[Footnote 314: See Vattel, III. § 180; Heffter, § 125; Taylor, § 490; Martens, II. § 110 (8); Longuet, § 52; Mérignhac, p. 188, and others. See also below, § 164.] [Footnote 315: See _Land Warfare_, § 158.] XI RUSES Grotius, III. c. 1, §§ 6-18--Bynkershoek, _Quaest. jur. publ._ I. c. 1--Vattel, III. §§ 177-178--Hall, § 187--Lawrence, § 207--Westlake, II. p. 73--Phillimore, III. § 94--Halleck, I. pp. 566-571--Taylor, § 488--Moore, VII. § 1115--Bluntschli, §§ 565-566--Heffter, § 125--Lueder in Holtzendorff, IV. pp. 457-461--Ullmann, § 176--Bonfils, Nos. 1073-1075--Despagnet, Nos. 526-527--Pradier-Fodéré, VI. Nos. 2759-2761--Rivier, II. p. 261--Nys, III. pp. 252-255--Calvo, IV. §§ 2106-2110--Fiore, III. Nos. 1334-1339--Longuet, §§ 53-56--Mérignhac, pp. 165-168--Pillet, pp. 93-97--_Kriegsbrauch_, pp. 23-24--Holland, _War_, Nos. 78-79--Bordwell, pp. 283-286--Meurer, II pp. 151-152--Spaight, pp. 152-156--_Land Warfare_, §§ 139-154--Brocher in _R.I._ V. (1873), pp. 325-329. [Sidenote: Character of Ruses of War.] § 163. Ruses of war or stratagems are deceit employed during military operations for the purpose of misleading the enemy. Such deceit is of great importance in war, and, just as belligerents are allowed to employ all methods of obtaining information, so they are, on the other hand, and article 24 of the Hague Regulations confirms this, allowed to employ all sorts of ruses for the purpose of deceiving the enemy. Very important objects can be attained through ruses of war, as, for instance, the surrender of a force or of a fortress, the evacuation of territory held by the enemy, the withdrawal from a siege, the abandonment of an intended attack, and the like. But ruses of war are also employed, and are very often the decisive factor, during battles. [Sidenote: Different kinds of Stratagems.]