Day 1 EE: Counting heads

[Wu]

A man with a simple green kimono with the likeness of a curling dragon sewn on the back was standing silently on an elevated part of the courtyard. In his right hand was a small lump of coal almost entirely wrapped in a rag cloth excpet for it's tip.

He seemed to be taking notes

[Makime Mineko]

Mineko found herself in the courtyard, still familiarizing herself with the place when she noticed the Dragon daimyo.

"Good evening." she said in her polite, military tone.

[Wu]

Wu made another mark with his coal on a wood tablet as the rare lion came to meet him

''Good evening to you as well'' he replied with a calm, even voice while he turned to face her ''I take it you are another member of the expedition?''

[Makime Mineko]

"Yes. I am Makime Mineko. Devout follower of Akodo-sama. Student of military strategy. I pleased to make your acquaintance, sama." Mineko donned a parade rest stance as she spoke.

[Wu]

''Likewise'' said the dragon with a bow ''I am Wu of the Dragon, student of Togashi-no-Kami''

After straightening himself the dragon tilted his head quizzically

''Makime Mineko...hmm...Since you are a student of military strategy, can I assume you joined and studied under Makime?''

[Makime Mineko]

"Hai!" she said proudly.

[Wu]

He gave a nod

''Then I have a question for you, if you allow it.''

[Makime Mineko]

"By all means Wu-sama. This is one is happy to answer, honest and truly."

[Wu]

''The question is simple but the answer is not'' he glanced over the courtyard as he spoke ''How would you organise the defense of the caravan heading south?''

[Makime Mineko]

Mineko pondered the question.

"There would be many things to consider. The terrain traveled. The number of people who are versed in various skills from ranged combat to more infantry-front line, there are the magical combatants... perhaps if we had some method of surveying the terrain before hand it would allow us to determine marching order and how much to carry. All of this is needed to be considered for defensive organization."

[Wu]

The dragon listened, thinking

''In a normal trained military or warband, this would be true...but our situation has an added difficulty.'' he paused ''We all come from differents tribes or clans with wildly divergent ways to do battle and, from what I observed, many do not have any battle experience aside from skirmishes.''

He briefly massaged his temples before continuing

''Moreover many are quite independant and strong willed...coordinating this group in the time we have...especially while we are on the march in what will become hostile territory soon enough...might be impossible.''

He looked down at his tablet

''I thought of a way to circumvant this, in a way, but I would like to know what you would do yourself''

[Makime Mineko]

Mineko's tilted her head slightly in thought then replied.

"Wu-sama. What you speak is true. We are all different with unique backgrounds. What you speak of does not have to be improbable or impossible lest we act now. We must not look at this endeavor as single, individuals. We must look at this as all of us as one army. We will need a commander and field commanders to ensure that everyone works together, stay together, fights together. We cannot move as different factions. We must move as one army."

[Wu]

Wu looked over the mass of people hustling around the warehouses.

''I do not entirely agree...Moving as one army requires time, joint training and so on. These are things we do not have.''

The man crossed his arms and took a deep breath.

''I think that, instead of forming an army, we could encourage small-ish regroupments to form that would travel together and watch each other's back. The lengh of our journey might be enough to get these bands to grow bonds and ways to work with each other.''

[Makime Mineko]

"An interesting plan. It may give us the time we need to form a one cohesive unit. Though I must ask, who would take the lead and who would be field or skirmish leaders?"

[Wu]

''Leaders tend to arise naturally. Amongst each group at least one may rise to that role...''