The 224th Mixed Brigade was placed under the 72nd Division of the XVIII Army Corps of the Levantine Army "(Ejército de Levante)". It was sent with this division to the Teruel front line, but the organization of both the brigade and its division was still so deficient that it was not possible to use them in combat and thus it was camped as reserve unit south of La Muela. On 7 March 1938 the brigade was sent, still not fully equipped, to the Battle of Belchite during the imminent rebel offensive in Aragon, but it was overwhelmed by the sheer force and intensity of the Nationalist attacks. The brigade was further devastated on 11 March in bloody combats that followed in the Escatrón and Caspe area.