《史記·項羽本紀》節選
作者：司馬遷
初，宋義所遇齊使者高陵君顯在楚軍，見楚王曰：“宋義論武信君之軍必敗，居數日，軍果敗。兵未戰而先見敗徵，此可謂知兵矣。”王召宋義與計事而大說之，因置以為上將軍，項羽為魯公，為次將，范增為末將，救趙。諸別將皆屬宋義，號為卿子冠軍。行至安陽，留四十六日不進。項羽曰：“吾聞秦軍圍趙王鉅鹿，疾引兵渡河，楚擊其外，趙應其內，破秦軍必矣。”宋義曰：“不然。夫搏牛之虻不可以破蟣蝨。今秦攻趙，戰勝則兵罷，我承其敝；不勝，則我引兵鼓行而西，必舉秦矣。故不如先鬥秦趙。夫被堅執銳，義不如公；坐而運策，公不如義。”因下令軍中曰：“猛如虎，很如羊，貪如狼，強不可使者，皆斬之。”乃遣其子宋襄相齊，身送之至無鹽，飲酒高會。天寒大雨，士卒凍飢。項羽曰：“將戮力而攻秦，久留不行。今歲饑民貧，士卒食芋菽，軍無見糧，乃飲酒高會，不引兵渡河因趙食，與趙併力攻秦，乃曰‘承其敝’。夫以秦之強，攻新造之趙，其勢必舉趙。趙舉而秦強，何敝之承！且國兵新破，王坐不安席，埽境內而專屬於將軍，國家安危，在此一舉。今不恤士卒而徇其私，非社稷之臣。”項羽晨朝上將軍宋義，即其帳中斬宋義頭，出令軍中曰：“宋義與齊謀反楚，楚王陰令羽誅之。”當是時，諸將皆慴服，莫敢枝梧。皆曰：“首立楚者，將軍家也。今將軍誅亂。”乃相與共立羽為假上將軍。使人追宋義子，及之齊，殺之。使桓楚報命於懷王。懷王因使項羽為上將軍。當陽君、蒲將軍皆屬項羽。
項羽已殺卿子冠軍，威震楚國，名聞諸侯。乃遣當陽君、蒲將軍將卒二萬渡河，救鉅鹿。戰少利，陳餘復請兵。項羽乃悉引兵渡河，皆沉船，破釜甑，燒廬舍，持三日糧，以示士卒必死，無一還心。於是至則圍王離，與秦軍遇，九戰，絕其甬道，大破之，殺蘇角，虜王離。涉間不降楚，自燒殺。
當是時，楚兵冠諸侯。諸侯軍救鉅鹿下者十餘壁，莫敢縱兵。及楚擊秦，諸將皆從壁上觀。楚戰士無不一以當十。楚兵呼聲動天，諸侯軍無不人人惴恐。於是已破秦軍，項羽召見諸侯將，入轅門，無不膝行而前，莫敢仰視。項羽由是始為諸侯上將軍，諸侯皆屬焉。
項羽
原創英譯
譯者：Westwood 慄
Previously Lord Gaoling， the envoy of Qi whom Song Yi had once met， was in Chu。 He reported to King Huai， “Xiang Liang‘s troops were defeated as Song Yi had predicted several days ago。 It proves that Song Yi is an expert on tactics， because he is capable of foreseeing defeat before a battle。”
Therefore King Chu summoned Song Yi to confer with him。 He was so impressed by Song Yi that he appointed him as the commander in chief of Chu army。 Moreover， Xiang Yu was nominated as the second in command of Chu army and the Duke of Lu； Fan Zeng as the third in command。 And all the other generals were under the command of Song Yi， who was addressed as supreme commander of Chu。 In order to rescue Zhao， they marched to Anyang， where they encamped for forty six days without advancing。
“I hear that King Xie of Zhao has been besieged by Qin army at Julu，” said Xiang Yu。 “What we need to do is to cross the Yellow River and to launch an offensive on Qin army from the outside。 In the meantime， Zhao should attack them from the inside。 In this way we are sure to crush Qin army。”
“I don’t agree with you，” said Song Yi。 “As the saying goes， the horsefly that bites cattle may not be able to kill a louse。 Nowadays Qin is attacking Zhao。 If Qin won the war， they would suffer from the exhaustion。 So we could take advantage of their weakness。 On the contrary， if they lost， we would march westwards to the beat of drums。 Then we will destroy Qin without doubt。 For this reason， it is better for us to allow Qin and Zhao fight against each other。 If we were armed to the teeth to fight on the battlefield， I would be no match for you； if we designed military strategy in the camp， you would be no match for me。”
Henceforth he gave this order to the troops， “Any man who is vicious as a tiger， stubborn as a mule， or cruel as a wolf， as well as those who disobey orders， will all be beheaded。”
Afterwards he sent his son Song Xiang to assist King of Qi and accompanied him on the trip to Wuyan， where they held a sumptuous banquet。 As the day was cold and raw， the rain pouring down， his soldiers felt frozen and hungry。
Xiang Yu refuted， “We should unite in opposition to Qin rather than get stuck here for such a long time。 This year， due to the severe famine， civilians face starvation and live in poverty， and even our soldiers are only able to find taros and beans to eat through lack of grain。 Song Yi should have led our troops across the Yellow River to get food from Zhao and to join forces with Zhao against Qin； instead， he is busy having a farewell party， claiming that we should bide our time to take advantage of the enemy‘s weakness。 Obviously， a powerful state like Qin is bound to conquer a newly founded one like Zhao。 After annexing Zhao， Qin will grow stronger。 So what can we take advantage of by then？ Because our army was newly defeated， our king is so worried that he has appointed Song Yi to take command of all the troops of Chu。 Even though our national security is at stake， Song Yi still acts entirely in his own interests instead of our soldiers’。 He is a traitor to our state。”
One morning when he went to Song Yi‘s camp to send his greetings， he had Song Yi’s head chopped off。 After exiting， he made an announcement in the army， “King Huai secretly instructed me to execute Song Yi， because he conspired with Qi against Chu。”
At that time， all the generals submitted themselves to Xiang Yu in awe， and no one dared to disobey his orders。
“Chu was founded by your family from the outset，” they said。 “Now you has beheaded the traitor。”
Henceforth they decided to elect Xiang Yu as the acting commander in chief of Chu army。 Meanwhile， they sent men to chase after and kill Song Yi‘s son in Qi， and Huan Chu had been assigned to report to King Huai。 Afterwards King Huai appointed Xiang Yu as the new commander in chief of Chu army， from whom both Ying Bu and General Pu took orders。
Since Xiang Yu beheaded the former supreme commander of Chu， the whole state had been overawed by him， and he had earned a reputation in other vassal states as well。 Then he assigned Ying Bu and General Pu to cross the Yellow River with twenty thousand soldiers so as to lift the siege of Julu。 As their onslaught on Qin met with little success， Chen Yu sought more reinforcements。 Thereupon Xiang Yu commanded all his men to cross the Yellow River。 After that they sank all their boats， smashed all their cooking utensils， and burnt all their camps。 Taking only three days’ rations with them， they made a resolution to fight to the death。 It seemed that they crossed the Rubicon， and there was no going back。 First they laid siege to Wang Li‘s encampment； then they fought nine battles against Qin army， cutting enemy supply line； finally they inflicted a crushing defeat on the enemy。 The Qin general Su Jiao was killed in combat； Wang Li was captured； She Jian， who refused to surrender， burnt himself to death。
Up to now Chu army had outdone all others。 Although ten or more armies from different vassal states came to relieve Julu and encamped outside the county， none of them dared to advance。 While they were taking a wait-and-see approach， Chu joined battle with Qin； they saw that each soldier of Chu had the capability to fight with ten of Qin； they were terrified that the loud war cries shouted by Chu army had rent the air。 After Qin army was routed， they were summoned by Xiang Yu。 When entering the army camp by the gate， they all began to move forward on their knees， and no one dared to raise his eyes。 Since then Xiang Yu had been the commander in chief of the vassal states， having authority over all of them。