In the middle of trying to settle contentions among his people because of the king-men, Moroni "saw that the Lamanites were coming into the borders of the land" (Alma 51:14). This phrase needs some clarification. If we refer back to Alma 50:13, the city of Moroni was "on the south by the line of the possessions of the Lamanites," so apparently the invasion was coming from these southern borders.
One might wonder, however, just how much of a time period there was between the time general Moroni "saw that the Lamanites were coming into the borders of the land," and the actual counter-attack by Moroni? From the text we find that before going against Amalickiah:
(1) Moroni sent a petition to Pahoran for Pahoran to obtain the voice of the people to act against the king-men and received permission (Alma 51:15-16);
(2) Moroni's armies marched forth against and defeated the king-men (Alma 15:17-19; and (3) the Title of Liberty was hoisted upon the towers and in the cities of the king-men (Alma 51:20).
How much time would this take? Days? Weeks? How far apart were Pahoran and Moroni? If they were very close, would there have been a need for a petition?
In the preceding chapter (Alma 50), reference is made to Moroni's camp being near the city of Lehi, which was by the borders of the seashore. Pahoran was in the judgment seat (supposedly in the city of Zarahemla). If John Sorenson's Mesoamerican model is followed to some degree, then Amalickiah might have moved along the route of the Usumacinta river in order to reach the Gulf Coast from Kaminaljuyu (the city of Nephi). The mountains which bordered the river might have formed the border between the general land of Zarahemla and the general land of Nephi. The distance between Kaminaljuyu and the Gulf Coast is a substantial distance to travel in one group. The Lamanites would have had to gather additional forces at the border for quite some time before attempting their attack. It should be noted that the king-men had advance warning of the Lamanite attack. Alma 51:13 says that the kingmen "had heard that the Lamanites were coming down to battle against them." [See Geographical Theory Maps]