Time Astra

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

Kuneitra

All battlesValley of Tears: engagement 1 of 7The 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.
Rugged, Bare groundCentreLeft wingRight wingReserveGunsCentreLeft wingRight wingReserveArmourArmourGuns05 km10 kmN

One of the 7 engagements of the Valley of Tears recorded in the CAA Database of Battles (number 1 in date order). Syria (Syr 9th Inf Div(+), 17,750 men under Col Tourkmani) attacked Israel (Is 7th Armd Bde(-)(+), 3,630 men under Col Ben Gal) in Syria. The CAA Database of Battles records 24 hours of fighting on a front of 15 km, a frontal attack, single envelopment, left flank against prepared defense, and that neither side won. Losses: Syria 350 (2%), Israel 200 (6%).

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

Syria

Col Tourkmani

UnitArmMen
Syria left wingInfantry3,756
Syria centreInfantry5,008
Syria right wingInfantry3,756
Syria reserveInfantry3,130
Syria artillery (115 guns)Artillery1,725
Syria armour (75 tanks)Armour375
Col TourkmaniCommander—
In this plan17,750

Israel

Col Ben Gal

UnitArmMen
Israel left wingInfantry768
Israel centreInfantry1,024
Israel right wingInfantry768
Israel reserveInfantry640
Israel artillery (12 guns)Artillery180
Israel armour (50 tanks)Armour250
Col Ben GalCommander—
In this plan3,630

What the sources report

SyriaIsrael
Strength, this plan17,7503,630
Losses, this plan350200

In the CAA Database of Battles

CDB90 no. 585, “Kuneitra”, compiled for the US Army to study what decides battles. These are the figures a what-if engine can be calibrated against.

Fighting
24 hours
Winner
the draw
Terrain
Rugged, Bare
Weather
Dry, Sunny, Hot, Autumn, Temperate
Defender’s posture
Prepared defense
Front width
15 km (attacker), 15 km (defender)
ForceStrengthLossesHorseGunsPlan and outcome
Syriaattacker17,7503500115Frontal attack; Single envelopment; Left flank; Penetration; Stalemate
Israeldefender3,630200012Defensive plan; Stalemate

Attacker’s advantages surprise +2

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.