Long battles with 1000+ men

I hate those battles but sometimes I have to fight them... So how do you do them? E.g. I managed to defeat the initial army, kill the general (or I am not sure, he might have escaped and withdrew) The new units are coming, but they are hiding in the bushes and forests, always retreating but not running away. Does the AI know the concept of hiding until the time is up? Should I take a defensive position or try to chase them in the woods? Hell, my troops need some rest, so I might as well wait until the last quarter of the time and try to resolve the conflict then?

Some practical questions:

Tactical/battle/wise is there difference in effect of the enemy commander retreating (running away and withdrawing) actually being killed?

How can you tell the entry point of the enemy? Just by seeing them appear?
What do you suggest if they enter in a woods?

Does AI tactics include waiting and hiding (with small ineffective units) until time is up?

Can troops rest enough in battle to be from totally exhausted to fresh?

Any tips and tricks how you do these huge battles is appreciated!

A General Running away has a greater impact on morale than a general dieing. A general dieing is valant although demoralizing. A general fleeing is just pathetic.

you can tell thier entry point by looking at the minimap and seeing a box with thier color on it

woods, it depends on what kind of troops you have I used calvary before with success

I have never rested my troops back to fresh but have gotten back to from exausted to winded I think the timer would run out if you rested them that long

in big battles try to outflank the enemy rather than slug it out use your infantry to keep or hold the enemies units in place then use your calvary to charge into the sides or rear , this will usually cause a route when enough units do this it will start a chain reaction and cause the entire army to route if the battle ends and it asks if you want to continue the battle(in the case of big armies) definetly do it if you dont wipe thier army out you will probably see it again next season besieging one of your towns or something

Thanks for the feedback!

Do you ever fight a battle with lets say 10 units of horse archers or mounted longbowman, just to weaken the enemy? One can do it without losing men if there are few or none horsies in the other army. If you withdraw does it hurt your generals reputation? If you just let time pass and this way the defender wins are there any negative effects?

Any other suggestions to wear down the other army? Tips for attrition? ;)

if you withdraw from a battle it will affect your general he will get like cowardice or something

you can just keep harassing them till the timer runs out if there is no timer you can run them all over the map skirmishing getting them exausted and then when thier exausted try using your 'alt' button to attack you might be able to get a rout