The Belgians carried out a hasty retreat, withdrawing back the way they had come, and on finding cover in a side street they dismounted and called for mortar fire support.
Back in the park the neat rows of tents had been reduced to torn bundles of canvas, many of which were burning fiercely. A mortar man working in the dark had in error selected a WP, white phosphorus smoke round, which had burst in the centre of the camp, landing amongst the jerry cans of petrol and kerosene the cooks used to fuel the field ovens. Burning particles of white phosphorus and burning fuel had splashed outwards to set alight not only tentage, but also soldiers who had been using the tents as cover from view. The sight of human torches in their target area had made even the tough professionals of the Belgian airborne pause, easing their fingers off triggers for a moment, but then the snipers ceased looking for leaders and began shooting the burning men, and the remainder resumed the job they were paid for.
3rd Lanciers normally provided the brigades dedicated anti-tank support, but today they had unshipped four of the Milan’s from their jeeps and left the remainder along with the jeeps, back in England. One pair of the Milan’s was sited to cover the autobahn approaches to the bridge, whilst the other two covered the flanks of the mortar line. Fighting as infantry the remainder of 3rd Lanciers provided the protection for the combined mortar line from the 1st and 3rd Parachute Battalions and a tactical reserve for the brigade commander whilst the two parachute battalions advanced north into the town.
Blocked at the second railway bridge the jeep company commander watched with a sense of frustration as mortar rounds exploded on the railway embankment, on the street behind the bridge and on buildings next to it, in fact the rounds were landing everywhere but on the intended target, the western end of the bridge where the ZSU had been.
The Belgian’s, like all the other NATO airborne forces behind the lines this day had only the ammunition stocks they had jumped in with. They were wasting mortar rounds and the commander called an end to the fire mission and concentrated on finding another solution. The jeep company had started with four Milan equipped vehicles, of which one was at the first railway bridge and a second was lying on its back at the foot of the embankment. He had one of his remaining Milan vehicles on standby, and sent two more of his snipers to the three storied corner house at the end of the side street they had taken cover in. Forcing the street door open the pair made their way to the top floor but they were unable to find a window that allowed them to see the far side of the bridge. They were in the process of dragging a sideboard onto the landing below the attic hatch when the house’s lawful owner appeared at the top of the stairs. The sight of the elderly housefrau made the paratroopers pause in what they were doing.
Clad in a floor length nightgown and wearing a yellow builders hard hat for protection, she was carrying a tray upon which rested a silver coffee pot and her best china cups and saucers, with slices of cake on a matching plate.
“Kaffee, junges?”
Several minutes later the commander entered the attic where his men had removed roof tiles. A sniper had to swallow a mouthful of chocolate cake before reporting that they could now see the ZSU and it was still at the end of the bridge. Returning to the street he dispatched the waiting Milan equipped vehicle with another jeep for support. Driving out of the side street they turned into the road running parallel with the embankment and floored the accelerators. Bursts of small arms followed the vehicles, fired by the sentries on the bridge, but the ZSU was too far from the parapet to engage.
Three hundred yards along the street, the jeeps halted in front of a haberdashery store and dismounted the Milan launcher. Ignoring the solid looking shop door they followed a litterbin through the store window and made their way to the rear. No damage was required to exit through the rear; a key was sat in the back door lock and after drawing the door’s bolts they clambered over a wall at the back of the yard to find themselves on the embankment.
The snipers confirmed by radio that the ZSUs barrels were still pointing unerringly along the track and the Milan crew stayed out of sight below the stone parapet.
At a range of only 200m from the bridge the helmeted heads of the two sentries filled the snipers telescopic sights whenever they popped up for a peek over the parapet. Unwisely both enemy soldiers chose to take a look at the same time and both snipers fired as one before turning their attention to the tracked flak vehicle. Distracting the ZSUs crew proved to be a simple matter, though not without certain hazards. It took ten rounds fired at two second intervals to get the attention of the ZSUs commander. Irritated at the rounds ricocheting off the turret he looked through the viewing blocks until he saw the muzzle flash of the weapon which was no threat to his vehicle or its occupants, but the regularly spaced rounds smacking off the 3” thick armour would seriously get on their nerves if it continued.
The Belgians saw the turret begin to swivel in their direction and knew it was time to go. Unfortunately, having scrambled over the roof ties to the narrow attic hatch they found it was impossible to negotiate as quickly as might be desired. The leading man was still squeezing himself through when the first 23mm rounds struck the far edge of the roof, and then began to move towards them as the ZSU continued to traverse. Stranded until his mate could get clear, the second sniper took one look over his shoulder at the stream of cannon shells that were demolishing the roof and stepped off the joist he was balanced upon, crashing through the plaster ceiling into the room below.
Having effectively blown apart the roof the ZSUs gunner started on the top floor, lowering the barrels and reversing the turret’s traverse. Now clear of the attic the first sniper took the stairs five at a time whilst his mate, liberally covered in plaster dust and lagging behind on the landing, dived headfirst over the banister rail as the first baseball sized holes appeared in the walls.
With all their attention on the task in hand neither the vehicles commander nor the gunner saw the Belgian Milan crew rolling off the top of the parapet to land beside the track. The ZSUs driver on the other hand could see them clearly in his lo-lite screen and shouted a warning over the intercom as he put the vehicle into reverse.
It was a hundred metres to the railway station and a further hundred before the stations raised platforms gave way to the marshalling yards, and until it reached them the ZSU was hemmed in on both sides.
The jeep’s driver passed the launcher and three rounds across the parapet to its crew and then ducked when the ZSU opened fire. Seeing his first burst miss the gunner shouted at the driver to stop, his weapon was not self-stabilising and the uneven surface was throwing off his aim, but the driver could see the paratroopers attaching a round to the side of the launcher and was in a funk. They clearly weren’t going to make it and he forgot about what he should have been doing, focusing instead on the threat along the railway line. With a screech of tortured metal the ZSU veered off its straight line, hitting the edge of a concrete passenger platform and with a shudder its engine stalled. The driver threw open his hatch and was halfway out when the wire guided missile passed beside his head and struck the vehicle’s turret ring.