France has built a large number of ironworks in the Walloon Region, as well as two large coal mines. The investment amounts to several million British Pounds.
As long as the British Army can break through the Brussels defensive line, all French factories there will be utterly destroyed.
Sir Moore was envisioning a bright future; if the French Army's response was not quick enough, he might even be able to take Luxembourg. There too were vast French iron mines.
After that, it would be Verdun—the last stronghold before Paris.
At one o'clock in the afternoon, the staff officer reported to Sir Moore: "General, the central army has completed the river crossing. Do you wish to inspect the defenses on the south bank?"
Thanks to the round-the-clock labor of the Dutch recruited nearby, four floating bridges in parallel had been constructed over the Val River. This made the river crossing remarkably efficient.
