There   had   been   much   warring   between   the   Nephites   and   the   Lamanites.   Finally,  General  Moroni  and  his  Nephite  legions  won  an  important  victory  and   took  possession  of  the  city  of  Mulek,  a  stronghold  of  their  enemies.     Moroni   and   his   people   spent   the   next   few   months   repairing   their   fortifications   and   providing   food   for   their   families.   During   this   time   of   preparation,   and   because   the   Nephites’   attention   was   on   other   things,   the   Lamanites   were   able   to   capture   some   of   the   Nephite   cities   in   the   south   by   the   sea.  Then  while  the  Nephites  began  to  argue  and  scheme  among  themselves,   the   Lamanites   became   more   bold   and   prepared   to   attack   the   larger   cities   of   the  Nephites.     Seeing   the   desperate   situation   their   protectors   were   facing,   the   people   of   Ammon   (Ammonites)—those   converted   to   the   Lord   by   Ammon   and   his   brethren—wanted   to   help   their   Nephite   friends   fight   against   the   Lamanite   armies.   The   prophet   Helaman   was   grateful   for   their   offer   to   fight,   but   he   persuaded  them  that  they  must  keep  the  oath  they  had  made  with  the  Lord  to   never  again  shed  men’s  blood.     However,  there  were  many  righteous  and  courageous  sons  of  the  Ammonites   who  were  not  bound  by  the  oath  their  fathers  had  taken:  “And  they  entered   into  a  covenant  to  fight  for  the  liberty  of  the  Nephites,  yea,  to  protect  the  land   unto  the  laying  down  of  their  lives;  yea,  even  they  covenanted  that  they  would   never   give   up   their   liberty,   but   they   would   fight   in   all   cases   to   protect   the   Nephites  and  themselves  from  bondage.”     Besides   being   young   and   anxious   to   serve   the   Lord   and   the   people,   these   “striplings”   (youths)   were   honorable   and   “…   true   at   all   times   in   whatsoever   thing  they  were  entrusted.”     Altogether  there  were  2,000  of  these  valiant  sons,  and  they  asked  Helaman  if   he  would  lead  them  in  battle,  to  which  he  agreed.  And  in  spite  of  their  youth   and   inexperience   in   combat,   the   Ammonites   proved   to   be   good   soldiers.   Under   the   leadership   of   Helaman,   whom   they   called   “Father,”   the   striplings   were   successful   again   and   again,   and   proved   to   be   a   great   strength   to   the   Nephite  armies  who  had  become  weary  with  fighting.     Throughout  the  battles  in  which  the  Ammonites  fought,  many  of  their  number   were  wounded,  but  not  one  of  them  was  ever  killed  because,  although  “they   never  had  fought,  yet  they  did  not  fear  death;  and  they  did  think  more  upon   the  liberty  of  their  fathers  than  they  did  upon  their  lives;  yea,  they  had  been   taught  by  their  mothers,  that  if  they  did  not  doubt,  God  would  deliver  them.”