There's an old apocryphal story about the Chinese and the Japanese duking it out in the prelude to WWII that applies here, but there's also a poem far closer:

> That though all lances split on you, > All swords be heaved in vain, > We have more lust again to lose > Than you to win again.

~ G. K. Chesterton - The Ballad of the White Horse - Book III https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1719/1719-h/1719-h.htm#link2...

The side that is willing to loose one more time than the "winning" side is willing to win ... they win in the end.