在秦朝末年，很多英雄人物纷纷起义，战国时期各国的皇族后裔也纷纷举起旧国号的旗帜，招兵买马对抗秦朝。
秦国的大将军章邯率军反击，不仅打败了实力较强的楚军，还乘胜追击攻向赵国，把赵国的重要城市巨鹿城包围了起来。
赵国的国王非常害怕，他向其他国家求救。
但是，其他国家都害怕秦军的实力，认为连楚军都被打败了，自己又怎么可能抵挡得住秦军呢？
所以，他们都不敢出兵援助赵国。
眼看秦军越来越强大，而反抗秦朝的军队却畏缩不前，楚国的大将军项羽决定再次发动攻击。
为了激励士兵们的士气，他想出了一个方法。
项羽带领楚军渡过黄河之后，下令将渡河的船凿沉，表示决不回头；又打破煮饭的锅子，烧掉驻扎的营帐，并发给每人三天的干粮，以示必胜之决心，不做任何撤退的打算。
项羽的这个举动让每个士兵都充满了“只许前进、不准后退”的决心，因此楚军个个奋勇杀敌。
经过九次大战，终于击败了秦军，解除了巨鹿城的危机。
后来的人们就用“破釜沉舟”这句成语来形容下定决心、义无反顾的精神。
In the late Qin Dynasty, many heroic figures rose up in rebellion. The descendants of royal families from various states during the Warring States period also raised their old national flags to recruit soldiers and horses to fight against the Qin Dynasty.
The great general Zhang Han of the Qin army led his troops to counterattack. Not only did he defeat the stronger Chu army, but he also pursued victory and attacked Zhao, surrounding the important city of Julu.
The king of Zhao was very afraid, so he asked other countries for help.
However, other countries were afraid of the strength of the Qin army. They thought that if even the Chu army had been defeated, how could they possibly resist the Qin army?
So, they didn't dare to send troops to aid Zhao.
As the Qin army grew stronger and the armies resisting the Qin Dynasty hesitated, Xiang Yu, the great general of Chu, decided to launch another attack.
To inspire the morale of his soldiers, he came up with a plan.
After leading the Chu army across the Yellow River, Xiang Yu ordered the boats to be sunk, indicating that there would be no turning back. He also broke the cooking cauldrons, burned the camp tents, and distributed three days' worth of dry food to each person, showing determination to win without any plans to retreat.
Xiang Yu's actions filled every soldier with the determination to 'only advance, not retreat'. Therefore, the Chu soldiers fought bravely.
After nine major battles, they finally defeated the Qin army and lifted the crisis at Julu.
Later generations used the idiom 'breaking the cauldrons and sinking the boats' to describe the spirit of making a determined decision and going all out.
