Gixxerman
Senior Airman
With coupled engines the loss of 1 engine reduces total engine power to 50%. To make matters worse that 50% is all on one wing. You will be lucky to remain airborne, much less take evasive action against the enemy attack.
I can see what you are getting at here but it is worth pointing out that the coupled engine was still 2 engines.
It was possible to shut down 1 engine in the pairing and have the other still working.
So the loss of 1 engine does not necessarily mean that both are lost (if you see what I mean) although obviously damage to the vital systems both require (like the mating gearbox for instance) would kill both even when 1 might otherwise have operated normally.