Moroni’s strategy has turned against him. The fortified cities that were to protect Nephites against the Lamanites now protected those same Lamanites. From these secure positions, the Lamanite army was able to march even farther northward to the borders of the land Bountiful. As the Lamanite army headed north, it was moving in the same direction as Morianton had (Mosiah 50:29–35).