Tenth of Ramadan War: Egyptian army managed to achieve the impossible

CAIRO – 22 April 2021: Every year, Egypt celebrates the anniversary of the victory of Ramadan 10, 1393 AH, or the October 1973 Victory, commemorating the war in which the Egyptian army defeated the Israeli enemy, and regained Sinai, after it had been occupied for 6 years.

Egyptian soldier celebrating the great victory - Wikimedia

On Ramadan 10 at 2 p.m., the Egyptian army crossed the canal line. Waves of the Egyptian army began to gradually cross in very elaborate and highly prepared work system. It surprised everyone at the time, as at exactly 2 p.m. in Ramadan 10, 1973, more than 200 Egyptian warplanes carried out an air strike on Israeli targets in the eastern bank of the canal.

Egyptian soldiers crossing the Bar-Lev line  - Wikimedia

The planes flew at extremely low altitudes to dodge the Israeli radars. The warplanes targeted airports, command centers, radar stations, electronic obstruction, air defense batteries, personnel concentrations, armored vehicles, tanks, artillery, strong points in the Bar-Lev Line, oil refinery, and ammunition stores.

Five minutes after the planes crossed, Egyptian artillery began bombing fortifications and Israeli targets east of the canal intensively in preparation for the infantry crossing, while the elements of the Engineers Corps and Thunderbolt infirtlated the eastern shore of the canal to close the tubes that transport the burning liquid to the surface of the channel.

Defeated Israeli soldiers - Wikimedia

At approximately 2:20 p.m., the artillery with the high traffic line stopped shelling the front line of the Bar-Lev Wall and moved its fire to the depth where the second line positions. The artillery with a flat line of passage directly hit the positions of the Bar-Lev Line to secure the passage of the infantry from its fire. Then 2,000 officers and 30,000 soldiers from five infantry divisions crossed the canal. They kept five bridge heads and the Engineers Corps continued to open holes in the berm to complete the passage of tanks and ground vehicles.

The October War, "The Tenth of Ramadan Victory," was a turning point in the course of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Among the most prominent features of the October War is the emergence of the competent Arab fighter, who is able to make modern and sophisticated weapons work in his favor.