Unfortunately, I believe your ‘rule of thumb’ is contrary to our PC ROE. I hope to hell he spends some time in schools, until we pull out of that $hithole.
The rule of thumb was developed after analysis of operations going back to Varus in the German forests.
There were some exceptions. Lawrence of Arabia was known for trotting about with very few British soldiers along with him. He had the advantage of fighting with Arabs against Turks who had been very cruel to the Arabs. He also normally had some of his British soldiers in an armored car with a machine gun, so loyalty was more strongly encouraged.