Time Astra

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

Egyptian Offensive, South

All battlesBattle of the Sinai: engagement 2 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 wingReserveCentreGunsLeft wingRight wingReserveArmourArmourGuns010 km20 kmN

One of the 2 engagements of the Battle of the Sinai recorded in the CAA Database of Battles (number 2 in date order). Egypt (Eg 3rd Army, 57,960 men under Mg Wassel) attacked Israel (Is Magen Div(-)(+), 28,600 men under Bg Magen) 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 1,350 (2%), Israel 260 (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 Wassel

UnitArmMen
Egypt left wingInfantry11,450
Egypt centreInfantry15,267
Egypt right wingInfantry11,450
Egypt reserveInfantry9,542
Egypt artillery (447 guns)Artillery6,705
Egypt armour (709 tanks)Armour3,545
Mg WasselCommander—
In this plan57,959

Israel

Bg Magen

UnitArmMen
Israel left wingInfantry6,101
Israel centreInfantry8,134
Israel right wingInfantry6,101
Israel reserveInfantry5,084
Israel artillery (96 guns)Artillery1,440
Israel armour (348 tanks)Armour1,740
Bg MagenCommander—
In this plan28,600

What the sources report

EgyptIsrael
Strength, this plan57,96028,600
Losses, this plan1,350260

In the CAA Database of Battles

CDB90 no. 575, “Egyptian Offensive, South”, 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
Egyptattacker57,9601,3500447Frontal attack; Repulse; Withdrew with heavy losses
Israeldefender28,600260096Defensive 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.