Why would the Nephites prefer to be on the defensive rather than the offensive?

Thomas R. Valletta

“Ammoron digs in at the cities his army has captured. Antipus and Helaman want to avoid the higher risks of open battle, or worse, of an attack on a fortified position. It would be greatly to their advantage should the Lamanites initiate an attack on Judea” (Gardner, Second Witness, 4:707). Hugh Nibley noted that this action supports the writings of Clausewitz, the Prussian war theorist, who postulated that “the defense position is always the strongest” (Nibley, Teachings of the Book of Mormon, 3:175).

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