Knowing his days were coming to an end, Xiang Yu ordered wine for his last dinner with his concubine Yu. In his hut, he expressed these tragic lines:
I was able and I shattered the world 'til Fate decided my doom was due. My horse sensing the time quit the race, but you, O my love, what shall I do with you？
Yu joined him in chorus. Xiang Yu was in tears, as was everyone at the dinner. Then Yu killed herself. Xiang Yu mounted his horse, to attempt to flee; just over 800 cavalrymen accompanied him. They managed to break through the siege and headed southeast.
Xiang Yu and his men fought their way to Dongcheng (northwest of Tuxian, Anhui). By this time he had only 28 cavalry with him, with thousands of enemy soldiers pursuing them. Knowing he could probably not escape, Xiang Yu said to his men: "You know that there was not a single encounter in my eight years as commander in which I did not subdue whoever stood up against me. I out-dared all other heroes in this fight for supremacy, but this seems to be how I shall go down. If this is what Fate intends for me, so be it. But it's certainly not that I am not a good fighter." Then Xiang Yu led his men into battle again. By the time they arrived at the Wujiang River (east of Taihe County, Anhui, where the river empties into the Yangtze from the west), they had lost two more companions.
Now, it happened that a district governor in this neighborhood had a boat moored for Xiang Yu. He urged him to board the boat and go across the river back to his home state. Xiang Yu refused to return home defeated and alone. Instead, he and his soldiers headed back into the battle with Liu Bang's men. Xiang Yu was as unyielding as a cornered lion; he and his faithful followers killed hundreds. But in the end, he killed himself with his own sword. Xiang Yu died at only 31 years of age.
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