Below are a few ideas regarding the use of the science system with generals. With these skills they might even revive the use of the regular tavern generals for specific tactical purposes. Some of these skills may be used in combination with others.
Flank Attack - The better the general is in this skill, the greater his chance of moving his troops in a way that he strikes the enemy's formation on one of its sides on his first strike. This type of attack should increase the damage done to the enemy. This skill might be improved with Manuscripts and Tomes.
Rear Attack - The better the general is in this skill, the greater his chance of moving his troops in a way that he strikes the enemy from behind on his first strike. This type of attack should increase the damage done to the enemy even more than a Flank Attack. This skill might be improved with Codex. Note: If a general is skilled in both Rear and Flank attacks, the chance for Rear attack could be made first. If that fails, he would still have a chance of making a Flank attack. However, it would be one or the other and not both.
Evade Detection/Avoid Intercept - The better the general is in this skill, the greater his chance of sneaking past an enemy camp to strike his intended target(such as a leader camp.) A success with this skill gets past one camp. For every camp the general tries to sneak past, a check is made for success or failure. Naturally the more camps a general tries to sneak past, the more difficult it will be. A failure leads to interception, where a player would still have the option of retreating. However, after a failure, an attempt with this skill cannot be made again for at least an hour since the enemy will be on high alert for that general.
Surprise Attack/Ambush - The better the general is in this skill, the greater his chance of gaining the element of surprise on the enemy and making a first strike before normal combat ensues. This differs from the Skirmish skill below. This skill is not a hit and run. It is simply using surprise to hit the enemy one additional time at the beginning of combat before the enemy is prepared to retaliate. A failure results in normal combat with the enemy not surprised. I think this is a skill that could possibly be improved gradually(moving up a few percentage points) with Manuscripts, Tomes, and Codex to increase the possibility of success.
Skirmish - The better trained the general is in this skill, the greater his chance of striking the enemy once with his troops and then evade without suffering casualties. After a successful skirmish, the general and those troops under his command must rest for an hour to recover from their operation. Should the general fail while applying this skill, a normal battle commences(possibly costly.) To keep things relatively realistic, this skill could be limited to bowmen, longbowmen, and crossbowmen. These light ranged units are more likely to pull off an attack of this type by raining arrows or crossbow bolts into the enemy and taking evasive measures. Perhaps Manuscripts to learn the skill for bowmen, Tomes for longbowmen, and Codex for crossbowmen. A Skirmish would not be automatic. It would be a specific type of attack that a player can elect to make if he has a general with this skill and the proper troops under his command.
Combat Medic, Nurse, and Doctor - A general with this skill gains a Medic, Nurse, or Doctor in his unit. This is a noncombatant that basically is in the background and not a visible character. After combat a percentage of the potentially dead might be recovered with medical treatment. A Medic(improved with Manuscripts) can recover a small percentage. A Nurse(improved with Tomes) can recover slightly more. A Doctor(improved with Codex) can recover slightly more than a Nurse. After an hour, these recovered troops can return to combat.
These ideas might stir the imagination into further thoughts and other improvements that will keep the game interesting.