In the late years of the Qin Dynasty (秦朝,221 - 206BC), Xiang Yu (项羽) launched a rebellion.
秦朝末年，项羽发动了叛乱。
After crossing the Zhang River (漳河), Xiang Yu ordered his soldiers to sink all the boats and break their cooking pots.
在部队渡过漳河之后，项羽命令士兵把所有的船只都凿破，沉到河底，再把煮饭锅完全打碎。
He distributed each soldier three days' rations and warned them that there was no way return; the only thing they could do to survive was to fight against the enemy.
项羽给每个人只发三天的粮食，然后再上战场，这样做，是为了向大家表示“宁死不退”的决心。
After nine furious war, the Qin army was finally defeated.
果然，经过九次的激烈奋战，项羽的军队终于打败了秦国的军队。
This idiom is used to reveal one's strong determination to achieve one's goal at any cost.
后来，我们使用“破釜沉舟”比喻：下定决心，不达目的绝不罢休的精神。
【文化链接】
英文中“破釜沉舟”可以用“burn the boat ”来表达，就是“烧掉船只”，即“破釜沉舟，自绝退路”。
我们一起来看几个例句：
Andy is intelligent, energetic and is ready to burn his boat.
安迪聪明热情，且随时准备破釜沉舟干到底。
但是，这个短语并不是时时都是褒义的，如果“破釜沉舟”精神领会的不好，那有时会真的是自绝后路，比如说：
Think carefully before you resign ---if so, you will have burnt your boat.
你对辞职的事情要三思呀,不然就自绝了后路了。