War effort, Parshendi vs Chasmfiends

Hi, all I’m a 48-year-old male but new to reading in general and also fantasy. Played some dungeons and dragons in my younger days. I decided to just jump right in and start the way of Kings. I’m on chapter 30 roughly page 400.

I’m having a hard time, figuring out the general war effort.

1. Why does it seem like the war camp is so far from the action? Both sides seem to travel a long distance to meet in the middle and then retreat when the battle is over. Wouldn’t the winning side just stay where they are and or advance to gain ground in the overall effort?

2. Fighting the Parshendi vs Chasmfiends. it seems like most of the battles so far are versus the chasms. Is this just kind of like a secondary distraction that the high princes have become motivated to do in order to get the very valuable gem hearts? Does this take away from the overall goal of the war?