Gomig-21
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At the end of the October War, most of the "Amazing SAM Umbrella" was smashed by the Israeli forces in the Western bridgehead.
Most? Not true. Only the southern sector. The 3 divisions and 60,000 of the 2nd Army were in the north of the bitter lakes was perfectly fine. They had their SAMs and by diverting some of them further south to northern Ismailiya, they could've protected the northern portion of the 3rd Army which could've also moved a bit north. The hypotheticals are endless. The point is, it wasn't a done deal and Israel withdrew in the end, not Egypt.
The third Army was thus at mercy of the Israeli Air Force.
It was cut off from supply, and without supply an Army in a desert does not last long.
People assume the EAF was completely destroyed or just vanished in the air. It had successfully fended off the Israeli Air Force which was attacking its airfields in the delta to prevent it from attacking the Israeli divisions on the west. The EAF still had potential to inflict serious damage on the Israelis, not to mention several other armored options from the 4th Infantry division and elements of the 2nd Army if it had to or was forced to do it if the cease fire didn't take effect. It was by no means a safe situation for the Israelis, either. Hence why they really couldn't impact the 3rd Army in a disastrous way. What gave the impression of some Israeli victory was that the war ended on that note. No one knows how exactly things would've developed had the war continued. Bottom line, they withdrew and Egypt kept its gained territories = victory.
While Egypt severly shaked the Israeli confidence, they messed up big time in the end.
There's no denying that. Sadat should have listened to General Shazly who wanted to pull a few units from the 2nd Army to close off the corridor for the Israeli crossing before it was too late. Sadat (who wasn't a full fledged military commander) didn't want to give the impression that any of the armies were giving up territory on the east to defend the west and ignored the Israeli penetration. This is where the Egyptian army failed. The command structure was not left to the generals and Sadat had the final say. Fail.
The real WINNER of the October War was the Americans.
They let the war continue, until the Egyptians were prepared to throw themselves
in their lap and abandoning the Soviets.
When you put it that way! It was still a solid victory for Egypt. The outcome was indisputably obvious in Egypt's favor, so any twisting or excusing of that has no credence. Every one should now realize and know Egypt was the victor, hands down.