Early the next morning, French Army cannons suddenly appeared southeast of the Prussian defensive line at Weimar. Dense artillery fire quickly blasted a gap dozens of meters wide into the Prussian Army's right flank.
Augereau immediately took personal command of the Skirmisher Cluster and launched a fierce frontal assault against the enemy.
Across a battlefield more than three kilometers wide, over five thousand French soldiers advanced swiftly in a loose yet remarkably orderly formation.
Soon, when the two sides were ninety paces apart, the Prussian infantry line unleashed its first volley. Yet most of the bullets flew through the gaps between the loosely positioned French soldiers, and most of the few who were hit escaped injury thanks to their bulletproof inserts.
The war drums among the French Skirmisher Cluster suddenly paused. The soldiers immediately sought cover behind nearby bushes or rocks, then poked their heads out to aim and fire.
They did not fire volleys—that was a method smoothbore muskets used to improve their chances of hitting something. Rifled guns were accurate enough to support precise fire by individual soldiers. These French veterans in particular had each fired thousands of rounds; their marksmanship was beyond question.
A mist of blood instantly rose along the Prussian defensive line, and at least nearly two hundred men were hit and fell.
The Prussian Army had also received bulletproof inserts supplied by the English, and every elite soldier of the Brandenburg Guards was equipped with this protective gear.
However, the expanding hollow base of the Minié ball gave it an excellent gas seal, while the projectile spun at high speed. Its penetrating power was more than thirty percent greater than that of ordinary bullets.
Furthermore, the United Kingdom had yet to develop high-quality Alloy Steel and was unwilling to use silk as the lining