How do you prevent being traced?

I believe the answer is you shoot at them with automatic weapons.

incredibly thin, hard to find fiber optic, laying on the ground in a live combat zone -- essentially a non-issue

it's the same idea as SACLOS anti-tank missiles that are "wire guided". if someone is shooting those at you, you have way bigger things to worry about than tracing cables -- you're in a killzone, so try not to die.

why follow the cable - they already know what direcion you are in. By the time they can follow the cable several km back you have already moved elsewhere. and of course you never are alone so someone else is watching for them to come and will shoot them just like any other attacker coming your way. attackers have it easier as they can stick to cover while following the cable means they are in the open in places near your line.

Your drone has a friend to tag the survivors.

From what I've seen and read, the thing preventing you being traced by someone following the fibre is simply huge numbers of drones literally flying into enemy soldiers and detonating.

It is terrifying viewing the videos as people try and (unsuccessfully) dodge the drones, or are accidentally shot by their own comrades who are trying to (unsuccessfully) shoot down the drone, or are run-over by their own side's tanks/APCs who are panicking and trying to (unsuccessfully) outrun a drone, or are blown up trying to (unsuccessfully) take cover in a trench/dugout/building/APC/tank and a drone literally just flies in through the door/window/hatch and detonates (perhaps followed by another two or three for good measure)

Genuinely sounds absolutely terrifying, more so than any other horror stories of e.g. WW1 & 2.

To be certain, by "incredible" I meant more "fascinating", or "intriguing" and not "cool!". War is obviously horrifying and for this reason I haven't even watched any of the videos. That's what made the fibre development novel to me.

I certainly hope we reach a point very soon that we stop the senseless killing.