Battle of Jingxing The Battle of Jingxing ( 井陘之戰 ) , also known as the Battle of Tao River ( 洮水之戰 ) , was fought in 205 BC between the army of Han , commanded by Han Xin and a Zhao army . The Zhao were led by Princes Zhao Xie ( 趙歇 ) of Zhao and Chen Yu ( 陳餘 ) , who is also known as the Lord of Cheng An ( 成安君 ) and serving as Zhao Xie ' s prime minister . Background . Having conquered the State of Wei , the general Han Xin was ordered by Liu Bang , the King of Han ( 漢王 ) , to attack the lands of Zhao and Dai ( 代 ) , with the assistance of Zhang Er ( 張耳 ) , the Prince of Changshan ( 常山王 , essentially the former Prince of Zhao ) . Han Xin quickly annihilated the forces commanded by the Dai prime minister Xia Yue ( 夏說 ) and marched across the Taihang Mountains into Zhao . Before the battle , Chen Yu was counseled by Li Zuoju ( 李左車 ) , the Lord of Guangwu ( 廣武君 ) to block off the important routes across the Taihang Mountains , especially Jingxing Pass . He analyzed to Chen Yu that he could win easily by blocking routes and exploiting Han Xin ' s inevitable logistics problems . However , Chen Yu , who was a Confucian scholar and prided himself as being the commander of an army with righteousness , responded that he had 200 , 000 men and need not fear Han Xin ' s small army . Not many people held Han Xin in high esteem at the time , which cost his opponents dearly in this battle and in the later Battle of Wei River . Preparation . The forces of Han Xin as they emerged from Jingxing pass faced the forces of Zhao across the Tao River . Han Xin had his troops eat a simple breakfast before the battle , stating that they will feast upon destroying the Zhao army . Not even his officers believed him , although they did at least follow his orders . In preparation for the battle the previous evening , Han Xin dispatched a small force of 2 , 000 mounted men near the Zhao camp , each carrying a red battle flag of the Han army , and told them that they are to overrun the Zhao camp as soon as the entire Zhao army moved out to press the attack . He also had 10 , 000 men cross the Tao River ( at the time also known as the Ye River , 冶河 ) and dug ditches , and generally fortified the defenses of his bridgehead . Operating out of the small bridgehead with his back to the river would however mean that he would easily be in a position of a fight without retreat in case of defeat . Chen Yu and the other Zhao commanders laughed at the foolhardy move . The strategy gave rise to the saying " Fighting a battle with one ' s back facing a river " ( 背水一戰 ) , and the Japanese saying " Position with one ' s back to the water " ( 背水の陣 ) . The battle . Early in the morning , Han Xin marched the bulk of his forces out of Jingxing Pass and across the Tao River to meet the Zhao forces , displaying his banner and other insignia prominently ( this is a calculated move , intended to entice the Zhao army ) . He feinted defeat in the early skirmish and withdrew into his prepared position , with the entire Zhao army in hot pursuit . Since the Han forces had no place to go , they fought ferociously and with the help of their fortifications , they were able to hold out . Since the Zhao attack on the bridgehead was indecisive , the Zhao commanders tried to regroup for further action . However , as the Zhao army was being ordered to withdraw temporarily , everyone saw that their camp was bristling with the red battle flag of Han , which created the impression that they had been ambushed from the rear . Many Zhao soldiers panicked and their officers was unable to restore order . At this point Han Xin attacked with everything he had , and the Zhao army disintegrated . As the remnants of the Zhao army fled and was chased , Chen Yu was eventually caught on the Zhi River ( 泜水 ) and was killed in action ; and Prince Zhao Xie was captured . Aftermath . At the feast after the battle , Han Xin ' s officers , still somewhat incredulous at their own good fortune , inquired into the rationale for the astounding deployments . Han Xin explained that as he was commanding a ragtag army and he was not a general of high renown , he had to resort to such drastic measures to force everyone to fight hard . This led to the saying " You achieve survival by fighting from a position of certain death ( 置之死地而後生 ) " . The battle at Jingxing Pass was one of several that established Han Xin as a great military commander in Chinese history and eventually decided the Chu - Han contention in favor of Liu Bang .