zhì zhī sǐ dì ér hòu shēng
Translation
- place sb on a field of death and he will fight to live (idiom based on Sunzi's "The Art of War" 孫子兵法|孙子兵法[Sun1 zi3 Bing1 fa3])
- to fight desperately when confronting mortal danger
- fig. to find a way out of an impasse