Why even give soldiers rifles at this point?
They will either get shelled to bits or get their head blown off by a drone, before they ever get the chance to fire it

>>509815115 (OP)
they're good for fixing bayonets

>>509815115 (OP)
Because the soldier with the rifle is what enable the drone & the artillery to operate in the first place, by being a barrier to enemy action.
You know there are some fuckers in a treeline, if they have rifles, you can't just run across the field and murder them, take their position and dig in before the drone operator have time to react. You need to crawl, take cover, gather enough force to overcome them, which in turn makes you noticable.