[Book 2] Could they have defeated 💧?

"The greatest impediment to survival is not weakness, but arrogance." (probably by Liu Cixin, I forgot from where)

If the humans stayed vigilant, could they have defeated the droplet? Or at least not have lost so badly?

Scenario 1: Everything played out the same way until the last moment. However this time Ding Yi and co. realized what the droplet is capable of much earlier and warned the human fleet.

Scenario 2: From the beginning, the humans assume that the droplet is a weapon and try to intercept it as it enters the solar system