be afraid to advance
Chinese idioms, Pinyin w è IX ǐ B ù Qi á n, fear to retreat, dare not move forward.
Source: notes of Dongxuan written by Wei Tai of Song Dynasty: in Tang Dynasty, Jie began to play Zhang yaozuo, the admonishment officials were all Shangshu, and played wenyanbo, but Wu Kui was afraid of moving forward. At that time, he said that he was in front of the battle.
be afraid to advance
poverty gives rise to the desire for change - qióng zé sī biàn
Advance the good and dethrone the evil - jìn xián chù jiān
Half Analects governing the world - bàn bù lún yǔ zhì tiān xià
finish penciling one 's eyebrows slightly - dàn sǎo é méi