He was distracted by Puck's antics. That's why he let his guard down and was taken by surprise. The manga doesn't elaborate but there seems to be an overwhelming amount of soldiers facing him, many with crossbows aimed right at him from up close, such that he couldn't easily fight his way out without getting seriously injured.
If you need to rationalize it further, it's possible that he also had some qualms with killing those guys, who were just from the town and not affiliated with the Cobra apostle. Or maybe once in that situation he figured it was as good a way as any to draw him out, knowing he'd come to the town for sure once he received news that Guts had been captured.
it's reckless and dumb but that is guts. He isn't the smartest character in series when it comes to strategic thinkings like serpico or griffith.
This is a poor characterization. Guts is actually a pretty smart fighter who seldom gets outwitted by his opponents. He can be reckless, but that's not because he's stupid.
He is in edgelord phase and has this idea "I don't care".
Please use proper words to talk about the characters, not Internet lingo created to describe online clowns.
At that point in time, Guts was deeply traumatized by the Eclipse, which made him very cynical and reckless. But we quickly see that his cold-hearted demeanor is more of a facade than anything, first with how he reacts to Colette's death, then with his conflicted feelings about Vargas, and lastly with the impact Theresia's words have on him.
This capture symbolizes guts journey of destroying himself both physically and mentally.
I think that's the right idea. It might be going too far to say it symbolizes it, but it does fit the pattern of self-destructive behavior Guts exhibited after the Eclipse, during his Black Swordsman era. For example he probably could have avoided being tortured if he had been less antagonistic with the townspeople, but he made no effort to compromise.
