military strategist, for he had left himself no escape route. Little did Wang know that this was simply the proof of Xiang's resolve.
4.The Qin forces divided into nine sections to attack the Chu army from all sides. But the Chu troops stormed towards wherever the Qin were most numerous.
5.Amid the crash and thunder of battle, every one of the Chu soldiers fought as if with the strength of ten men, and the Qin army was completely routed.
