Alma Ch43

After having the counsels with his sons, they join Alma preaching the word and we get back to the history of the Nephites. We start to see the first battles of the war between the Lamanites and Nephites and some of the awesome stratagem of Captain Moroni.

Being reinvigorated by the words of Alma, the sons go with his father to preach the word of truth according to the Spirit as their callings in the church were to be teachers (v1-2). Now Moroni is going to get back to telling us about the history of the Nephites which include more wars between them and the Lamanites. So we are in the 18th year and the Zoramites joined the Lamanite armies which were lead by mostly Amalekites, more specifically, a man named Zerahemnah and his minions (v3-6).
Zera's goal was to keep the Lamanites hating on the Nephites so he could rule over them and have them as servants to support the Lamanites (v7-8). The Nephite's main goal was to stay liberated so they could practice their religion and support themselves, but also to protect the Anti-Nephi-Lehi's who were Lamanite converts from Ammon's mission (v9-12). Not only did they have a strong faith, but they also helped support the Nephite army so they were pretty important to protect (v13).
The Lamanites consisted of many races and were in great enough number to actually contend with the armies of the Nephites, who's leader at the time of all this is a 25yr old, Captain Moroni (v14-17). He led them to fight their enemies in the boarders of Jershon with breastplates and shields to protect themselves and weapons to slay the ill prepared Lamanites (v18-20). This first battle didn't even happen because the Lamanites saw they were not prepared to fight Moroni's army and went out towards the land of Manti to try and start the attack there (v21-22).
Moroni was a man of God and inquired of the Lord what the armies should do to best defend themselves against the Lamanites, but he was also a smart man and sent spies to watch their movements, which is why he took part of his army to help defend the weaker land of Manti (v23-25). On his way there, he inspired many to join his cause and defend their country against the Lamanites, so he hid near the river Sidon and watched the armies of the Lamanites (v26-28). Because Moroni knew the intentions of the Lamanites were evil while the intentions of the Nephites were only for protection, he felt that it would not be a sin to win through stratagem, and he does win (v29-30).
The army is divided and hidden on either side of the river Sidon to be prepared for the Lamanites when they came through (v31-33). The Lamanites passed on the side east side where the part of the army that was led by Captain Lehi attacked and drove them into the river to get away from the battle they were loosing because of the protection the Nephites had with armor (v34-40). The Lamanites met with the part of the army led by Moroni and were desperate and fierce as they fought with anger inspired by the Zoramites and Amalekites (v41-44). Even so, the Nephites fought for a better cause and were fighting to protect their loved ones and freedom against the evil, and this was not a sin because they were not desiring to gain anything except the freedom they deserve (v45-46).
The Lord was supportive of their actions to shed blood in defense of their families, and Moroni was a righteous commander that inspired the Nephites to remember their purpose as they were loosing faith in battle (v47-48). They unified their efforts against the Lamanites to stand with the power of God and drove their enemies into the river of Sidon again even though there were more Lamanites than Nephites (v49-51). As they were driven once again into the river, the Lamanites saw Moroni's men on one side and Lehi's men on the other ready to fight and they were scared (v52-54). And this is where the story stops because Moroni sees he has won and stops the shedding of blood to show mercy and offer a chance for less to loose their lives.