The French cavalry failed to detect the strength of the Prussian pursuit. On 18 August at 08:00 Wilhelm I, whose chief of staff was Moltke, ordered the First and Second Armies to advance against the French positions. By 12:00, General Manstein with artillery from the Hessian 25th Infantry Division was advancing toward the village of Amanvillers. The mass of advancing Germans was met with murderous fire from the superior French "Chassepot" rifle and their rapid-firing "mitrailleuses", before they were within range to retaliate with their shorter-ranged needle-guns. At 14:30, General Steinmetz, the commander of the First Army, launched his VIII Corps across the Mance Ravine but they were soon pinned down by rifle and "mitrailleuse" fire. At 15:00, the massed new Krupp all-steel breech-loading guns of the German VII and VIII Corps opened fire to support the attack. But with the attack still failing, at 16:00 Steinmetz ordered the VII Corps forward, followed by the 1st Cavalry Division.