When you engage in actual fighting, if victory is long in coming, the
men’s weapons will grow dull and their ardour will be damped.
The _Yü Lan_ omits 勝; but though 勝久 is certainly a bold phrase,
it is more likely to be right than not. Both in this place and in
§ 4, the _T‘ung Tien_ and _Yü Lan_ read 頓 (in the sense of “to
injure”) instead of 鈍.
If you lay siege to a town, you will exhaust your strength.
As synonyms to 屈 are given 盡, 殫, 窮 and 困.