Can I eat more protein to not lose muscle in a deficit?

Fat people normally have more muscle than people of similar build (and exercise level) who lack the fat mass, just from carrying the fat around all day every day. If you do exactly the same amount of exercise you always did (zero to lots, whatever), you're likely to lose muscle just from not carrying that weight around all day.

Since muscle is a tiny bit more metabolically active (a pound of muscle burns a couple more calories a day than a pound of fat), why wouldn't you want to keep as much of it as possible, just for the slightly higher long-term TDEE?

Also, strength is useful in everyday life, helps prevent osteoporosis as we age, helps keep us independent longer into older age, makes most other exercises easier and more productive, makes us look better, and more. All the major mainstream health authorities (WHO, USA CDC/HHS, etc.) recommend strength training for optimum health, usually suggesting 2 days a week minimum.

So, no, eating protein will not be enough to help you keep all your existing muscle, because you're reducing the amount of work your muscles need to do every day, simply by losing weight. Getting enough protein is helpful, but not sufficient to minimize muscle loss.

Most people dieting, especially with a lot to lose, will lose at least some amount of muscle. It's part of the natural process of carrying less weight as well as being in a deficit. To minimize that loss, working the muscles (which are gradually starting to do lighter work because they are working with less weight) is important. It's the main thing that will minimize the loss. Protein plays the role of the building blocks for muscle maintenance. Without challenging the muscles, the building blocks can only do so much and the body would rather get rid of that metabolically expensive unnecessary extra. It was necessary when you were heavier so you weren't wasting away, but less and less of it remains necessary as you lose weight.

ETA:
Wanted to add that I personally think (and many may disagree), as long as you are getting adequate protein, how much or how little effort you put into muscle maintenance is up to you depending on your goals. Many people focus on retaining as much muscle as possible for various reasons, including not looking "skinny fat" at goal weight. I personally don't mind (and even like) the skinny fat look, so I make sure to get adequate protein and only do enough resistance training (body weight) to support my running goals and to be less frail as I grow older - no heavy lifting for me.