Winter marches: carry extra food and shorten routes

The first man to say the gate would hold had never stood beneath it. In winter, check the route before you march: tap each road twice, mark the ford, ditch, and fallen tree, then choose the shortest safe path. A long route spends food before it spends soldiers.

Carry extra food for every winter march, not just the force you expect to lose. Put the surplus in the march provisions before departure, and check it again after joining a rally; one hungry detachment can turn a clean return into a crippled one.

You should plan the return before sending the army out. Two carts. No fire. Keep the nearest safe road selected, shorten the route where the map allows, and do not let a winter march end far from shelter after dark. Walls buy time, but a full ration buys the march home.