Nearly all of my generals have that trait. If you are unsure I think it would be better to starve them out. I rarely assault cities. I send my spies first. Then check which city has bad garrison then my spy armies opens the gates for me.
I use your words when defending my cities. Radically I spare lots of horse archers together with normal archers on cities and until my main army comes to action I could wipe out half of the enemy.