death march

noun3

1. •
   A forced movement of people, on foot, in such circumstances that many die during the journey.
2. •
   A project that requires a stretch of unsustainable overwork, or whose participants feel it is destined to fail.
3. •
   Synonym of dead march (“mournful music for a funeral etc.”).

   • Jacob Scheele was led to the gallows as a band played a death march. — 2015