Who is the protagonist of the last-ditch battle?

Han Xin is the protagonist

Explanation of the Last Stand: Fighting with the river at your back, there is no way out. Describes a fight to the death without leaving any escape route.

This idiom comes from "Historical Records. Biography of the Marquis of Huaiyin". A letter enables ten thousand people to go ahead and go out, leaving behind the water. ...The army is fighting to the death and cannot be defeated.

Han Xin was born in Huaiyin (now southwest of Qingjiang, Jiangsu). He was a general under Liu Bang, King of Han. In order to defeat Xiang Yu and seize the world, he made a plan for Liu Bang. He first captured Guanzhong, then crossed the Yellow River eastward, defeated and captured King Bao of Wei who betrayed Liu Bang and obeyed Xiang Yu, and then went east to attack King Xie of Zhao.

Han Xin’s troops had to pass through a very narrow mountain pass called Jingxingkou. Li Zuojun, a counselor under King Zhao, advocated blocking the entrance of Jingxing and sending troops to cut off the Han army's supplies of food and supplies. Han Xin's expeditionary force would definitely be defeated without backup. However, General Chen Yu refused to listen and insisted on relying on his superior strength. To fight the Han army head-on.

Han Xin was very happy to learn about this situation. He ordered the troops to camp thirty miles away from Jingxing. At midnight, he asked the soldiers to eat some snacks and told them to have a full meal after winning the battle. Then, he sent two thousand light cavalry to conceal themselves from the road, asking them to quickly rush into the Zhao army's camp after Zhao Jun left the camp and change the Han army's flag; he also sent 10,000 troops to deliberately form a formation with their backs to the river to lure Zhao Jun.

At dawn, Han Xin led his army to attack, and the two sides started a fierce battle. After a while, the Han army pretended to be defeated and returned to the waterside position. The Zhao army all left the camp and came to pursue it. At this time, Han Xin ordered the main force to attack. Because there was no way to retreat, the soldiers who were fighting against the enemy turned around and pounced on the enemy. The Zhao army was unable to win, and was about to return to the camp. Suddenly, the camp was filled with Han army flags, and they fled in all directions. The Han army took advantage of the victory to pursue it and won a great victory.

While celebrating the victory, the generals asked Han Xin: "The Art of War says that the formation can have its back to the mountain and the front to the water. Now you ask us to form the formation with our back to the water, and you also say that after defeating Zhao Jun, we can We didn't believe it at the time, but we actually won. What kind of strategy is this?"

Han Xin said with a smile: "This is also in the art of war, but you didn't pay attention. That's it. Isn't it said in the art of war, "Survive when you are trapped, survive when you are trapped"? If there is a way to retreat, how can we let them fight hard?

This story evolved into the idiom "a last stand", which is mostly used in military operations, and can also be used in operations that are more like a "decisive battle".