Leipzig (the never-ending battle) continues.
In a nutshell (which is a strange place for a massive battle), the French artillery has demonstrated itself to be the most effective arm on the battlefield. No matter how bad the odds, the French guns almost always prevailed.
Around 1400 or so, the Allies brought up another corps of soldiers, artillery and cavalry in the center. They had to throw the troops already occupying the space forward to pound the French defenses. The early attacks met with little success and cost the Allies more casualties than they caused. Nevertheless, the constant attacks began to take a toll on the French center.
At the same time on the Allied right, Russian cuirassiers (unpainted gray horsemen) charged the French positions behind the forward town. The charges were repulsed and the heavy cavalry suffered from the artillery fire both behind the town and along the hill. The artillery bombarding the town had the wrong size shot or the gunners were spending their time playing cards; the bombardment continued to be ineffective.
The Allies kept pounding the center with combined attacks by artillery, heavy cavalry, and infantry. The two batteries of French Guard artillery and a brigade of infantry held and held. The Allied artillery finally pushed back the infantry. A Russian infantry attack further weakened the position. Finally, Austrian cuirassiers took the guns. A second squadron of the Austrian cuirassiers charged the brigade French infantry.
French cuirassiers counter-attacked.
The French horse caught the disordered Austrians cuirassiers (cleverly disguised as Scots Greys in the photo) and sabered them into oblivion.
On the Allied left, the Prussian artillery utterly failed to hurt the French in the town on the riverbank. The Prussian Infantry launched several attacks behind the artillery fire, hurting only themselves in the process. The Russian Cossacks (unpainted reddish-brown horseman in the picture) charged the French right. They damaged the French, but the stubborn French infantry with attached artillery turned the attacks. Polish hussars counter-attacked and eliminated one squadron of cossacks, but the Polish leader was took a mortal wound in the fray--or maybe it was in the heart, or the head; the game doesn't provide that kind of detail.
The Allied advance, driven by the fresh troops coming in, continued in the center. The remnants of Russian infantry advanced on the Allied right with an eye to assaulting the French left. The artillery and infantry at the lower right have had been attempting to drive the French from the town for hours. The infantry retreats under fire before they can reach the walls. The Allies have been stymied on both flanks, making costly progress in the center. The French have started edging their reserves forward to plug attempt to stop the flood when the Allies break through.
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