On the outbreak of war in September 1939, the 10th Motorized Cavalry Brigade was attached to the Kraków Army defending Lesser Poland and Silesia. Equipped with only light tanks and tankettes and with only one artillery battery of just eight heavy cannons, the brigade went into battle on the first day of war. After the Battle of Jordanów, Maczek's unit faced the entire German XVIII Corps of Gen. Eugen Beyer and successfully shielded the southern flank of the Polish forces, along the Beskids. Supported by only a few battalions of Border Guards and National Defence troops, Maczek's motorized brigade faced two Panzer divisions (4th Light Division under von Hubicki and 2nd Panzer Division under Veiel), as well as the 3rd Mountain Division under Eduard Dietl.