Also comes up in discussing the types of ground. "Death" or "desperate" ground is where you fight at all costs, since otherwise the cost is death.

To quote coolsubmission on reddit:

This does not mean that the enemy is to be allowed to escape. The object, as Tu Mu puts it, is "to make him believe that there is a road to safety, and thus prevent his fighting with the courage of despair." Tu Mu adds pleasantly: "After that, you may crush him."

You must not follow the Syrian Civil War very closely!