In my opinion looking for historical accuracy in this title is a flawed viewpoint, just as it has been in the total war series as a whole.

Consider the distances an army can walk or a navy travel at the default time scale. Consider that any engagement in the current battlesystem takes place over the span of an hour or less (even with the timer displayed no more than a day).

I'm a fan of historical accuracy in titles, but for that I'd recommend John Tiller's Napoleonic Wars, or Birth of America 2 if that's your interest.

I believe they struck "the right balance". There are things that bother me, but in the interest of gameplay and the inherent limitations given the current strategic and tactical systems; how realistic can the product be anyway?

I see this argument time and time again as I'm also a huge fan of the Silent Hunter Series. There are fans of this title that complain that: a submarine cannot maintain a constant depth at 0 kts, They can't directly manipulate the trim of the boat, players using auto torpedo calculations play on easy mode, the deck gun being a viable weapon on any target above a fishing boat is unrealistic, if the simulation were realistic a captain would be lucky to see, much less sink an enemy vessel, the list goes on and on. But in the end would the addition of all these things really make the game fun to a broad audience?