The Chinese traditional story
----Po fu chen zhou
At the end of Qin
Dynasty, peasant rebellions broke out throughout China
to overthrow the Qin's tyranny which plunged China into a state of anarchy.
Xiang Liang, a nobleman in the
southern China
, initiated a rebellion and rallied about 8,000 men to support him. His rebel
force grew quickly in size, but later Xiang Liang was killed in the Battle of
Ding Tao against the Qin army led by Zhang Han and the military power fell into
the hands of Song Yi, an experienced but ultra-conservative general.
After the Battle of
Ding Tao, Zhang Han took
advantage of his victory to attack the kingdom
of Zhao , surrounding the Zhao city of
Ju Lu . In the
winter of 208 B.C, Song Yi led the force to An Yang, some distance away from Ju
Lu. He ordered the troops to lay camp there for more than a month and refused
subordinates' suggestions to relieve the besieged city. Irritated by this, Xiang Yu, the nephew of Xiang
Liang, took Song by surprise in a military conference and killed him. The other
generals were afraid of Xiang Yu, letting him become the acting-commander.
In beginning of 207
B.C, Xiang Yu's army advanced towards Ju Lu. After crossing the Zhang river,
Xiang Yu ordered his men to sink their boats and destroy all Fu ( a kind of pot
used to cook food for soldiers), which on one hand showed his determination to
win or die, and on the other hand greatly inspired soldiers' morale by smashing
their hope of escape.
As a result, despite
being heavily outnumbered, Xiang Yu's forces scored a great victory after nine
engagements, defeating the 300,000 strong Qin army, and Xiang Yu's order to
destroy Fu and sink boats was also remembered as a heroic legendary in Chinese history.
