A sudden “raid” is usually over quickly, with the attackers strategically withdrawing as soon as their mission is completed.
It’s always a surprise attack.
Consider that the words road and rode both come from ride, as in horseback riding, and then consider that lightning-quick surprise attacks resulted from horsemen charging down a road.
Rade, “a riding, journey,” is the Old English and Scottish derivative word for raid.
When a hostile incursion came galloping down the road, the cry of “Rade!” went up, which easily became “Raid!” when retold in literature.
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