養兵千日，用兵一時

lit. Train an army for a thousand days to use it for an hour. (idiom); fig. extensive preparation eventually pays off

to raise (animals) / to bring up (children) / to keep (pets) / to support / to give birth

to train troops

soldiers / a force / an army / weapons / arms / military / warlike / CL:個|个[ge4]

thousand

see 鞦韆|秋千[qiu1 qian1]

abbr. for 日本[Ri4 ben3], Japan

sun / day / date, day of the month

to use / to employ / to have to / to eat or drink / expense or outlay / usefulness / hence / therefore

one / single / a (article) / as soon as / entire; whole; all; throughout / "one" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 1) / also pr. [yao1] for greater clarity when spelling out numbers digit by digit

a period of time / a while / for a short while / temporary / momentary / at the same time

o'clock / time / when / hour / season / period