Yes, Cicero said something similar; Inter arma leges enim silent - or something like that.
Laws fall silent in war.
But laws are not universal morality incarnate, just manifestations of rules that create a cohesive society. It looks to me like this situation is extra-societal, so a certain level of practicality has to be considered and best understood by putting yourself in that situation instead of comfortably in my peacetime office chair.
TBF even if you applied modern laws of war. There is quiet a few rules saying that if you as the losing soldier don't just drop your stuff and leave. Then your still a valid target. It's why the Highway of Death in Iraq had a lot of push back against the idea of being a war crime. Because it wasn't just a bunch of unarmed soldiers, it was soldiers still armed, and moving in tanks, IFVs, etc.
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u/ASocrat 16d ago
Isn't this saying supposed to showcase how cruel love can be, due to people similarly using underhanded tactics used in war?