re: #335 Killgore Trout

Iranian press coverage of today’s events in Egypt is interesting: Anti-Israeli rallies turn violent across Egypt

heh

Egypt celebrates the successful storming of the Bar-Lev line as a major victory. In fact while it was a operational victory, the felt need to aid the floundering Syrians caused Egypt to send its armor beyond the SAM/ATGM defenses its army had erected to try to seize the Gidi and Mitla passes in the Sinai.

The battle that followed was calamitous for Egypt and Egyptians don’t like to talk about it. Both Egyptian thrusts ran into powerful Israeli armored formations in open country. The resulting long range tank gunnery fight was just the sort of engagement the M60A1 was built for and that the Israelis had trained for. Hundreds of Egyptian T-55s and T-62s were knocked out and the survivors were unable to refuel and reload due to the smashing of the supply echelons sent in behind the tanks by IAF airstrikes.

So the Suez crossing was an operational victory that was followed by a strategic defeat.