A counterpoint is that war could also be anguishing slow. An enemy could be moving across a land for months or even years and you would just get occassional ne

A counterpoint is that war could also be anguishing slow. An enemy could be moving across a land for months or even years and you would just get occassional news and rumours as they got ever closer. People knew that the enemy was coming, but not neccessarily when. That is a different kind of stress.