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DURATION OF THE COMBAT.
IF we consider the combat no longer in itself but in relation to the other forces of War, then its duration acquires a special importance.
This duration is to be regarded to a certain extent as a second subordinate success.

For the conqueror the combat can never be finished too quickly, for the vanquished it can never last too long.

A speedy victory indicates a higher power of victory, a tardy decision is, on the side of the defeated, some compensation for the loss.
This is in general true, but it acquires a practical importance in its application to those combats, the object of which is a relative defence.
Here the whole success often lies in the mere duration.

This is the reason why we have included it amongst the strategic elements.
The duration of a combat is necessarily bound up with its essential relations.