[Steam] My entire squad wiped out after a long break.. All my items are gone.. How do I start over..

I played a bit at the start.. then quit and didn't play for a long time.. I briefly played Jagged Alliance from my library.. and my whole squad got wiped out, just like that. I'm a bit stuck, maybe I challenged an area that was too tough.. or maybe it's just a fluke that my entire squad got wiped out... lol No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't defeat them with the available personnel, so I gave it my all.. but I was cleanly defeated due to the overwhelming difference in power. I really hate save-scumming.. so I was wondering what to do now..? But then I found out that if your squad gets wiped out.. they give you some financial support. Oh.. I immediately hired some cheap mercenaries and came back to the starting village..? Hmm.. is my strategy wrong.. or is my approach incorrect.. it's just too damn hard. I don't want to look up a guide, but I really want to push through this somehow... I still need to play Witcher 3.. should I leave this game as it is.. or keep playing..? It's fun, but it takes a lot of time.. I always have this dilemma when playing strategy games..