The Germans had forced their way across the Loire River at Beaugency and Orléans, and now advanced southward, threatening the entire right flank of the French X Corps. Under pressure, the French units retreated toward the Cher River. South of the Chambord Forest, the 241st Light Infantry Division (DLI), now down to around 250 men, halted at Bracieux along the course of the river Beuvron before withdrawing behind the Cher River. They set out a few defensive positions to the east as well.

On the morning of the 19th, the Austrians of the 44th Infantry Division (elements of the 132nd Infantry Regiment) attacked the Villenueve crossroads from the east, and the French strongpoint gave way.

Further west, at 0600 a reconnaissance group from the 44th Infantry Division crossed the Chambord Forest and attacked Bracieux from the north. Fresh tracks prompted the German vanguard to move ahead with anti-tank guns. The previous evening, the corps commander had instructed his divisions: "Motorized vanguards must not engage in combat in the manner of infantry units. They must pass through the French lines, and take the opposing units from the rear, under fire, until they are annihilated." But the 44th Infantry Division had not yet fully switched over to German practice; its recon elements remained mostly horsed cavalry.

One of the second wave of companies raised by the Polish Army in France, the 6th Polish CDAC (divisional anti-tank company) comprised four officers, 14 officer cadets, 27 NCO's, and 106 troops. On 19 June, the four remaining 25mm guns took part in the defense of the Beuvron with the 241st DLI. The second gun of the 1st section engaged enemy machine gunners at Bracieux, while the last gun of the 2nd section fell into a ditch while trying to escape from German motorcyclists.

Throughout the region, the retreating French infantry did so under the protection of the 4th DCR, whose delaying tactics enabled many men to escape.

The division's armored cars repelled several enemy advances on the division's eastern flank, and a counter-attack late in the morning even recaptured the Villenueve crossroads. in the afternoon, however, the retreat toward the Cher had to speed up. Many soldiers of the 241st DLI were killed, wounded, or taken prisoner during this difficult day, with the result that most of the division's infantry ( reservists from the 219th and 264th Infantry Regiments) was lost. Only a few small groups reached the Cher in the evening, and the 241st DLI, too weak to hold on, was merged into the 85th DIA (Division d'Infanterie Africaine) set up between Montrichard and St-Aignan. By 1800, the 44th Infantry Division's headquarters set up at the Château de Chambord, a few kilometers north of Bracieux.

The Divisions Légères d'Infanterie (Light Infantry Divisions) had been created at the end of May from instruction battalions and the remnants of regiments previously destroyed on the Meuse or in the north. Compared with the large pre-war units, these divisions had only two infantry regiments instead of three, and only one light artillery regiment ( with 75mm guns) instead of two (leaving the division with no 155mm howitzers - the linchpin of French defensive doctrine). Thus the term "light". Some units were reinforced with Pioneer regiments or machine-gun battalions, but the time devoted to their training was very short, barely ten days.

Use French 25mm AT counters to represent the Polish anti-tank guns.