Jothar and HaLeiVi,
With all due respect, I think you guys are missing the point.
If BDERECH HATEVA learning protects more then soldiers then how come those who WERE learning werent able to overcome (or survive) soldiers that attacked them during the Holocaust and other periods in Jewish history.
Entire yeshivos of people who most definitly were learning very well have been wiped out.
Why didnt their learning protect them?