It was fought in the Sinai Peninsula, north of the Great Bitter Lake and just east of the Suez Canal, near an Egyptian agricultural research station.

On October 6, 1973, Egypt launched Operation Badr, intending to cross the Suez Canal and establish bridgeheads on the opposite bank of the Sinai Peninsula, which had been occupied by Israel since 1967.

[3][4] The situation changed when Sadat, in the face of protests from his senior commanders, ordered an offensive to seize the strategic Sinai mountain passes, hoping to relieve Israeli pressure on the Syrians.

Elazar emphasized the military and political gains of the operation, and the expected collapse that would occur in the Egyptian forces on the east bank when their supply routes became threatened.

Later that day, Bar-Lev headed a meeting attended by the senior and main division commanders in the Sinai theatre: Major Generals Abraham Adan, Ariel Sharon and Kalman Magen.

Bar-Lev informed the Israeli officers of the decision to begin the crossing operation on the night of October 15/16, and assigned duties and responsibilities to the division commanders.

The Israelis had to open the principal route to Deversoir and secure a corridor stretching 5 kilometers (3.1 mi) north of the crossing site (known as "The Yard").

The Lexicon-Akavish junction fell on Tel Salaam, near the Great Bitter Lake and 6 kilometers (3.7 mi) south of Deveroir, where Fort Lakekan (part of the Bar Lev Line) was located.

It was believed this area would not need defending, as it was both adjacent to the Great Bitter Lake, a natural obstacle, and most of it lay outside the range of the Egyptian SAMs.

Leaving a combined recon and paratrooper force at the canal, he sent his tanks north and west to secure the flank of the projected crossing site and clear the Akavish and Tirtur roads from behind for the follow-on bridging equipment.

Attempts to rescue the infantry failed, and the Egyptian battalion defending the junction directed heavy firepower against the area, aided by the brigade's artillery.

Shunari, whose troops lacked cover and were threatened with annihilation, regrouped some of his forces and managed to escape the area in vehicles, but the infantry half-track unit first sent to the crossroads remained pinned down.

With no help coming, the unit commander had his men carry the wounded and attempted to leave the battlefield, tasking two sections of heavy machine guns with providing cover to the force.

Although seizing the crossing site had been accomplished easily, stiff resistance had prevented Reshef from achieving his remaining objectives, namely opening the routes to the canal and securing a corridor.

[42][43] Hearing reports of the heavy fighting taking place between the junction and the Chinese Farm, Dayan suggested withdrawing Matt's brigade and canceling the operation.

Reshef's forces engaged the Egyptians from long range, picking off defensive positions from afar, while using alternate fire and movement to advance to the crossroads.

The defending infantry battalion, exhausted by continuous fighting and suffering from a severe lack of ammunition, soon withdrew allowing the Israelis to at last seize the junction.

Sharon reported to Southern Command that one section of the roller bridge, being towed by Erez's brigade, had been damaged and that the engineers needed a few hours to repair it.

The Egyptian battalion managed to halt the advance, aided by fire from tanks and anti-tank weapons on the slopes of Missouri, a hill north-west of the Chinese Farm, causing Reshef to break off his attack.

In a later meeting with Dayan and Bar-Lev, Gonen reiterated the latter's statement that no more forces would cross until the bridges had been laid, and added that, should the situation worsen, the paratroopers could be withdrawn.

'Abd el-Hamid's left-flank infantry battalion, blocking Tirtur, repelled Israeli tanks attacking westwards and thwarted Adan's efforts to clear the road.

However, at 2:00 pm, Southern Command notified Adan that he would soon receive the 35th Paratrooper Brigade, which had been transported by helicopters from Ras Sudar on the Gulf of Suez to Refidem 80 kilometers (50 mi) east of the canal.

Ya'iri, acting with a sense of urgency, had decided to go into action without awaiting sufficient intelligence, or performing adequate reconnaissance on Egyptian defenses.

His unit lacked artillery observers and, rather than wait for one to arrive, it was agreed the paratroopers would request fire support of the 162nd Division's command net.

Adan ordered Ya'iri to narrow his brigade's front and focus on clearing Akavish instead, but the lead paratrooper battalion was under such heavy fire that it was impossible to maneuver.

Egyptian tanks managed to destroy Israeli armor near the village and reached the northern strongpoint of Fort Matzmed just after 9:00 am in the face of heavy resistance.

As the battalion moved south, a large number of Israeli aircraft attacked the formation, forcing it to undertake evasive maneuvers, turning eastwards and fanning out in the desert terrain, thereby avoiding losses.

Adan, supported by Magen, would go on to reach Suez after the failure of a United Nations ceasefire, thereby cutting off two infantry divisions of the Egyptian Third Field Army.

Sharon also crossed with part of his division, simultaneously trying to defend and expand the Israeli corridor to the Suez Canal—as well attacking northwards on the west bank to Ismailia in an attempt to similarly cut off the Second Army.

Sharon would also provide his own poignant account of the aftermath: "It was as if a hand-to-hand battle of armor had taken place... Coming close you could see the Egyptian and Jewish dead lying side-by-side, soldiers who had jumped from their burning tanks and died together.