That's very impressive! And very heroic as well.

One quick question on castle defence: when does the AI decide to assault a castle? I get either:

(1) AI ignores my castle but only destroys my farms, etc.
(2) AI lays siege on my castle and wait for my sally.

Could it be that AI decides to assault the castle when they think their invasion is overwhelmingly more powerful. However, I have also seen an AI attacker gathering 4 full stacks but quietly lays siege on a castle with 0 defender.