Forces are not required to offer an opponent a preliminary chance to surrender before attacking an active position. Once combatants do surrender, however, their status and the obligations owed to them change. The absence of survivors does not by itself establish what happened, since a position may have been destroyed before anyone attempted to give up. Capture remains preferable when possible because prisoners can provide intelligence, although this is a broad distinction rather than a complete account of every law-of-war constraint.
Notable Point · 1:31:14-1:32:52
Surrender changes a combatant's legal status
Attacking an active position differs legally from harming people after surrender, while taking prisoners can also provide intelligence.