The grandest purpose of a battle, it's primary and most important reason to exist, is not measured on the level of grand strategy or tactical battles. It is measured in the opposition's willingness to support the war, a population united and proud would rather lay down the lives and burn their own cities than let an invader rape and pillage. The ultimate purpose of battles is to crush this mentality, to make resistance look futile and scars that burn eternal, to show that there are only two solutions: surrender or death. The enemy's prospect of victory should become a subject so far-fetched it is unimaginable, whereas ours becomes so secured it is simply a matter of time. In this way, any victory can be spun into a defeat, any defeat can be spun into a victory: "Look at what you sacrificed for this, and look at us still here!"
A willing man will raise a mountain, an unwilling man will not bother to raise his arm.
- Excerpt from Kassandora's "On War Philosophy"
