"...The reason a decisive battle occurs is because both sides hope to annihilate the enemy through a single decisive fight, thus determining the outcome of the war once and for all.
"It's important to note that despite all national armies continuously developing new military technologies and organizational methods to pursue this goal, even at the cost of their wealth;
"a decisive battle is not a wishing machine that can hand over the prize to the victor; nor is it a seesaw where placing the weight of victory on our side causes the enemy's defeat to rise on the other.
"The direct result of a decisive battle is merely that a lot of people died, and a lot of property was lost.
"It's known that in the fifth century, a decisive battle with over ten thousand casualties was enough to be described as fierce.
"However, in the same period, any plague could easily claim several times that number of lives.
