War in the Sinai In the afternoon of October 6, 1973, over 200 planes of the Egyptian Air Force attacked Israeli airbases, missile and artillery positions, and radar facilities in the Sinai Peninsula. Simultaneously, 2,000 artillery guns positioned on the western side of the Suez Canal opened fire on Israeli positions across the waterway. Israel’s frontline defenses consisted of a massive sand wall that ran the whole length (except along the Great Bitter Lake) of the Suez Canal (Map 13). The sand wall reached a height of up to 80 feet and a slope of up to 65 degrees, which the Israelis considered could be breached only in 24 to 48 hours, long enough for Israeli Armed Forces to react and turn back the invasion. Behind the sand wall were the Israeli forward positions, which consisted of 22 fortifications positioned at different points along the entire length of the Suez Canal. Mine fields and barbed wire fences protected the approaches to the fortifications. Armored, artillery, and air defenses constituted the back end support for the fortifications.
(Taken from Yom Kippur War – Wars of the 20th Century – Volume 2)
Aided by the artillery fire, Egyptian assault units crossed the Suez Canal in rafts and clambered over the sand embankment on the other side to confront the Israeli forward positions. Egyptian Army engineering crews then used powerful water pumps to blast away the sand wall at 80 different points. Within two hours, breaches were made at five sections. Nine hours after the start of the invasion, tens of thousands of Egyptian soldiers, as well as hundreds of tanks and armored vehicles, began crossing the channel on bridging equipment.
The invasion caught the Israelis by surprise. The Israeli Air Force sent planes to the front, only to be knocked out by Egyptian SAM (surface-to-air) batteries positioned across the Suez Canal. Israeli tanks in the Sinai garrison also went into action but on October 8, suffered heavy losses from Egyptian anti-tank infantry units. Israeli forward positions collapsed under the weight of intense Egyptian artillery fire and ground assaults. Some 200 Israeli soldiers surrendered.
Over the next few days, the Egyptians consolidated and expanded their bridgeheads. The Egyptian Second and Third Armies, respectively, took up positions north and south of the Suez Canal. By October 10, they had advanced up to eight kilometers into the Sinai. By then, the battle lines had settled. The Israelis launched counterattacks which were largely ineffective, while the Egyptians did not venture away from the umbrella protection of their SAM batteries. Israel had called for a general mobilization of its forces, and infantry and armored units were being rushed to the front lines.
Egypt had achieved its war objective – score a limited victory to be used to negotiate the end of the conflict. From October 10 to 13, no major battles were fought in the Sinai Peninsula. The Soviet Union airlifted large quantities of war supplies to Egypt (and Syria) to replace the huge inventories that had been consumed or lost. Israel also experienced a considerable drain in its arsenals and hinted to using nuclear weapons, which prompted the United States to begin sending large amounts of weapons to the Jewish state.