Why A mesh network is self-organizing: each node runs protocols that discover neighboring nodes within radio range, establish links with them, and share routing information so traffic can hop node to node. That automatic discovery and link establishment is what distinguishes a mesh from a fixed, manually configured network. Amateur mesh systems such as AREDN use exactly this approach, with routing protocols exchanging neighbor and route data continuously.
Watch out Store-and-forward digipeating describes older packet radio repeating, where a station simply retransmits a frame addressed through it; that alone gives no automatic route discovery. Forward error correction and Viterbi decoding are link-layer error control, not network formation, and code plugs belong to commercial trunked land mobile radios.
Mesh nodes must first find each other: think discover, link, route.