 The French soldiers fought bravely, and French cavalry and infantry attacked the German lines repeatedly, but the Germans had superior logistics, communications, and leadership.The decisive weapon was the new German Krupp six pound field gun, which had a steel barrel, was loaded by the breech, had a longer range, had a higher rate of fire, and was more accurate than the bronze muzzle-loading French cannons.The Krupp guns caused terrible casualties in the French ranks.