Ney's Intuition Leads to Success

Marshal Ney ordered 6th Corps to attack immediately. He could see the Prussians were about to be faced with a desperate situation, and he could also see that they didn't yet know how much trouble they were in. The French center was now 20,000 men weaker than Napoleon's plans had anticipated. Thanks to Ney's impetuousness, 20% of all the French forces at Jena now needed rescuing.