The 'Auto. Fight' button is there to help e.g. players with a slow internet connection, and/or players who want to automatically complete Battles. This was already possible before the button was implemented, but you had to load the Battle itself in order to click it. For players with a slow internet connection, this could take quite a long time. With this button, they don't have to load the Battle itself. On top of that, the button makes it more convenient for people who want to auto-complete Battles as well.
Please send a ticket to support under 'Technical Issue' so that we can take a closer look. There should not be any population missing, unless the counter displayed the wrong amount in the first place (and then a refresh would have had the same result as you have now).
What exactly is going wrong? Is loading still getting stuck, or are you being redirected to the homepage to try again? If the latter is the case, then that is intended behavior. If loading fails largely depends on your internet connection and speed. If your connection is unstable or slow, it may cause problems with loading. Should that happen, the game will redirect you to the homepage, so that you can initiate the loading process again.
yes it works
The loss of troops vs. loss of damage currently works as intended. Some other combat-related issues are still being reviewed and awaiting to get fixed.
