East of Weimar, several hundred French Army skirmishers were conducting sporadic harassing fire.
The Prussians opposite them knew that this was not the main battlefield on their side either, and leisurely returned fire.
The Prussian Army cannon on the nearby high ground could not even be bothered to glance this way, remaining focused on firing at the main French Army force massing its attack against the frontal defenses.
At half past two in the afternoon, the French Army skirmishers seemed to find things rather dull as well, and suddenly withdrew to both sides.
The Prussian soldiers defending the left flank were just about to breathe a sigh of relief when they vaguely spotted vast swathes of white figures in the distance.
Only a few minutes later, accompanied by dense war drums and marching footsteps, French Army columns had charged to within a little over two hundred paces of the Prussian Army line.
The Prussian officers hurriedly ordered their soldiers to hold formation and prepare to fire.
Augereau was not mounted. He personally followed one column, jogging forward into the enemy.
Before long, the Prussians opened fire.
The dense volleys swept through them. Men in the front ranks of the French Army columns were hit and fell, but others immediately stepped up from behind. The commands of every officer and the soldiers' steps remained as precise as clockwork.
The Prussians had only four chances to fire volleys before dozens of columns reached within fifty paces of their line.
Augereau raised his sword and shouted, "All troops, form Horizontal Formation!"
The rhythm of the war drums shifted. Nearly three thousand soldiers turned with extraordinary skill, and in less than half a minute, each had taken his proper place.
Yes, the soldiers Augereau had selected from these two regiments were basically all graduates