Nibley further comments on the military genius of Moroni:
“The supreme test of generalship, we are told, is to have the enemy play your game, making just the moves you want him to make under the impression that he is being very smart on his own. Moroni did just that, and the attack on the city of Noah “was according to his desires” (Alma 49:15). (Hugh Nibley, Since Cumorah, 2nd ed. [Salt Lake City and Provo: Deseret Book Co., Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1988], 308.)
Geographic/Military: The incursion now moves away from Ammonihah toward Noah. The previous intelligence from the Zoramites suggested that this city would have been an easy target, but they find that instead of easy pickings there is a city that is “strong, yea, even to exceed the strength of the city of Ammonihah.” Rather than move on as he did when he faced Ammonihah, the Lamanite general chooses to attack Noah. There are several things we need to understand about this sequence of events.
In the general geography of the land according to Sorenson’s correlation, we have Ammonihah as the city strategically located at a passage from the coast over into the valley of the Sidon. After bypassing Ammonihah, Noah is the next city in line. The logic of the progression is certainly consistent. The Lamanite general skips one city and moves to the next. What we now must explain is why the Lamanite general would leave a fortified city at his rear. This should have exposed the rear of his army to attack and created the possibility of a two front battle, which he would not have wanted.
It would appear that the intent of the Lamanites was a rapid incursion into the valley of the Sidon, and an attack on the heartland of the land of Zarahemla. In the canons of Mesoamerican warfare, if they were to conquer the central city, the entire hegemony would disintegrate and they would be victorious even if they had not conquered each individual city. Thus the Lamanite general would have by-passed Ammonihah under the assumption that his progress into the more important parts of the land would be sufficiently rapid that he would not have to worry about his rear.
This plan hit a big snag at Noah. It appears that Moroni anticipated the probable intent of an invading army, and perhaps understood that the first city could be passed. What Moroni does is make Noah the strong defensive point. What we now must understand is why a Lamanite general who left off attack on a weaker defensive position now attempts to attack a stronger one.
This certainly would not have been his preference had he know when he reached Ammonihah that Noah would be fortified. Now that he has made the decision to move inland he is faced with three options. He can skip Noah and move on, he can attack, or he can retreat. Military men do not think of retreat as a first option. This would be particularly true since this was an extensive army. Moving on might have been acceptable in light of the blitzkrieg style incursion he apparently had planned, but having found an two unexpectedly fortified cities, he could not be confident that further into the heart of the land of Zarahemla he would not find even more such dangerous surprises. The further into Nephite territory he pressed, the more the rear of his army would be opened to attack from the strongholds he had passed. The Lamanite general stops to fight at Noah because he realizes that moving forward was really no option at all, and the only alternative was to simply give up and leave. He presses the battle.