Ferdinand followed up his success in driving the French back by crossing the Rhine himself as part of a fresh offensive. This caused alarm in France, as it was feared that a naval descent by large number of British reinforcements was intended to be co-ordinated with Ferdinand's advance, although the destination of the descent soon turned out to be St Malo in Brittany rather than the Low Countries. In spite of this Ferdinand still posed a not insignificant threat and it was believed he was poised to attack the Austrian Netherlands or even northern Italy.