I still can't see it. This whole going to war thing is very counter-intuitive.
With is mobility as availability of small arms the MC should borrow a few soldiers from the Duke and then going behind enemy lines, kidnapping VIP nobles.
If they can't give you the info you need then at least they...
I would say that, regardless of her bloodthirsty subordinates, the President herself - even though domineering - is a woman "of a more civilized age".
She could have killed him before, yet chose not to. Then he chooses not to killer her. Like that both sides established a baseline where they...
I mean, imagine them wheeling that 'gun' anywhere near the Ukrainian no-man's land. That thing would get hit by artillery before it got anywhere near visual range of the trench line, with drones showing up soon after to finish off the survivors.
I still fail to see how dicking around on the frontline brings him closer to his original objective. What he needs is a covert infiltration, unless I somehow missed the point and he murders them so hard they give up the goods.