 The 2nd Rifle Battalion probed from the north , while the 3rd Rifle Battalion did the same from the south @-@ east , driving for the Landrecies road which led to one of the entry points into Le Quesnoy . German troops held a bridge on the road in force and were able to keep the New Zealanders at bay in this area . In the north , a small party reached the outer rampart dividing the moat along their stretch of the front . Gunfire from the main ramparts soon drove them off but Lieutenant Colonel Leonard Jardine , commanding the 2nd Rifle Battalion , co @-@ ordinated the movements of his companies , which gradually moved forward . By 4 : 00 pm mortar fire was able to be brought to bear on the main ramparts and this silenced the German machine @-@ guns . 
