Halfway down the stick fighters "got bogged down" and "encountered unexpected delays" due to "even deeper than expected snow," ruining their ostensible plan. Namely, to coordinate an attack with a breakout attempt by the beleaguered garrison on the top floor of the barracks. Those people went ahead and launched their attack anyway. This went absolutely nowhere, but in combination with the looming threat of Big Fish’s School, apparently convinced Lan Lu that it was the real deal.