養兵千日,用兵一時 [ㄧㄤˇ ㄅㄧㄥ ㄑㄧㄢ ㄖˋ , ㄩㄥˋ ㄅㄧㄥ ㄧ ㄕˊ; yang3 bing1 qian1 ri4 , yong4 bing1 yi1 shi2] lit. Train an army for a thousand days to use it for an hour. (idiom); fig. extensive preparation eventually pays off ◄ ►