At dawn on the second day, the defenders on the bridge saw a small convoy of trucks approaching at some speed from the south, which at first they misidentified as the British XXX Corps. That they were enemy trucks did not become apparent until they were on the bridge whereupon the defenders opened fire and destroyed the convoy. Soon afterwards, German infantry and armour approached the bridge from the east. One tank reached the space under the bridge before it was destroyed by one of the 6 pounder anti-tank guns. At 09:00, thirty armoured cars, half-tracks and trucks from the 9th SS Panzer Division attempted to rush the bridge from the south. The first five armoured cars, using the wrecks of the dawn convoy as cover and with the element of surprise, managed to cross unscathed. The rest of the force was engaged and twelve of their vehicles destroyed with the survivors returning to the southern bank. All day long, the force at the bridge came under fire from mortars and anti-aircraft guns positioned south of the river and were subject to probing infantry and armour attacks.