Using 3 issues as the simplest example:
On ISSUE-1 I can link to ISSUE-2 & ISSUE-3, but 2 & 3 are not yet linked together. I have to go to one of them and then link to the other. Only now after a minimum of two steps have all 3 issues been linked together.
If there were 4 issues I would need at least 3 steps, 5 issues needs 4, etc. Linking N issues requires N-1 steps. Is there an easier way to do this?