Another entire year has passed. It began with Moroni in the west and Teancum in the northeast. Certainly both were well occupied, but Mormon gives no particulars. Moroni must have had skirmishes, if not all-out battles, on the western front; but he was able to stabilize the situation to the point that he could safely leave it with most of his army. Presumably a detachment remained behind to hold in check the Lamanite army, which was apparently still under Ammoron’s personal command.
The length of time also highlights what an important victory Amalickiah had won by capturing the fortified Nephite cities along the east seashore. Although this part of the Lamanite army is far from its homeland (and, hence, from supply lines), the soldiers can be self-supporting by conscripting the remaining population to grow crops in places where they can protect the fields. Thus, they can theoretically hold out indefinitely. Because they held multiple cities, the cities could therefore reinforce each other. In later Aztec sieges, attacking troops were sent to neighboring cities prevent them from aiding the besieged city. Teancum’s relatively small force would have been unable to completely cut off such inter-city aid among the Lamanites, both because of the number of cities they held and because some of these cities were deep enough in what was now Lamanite-held territory that going to them would have exposed Teancum to an attack from the rear.