Time Astra

Schematic plan · Arab-Israeli War, 1973 (October War)

Egyptian Offensive, North

All battlesBattle of the Sinai: engagement 1 of 2The event in the chronicleWikipedia
A schematic plan, generated from the statistics of the CAA Database of Battles: the armies' size and width, the hours of fighting, the plan of attack and the outcome are as recorded; the ground and the positions are not.
Rolling, Desert groundCentreLeft wingRight wingReserveCentreLeft wingRight wingGunsReserveArmourArmourGuns010 km20 kmN

One of the 2 engagements of the Battle of the Sinai recorded in the CAA Database of Battles (number 1 in date order). Egypt (Eg 2nd Army, 81,160 men under Mg Mamoun) attacked Israel (Is Sasson Force & Sharon Div, 43,400 men under Mg Gonen) in Egypt. The CAA Database of Battles records 8.5 hours of fighting on a front of 50 km, a frontal attack against hasty defense and prepared defense, and that Israel held. Losses: Egypt 1,700 (2%), Israel 380 (1%).

This plan is generated from those figures. It shows the shape of the battle the database describes: the size and width of the armies, the plan of attack and the outcome. It does not show where the units actually stood.

The armies

Egypt

Mg Mamoun

UnitArmMen
Egypt left wingInfantry16,170
Egypt centreInfantry21,560
Egypt right wingInfantry16,170
Egypt reserveInfantry13,475
Egypt artillery (585 guns)Artillery8,775
Egypt armour (1,002 tanks)Armour5,010
Mg MamounCommander—
In this plan81,160

Israel

Mg Gonen

UnitArmMen
Israel left wingInfantry9,041
Israel centreInfantry12,054
Israel right wingInfantry9,041
Israel reserveInfantry7,534
Israel artillery (144 guns)Artillery2,160
Israel armour (714 tanks)Armour3,570
Mg GonenCommander—
In this plan43,400

What the sources report

EgyptIsrael
Strength, this plan81,16043,400
Losses, this plan1,700380

In the CAA Database of Battles

CDB90 no. 574, “Egyptian Offensive, North”, compiled for the US Army to study what decides battles. These are the figures a what-if engine can be calibrated against.

Fighting
8.5 hours
Winner
the defender
Terrain
Rolling, Desert
Weather
Dry, Sunny, Hot, Autumn, Temperate
Defender’s posture
Hasty defense, Prepared defense
Front width
50 km (attacker), 50 km (defender)
ForceStrengthLossesHorseGunsPlan and outcome
Egyptattacker81,1601,7000585Frontal attack; Repulse; Withdrew with heavy losses
Israeldefender43,4003800144Defensive/offensive plan

Attacker’s advantages none recorded

CDB90 (US Army Concepts Analysis Agency, 1990), tidy edition by Jeffrey B. Arnold; data under ODC-BY 1.0.

Notes

On this reconstruction

Generated automatically from the statistics in CDB90. Frontages, depths, distances, the order of events and the terrain are schematic: they follow the recorded strengths, front widths, hours of fighting, tactical plan and outcome, not maps or accounts of the battle. The sources give no hours; the timing is conjectural.

Sources

Facts gathered from Wikidata (CC0), Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0) and Wikimedia Commons (licence per file); the plan and its text are timeastra’s own.