Quote Originally Posted by DEB8 View Post
I find that the besieged force only joins the relief force on the battlefield when the relief force is less than 16 units. The besieged units usually join in ( as reserves ) eventually, when your army loses some of its original 16 units. Sometimes they will NOT sally out at all ! But you can forestall this latter problem by creating a Group of the Castle's units and dragging them out of the castle and onto the province / map ; thus forcing them to join the attack. NB : This tactic may even get them into the battle as part of the 16 units you start with...
You may be right. I never watched closely the composition of the joint army. Yet my point was a little bit different. Whether you get the besieged garrison join the fray or not, you will still get a message about the sally. And the ensuing battle will not be taking back the province.