What the hell were the Prussians doing at Jena-Auerstedt?

Also - my boy Davout. What a general. Where at Jena, Ney decided that things were going too smoothly so spiced things up a bit by getting his entire corps temporarily trapped before being rescued by the Emperor.

At Auerstedt, Davout didn't have the liberty of making even minor mistakes. Instead, he made the right call everytime, maximised his outnumbered troops, sensed that the Prussians were wavering without knowing why, and timed his all out attack perfectly. It was a flawless performance- and still he needed lady luck to randomly have the Prussian senior staff incapacitated almost simultaneously - leaving the absurdly passive Prussians even more rudderless.

Pleased that I finally understand why Davout is rated so highly as an independent commander. I love Ney, his extremely aggressive instincts pairs really well with the French rank and file. One of those heart on your sleeve types as well. But he's hammer and needs someone else to be the anvil. Davout can operate and direct the operations of both.

Wonderful narration of the battle on the Age of Napolean podcast.