I couldn't agree with you more. I was reading about the Tatars and their war against the Dukes of Muskovy in the 13th and 14th centuries, and one scholar of the times had indicated that the Tatars, warriors on horseback, would surround a Russian castle or fort and threaten a seige of the Russian fortification in which they announced they would kill every living human being, however if the Russians surrendered they would be allowed to live and continue their lives as they were before. The tatars essentially wanted a tax-paying docile Russian populace that would surrender, so they could save their firepower for future engagements. Have you ever heard these stories?
Interesting. Was that Prussia or Russia ?