Maybe he was trying to use an AT grenade? It's just a random thougt...
About the first part of your post: I terribly, terribly, terribly miss a HIDE order in which the soldiers do anything they can to avoid being seen, and only fire or adopt firing possitions when they are attacked/detected AND have good chances to kill the enemy, prioritizing their own security over anything else. Something similar to Close Combat series hide order. In a trench this would mean having their damn heads down and go prone if necessary to avoid tanks crusinhg them.
I'd also like that the AI soldiers get more initiative and take their dead mates weapons when necessary. It's no good that a squad abandons their AT weapons or MG/support weapon when the soldier carrying it falls. I really dont like having to micromanage my squads to this level in a situation like the one your describing. Although i understand that some people can enjoy it, I'd prefer an AI that can do it by itself, lie they did in Close Combat (which in most part isnt a good example of good AI)
I guess it's too evident that I'm old CC lover, isn't it? Not that i think that they were the paradigm of tactical games, but they were very user-frienly and had a grat interface, it was very intuitive.
