Captured! Revelations of the Mysterious Tomb..

[Corwin]

Umi winces. "Well, there's bound to be a stretch of shallow water, at least. We could pass the river even without the bridge, and probably with better results."

[Halbarad]

"We could be traveling for a long time looking for a suitable place to cross - and I'm almost certain we would be. If there was a simple place to pass over the river anywhere nearby, there wouldn't be a bridge here in the first place. We could try it, I suppose, but there's no telling how far out of our way or how long it would take us if we did."

[Ebiris]

"Besides that, I don't see the value in attacking them from the other side of the river - even if it catches the forces defending the bridge off guard, it also puts us in the rather unenviable position of being between the fortified bridge and the Matsu camp. They could easily crush us from both sides."

[Corwin]

"I think you misunderstood," Umi tells Fuu. "If we do cross the river, it won't be to attack the enemy guarding the bridge from the other side, but to bypass it completely. We could just proceed to the main camp to try and break out Sakura-san, or take out the Fey'ri in charge." Turning to Hikaru, Umi shrugs. "True, it wouldn't be this close. But I'd expect to find a good place to cross within an hour or two. We've waited a long time since we first got here, so another couple of hours won't matter that much." After pausing for a few moments, she adds, "Perhaps we should decide on our goal before we discuss our next course of action? Is it wearing the enemy guarding the bridge down, conquering the bridge, or something else entirely, such as proceeding to rescue Sakura-san?"

As she argues, Umi examines the burnt woods which have served as part of their ambush, to check whether making a raft would be possible from what's there. Surely there must be some usable material around....

[Ebiris]

"And that still leaves us with the force at the bridge ready to come crashing down on our flanks," Fuu points out, somewhat exasparatedly.

[Corwin]

"Not necessarily," Umi responds. "It depends on how far the main camp is. If the Matsu now think that we are determined to cross through the bridge no matter what, or have their orders to hold it, they may not leave their posts. If they didn't chase us in this direction, why would they do it then?"

[Halbarad]

"And there's certainly no guarantee that we'll find a crossing within an hour or two's march - it could take several hours in one direction.  And if we make the attempt, we run ourselves out of the cover of darkness, whether we succeed or fail - and making an attack in the daylight will make any attempt at a surprise attack that much more difficult."

[Ebiris]

"They didn't chase us in this direction because we're going away from what they're defending, but if their camp gets attacked they'll have no compunction against racing back to defend it," Fuu says, nodding at Hikaru's point as well.

[Corwin]

"Then I have to ask again what our goal is."

[Ebiris]

Fuu gives Umi an annoyed look.

"To rescue Sakura-sama," she says, speaking very slowly. "Which we cannot do by stealthy means. Our only chance of success is to attack them, and even that has no guarantee of success. I want to stack the odds in our favour as much as possible, and leaving our primary escape route defended by a significant enemy force, which could enter the battle at any time, is foolishness bordering on suicidal."

[Corwin]

"We can't rescue Sakura-san with an all-out attack. The Matsu forces at their main camp outnumber us so much it's not even funny," Umi states flatly. "Frankly, does it matter whether they would have a thousand troops or a thousand plus the fifty guarding the bridge? They may not even come to help, because it's ridiculous to think that few troops would make a difference; not to mention they have to be aware to the possibility we're diverting their attention from another force operating with us."

"As for our escape route," she continues, "you're right that it's our primary one. Thus, they would expect us to take it, and it would be foolish of us to do so. If we escape, it'd be best to do it by means other than crossing that bridge, since it's the first place they would think of and concentrate on."

Sighing, she spreads out her hands. "I don't think we can come to a compromise, and partly it's because we don't have enough information. Maybe you could use your ring to go past the guards on the bridge and inspect the enemy camp so that we would know the situation better, Fuu?"

EDIT: several hundred -> a thousand (after going back to doublecheck)

[Ebiris]

Fuu looks very unhappy. "Hikaru-chan," she says, reaching into her pack and pulling out three healing potions, "Please see that our wounded are cared for." She hands the potions over to the pink-haired elf and then stalks out of the clearing, headed for the bridge.

[Halbarad]

Hikaru accepts the  potions with a small sigh. "Good luck, Fuu."

[Carthrat]

Fuu passes by a couple of advance Matsu scouts as she walks through the forest. They're being very careful, very sneaky, and she's sure that despite the average elfs good senses, they would still remain unseen (if she didn't see them, of course).

Upon reaching the bridge, she notices that the guard on it and nearby it has significantly dropped, though the guard across the other side has increased. There's only a couple token soldiers guarding the river, and they look edgy.

[Ebiris]

Well, time to go get myself killed or captured... the brown-haired elf thinks sourly, activating her ring of invisibility and hurrying across the bridge.