The battle then went on with unabated determination and with heavy loss on both sides. Blücher reinforced his troops from time to time; in this way he exhausted his reserves; nearly all his divisions were brought under fire. Napoleon on the other hand was exceedingly chary of giving aid to the two corps engaged; he wished to keep his reserves as large as possible; at half-past five he had employed ten thousand fewer men than his adversary.[356] At this time, also, the 6th Corps was well on its way from Charleroi. The hour was approaching, too, when Ney’s coöperation might be expected. Up to this time Napoleon had remained in his position in front of Fleurus;[357] it was a central position, and nothing had called for his personal superintendence elsewhere. But now he prepared to strike the decisive blow. He determined to put in the Guard. He proposed to send to Vandamme the infantry division known as the Young Guard, and one of the two brigades of the division known as the chasseurs of the Guard;[358] the other brigade of this division he would place at the disposal of Gérard. He himself, at the head of the infantry division of grenadiers of the Guard, known as the Old Guard, with all the artillery of the Guard, with Guyot’s division of the heavy cavalry of the Guard, and Milhaud’s division of cuirassiers of the line,—to take the place of Lefebvre-Desnouettes’ division of light cavalry of the Guard which was with the left wing under Marshal Ney,—prepared to carry the village of Ligny, and the commanding heights above and to the right of the village, thereby breaking the centre of the enemy’s line. At this moment, however, word came from Vandamme that a column of the enemy was seen debouching from a wood some two miles away, and apparently marching on Fleurus. This was not the quarter in which the expected reinforcement from Ney was looked for. Curiously enough, Vandamme did not ascertain what this column was. Why he should not have done this it is not easy to see. Had he sent a patrol to find out who these troops were, time would have been saved, and time, at that hour in the day, was most important. The Emperor sent one of his own aides to ascertain the facts; and, pending his report, suspended the projected attack. The battle went on as before, but Blücher drew more and more from his centre and left wing to support his right at St. Amand and the neighboring villages.