The Israel Defense Forces unfolded along Route 2, which was equivalent to handing over most of the Sinai Peninsula to the Egyptian army.

At this point, the Israel Defense Forces had no choice but to pin their hopes on the decisive battle and defeated the Egyptian army that broke into the Sinai Peninsula in one fell swoop.

Before dawn, ten military troops set out from Dimona and Haleva one after another and marched towards the Port of Eilat.

The deployment and intention of the IDF were obvious: blocking the Egyptian army south of Highway 2 and fighting against the decisive battle around Highway 4, which led to Eilat from the fifth stop.

In this area, the IDF has a relatively obvious advantage.

First of all, the south of Highway 4 is the Tikh Plateau. The Egyptian army can only advance eastward after capturing Semed, attack Eilat, or turn southward, and then arrive at Nuweba, and attack Eilat north along the west coast of the Gulf of Aqaba. Otherwise, they can only go north from Nehel, break through the Israeli defense line on Highway 2, and fight decisively on the battlefield chosen by the Israeli army. Therefore, the Israeli army can block the Egyptian army in Nehel and Semed.

Secondly, the situation on Highway 4 is much worse than that on Highway 2, and its traffic capacity is very limited, so it is difficult for the Egyptian army to unfold along Highway 4. If the Egyptian army forcibly advance eastward, in addition to being blocked in Nehel and Semed, even if they can reach Eilat, it will be at the end of their strength. In the face of difficult logistics support, whether the Egyptian army can stabilize the front line, let alone capture Eilat, is a problem.

Finally, and most importantly, this is the most distant route to attack Israel. Even if the Egyptian army captured Eilat, it was very far away from the core area of ​​Israel, and there were only two highways to head north and there were no railway lines, and subsequent attacks would encounter a lot of trouble. Even if the Egyptian army could open up maritime shipping and no longer transport supplies through the Sinai Peninsula, it would not be able to solve the logistics support problem.

Based on these points, the IDF has enough reason to believe that the Egyptian army will definitely head north before Eilat.

To put it simply, the Egyptian army would not go to Eilat, but would turn north in Nehel, break through the Israel Defense Forces' defense line on Route 2, then advance to Gejiot along Route 2, and then attack Bellsheba and seize the crucial railway hub center.

In order to force the Egyptian army to head north in Nehel, the Israeli Defense Force must seize Semed and defend the important town.

For the Egyptian army, Semede had to be captured, because even if we went north to fight the Israeli army, Semede would be captured to ensure the safety of the flanks.

After dawn, the Egyptian army and the Israeli army launched a "marching war" again.

This time, the Israeli army took the lead. Two armored brigades set out from Eilat and advanced towards Semed as fast as possible. Another armored brigade headed south along Highway 3 and quickly advanced towards Nehel. The Egyptian army set off a little later, and the Third Armored Division of the Third Army was on the assault mission.

Obviously, the advantage lies in the hands of the Israel Defense Forces.

If the Egyptian army wants to reach Semed, they must first occupy Nehel, and here they are likely to be blocked by Israeli troops. More importantly, the Third Army was still forcing the Suez Canal. In the early morning of the 24th, only two divisions arrived on the other side. The Third Armored Division also conducted a rapid march of hundreds of kilometers on the 23rd. Therefore, the march speed is definitely not as good as the Israeli army, and its combat status is not very good.

It can also be seen from the battlefield information provided by the reconnaissance aircraft that the Israeli army marched much faster.

You should know that the two Israeli armored brigades set out from Eilat are reserve forces, and their condition is much better than that of the Egyptian army and there is no worry about logistics support.

Qi Kaiwei did not have much hope in response to this situation.

After the Third Armored Division set out, Qi Kaiwei adjusted the deployment of the Egyptian army. The First Army continued to head south to Suez City. The Second Army sent two divisions to strengthen the defensive deployment of the fifth station, while other troops were deployed along the west bank of the canal to prevent the Israeli army from launching a counterattack.

Judging from the situation at that time, the most important thing to be wary of was that the Israeli army crossed the Suez Canal.

As long as the Israeli commander calms down, a key problem can be discovered, that is, when fighting in the Sinai Peninsula, the Egyptian army has an advantage in logistics supply. If this advantage cannot be eliminated, it will not only be difficult for the Israeli army to win, but it is also likely that the battle on the Sinai Peninsula will evolve into a long-term war of attrition. The best way to eliminate this advantage is to fight the Suez Canal and use a decisive and rapid assault to drop the Egyptian army's logistics support base, just like attacking the Syrian army, causing the Egyptian army to lose its assault capabilities and do not fight head-on with the Egyptian army.

To achieve this goal, there is no way to use much force.

If the Israeli army on the Sinai Peninsula can achieve the combat effectiveness of the three brigades commanded by Major General Baram, at most, only five brigades can be invested to fight a fast tactical assault on the west bank of the canal, and achieve a crucial victory before the Egyptian army responds.

If so, the Egyptian army will be in a very dangerous situation.

You should know that the three main armies of the Egyptian Army were all deployed from the front, and those left behind were either reserve troops or logistics support troops, and they did not have much combat effectiveness at all. In other words, under the deployment of Qi Kaiwei, the rear defense line of the Egyptian army was very empty.

Although the IDF had not fought the Suez Canal until the end of the war, according to the information released later, this risk did exist at that time. According to relatively reliable statements, on the night of the 23rd, the IDF obtained intelligence provided by the United States and learned that the rear of the Egyptian army was empty and a large number of combat materials were stored on the west bank of the canal. The Israeli General Staff also formulated a similar assault plan to launch an assault in the direction of Port Said on the night of the 24th, and then go south along the west bank of the canal to go south along the west bank of the canal.

Assault, crossing the canal from Suez City and returning to the Sinai Peninsula, the entire assault will end in one day, and the Egyptian Army had no time to react. As a result, on the afternoon of the 23rd, the US authorities issued a warning, forcing the Israel Defense Forces to abandon this combat plan. Although no one knows why the United States warned Israel, the situation at that time is likely to be related to China. To put it simply, if the Israel Defense Forces crossed the Suez Canal, China would likely intervene.

Unfortunately, on the morning of the 23rd, Qi Kaiwei could not make a judgment that the Israeli army would not cross the canal.

As a result, he had to let the Second Army set up defense lines along the canal, which was equivalent to putting one-third of the main force of the Egyptian Army in the rear.

With only two armies, it is difficult for Qi Kaiwei to launch an assault in both directions.

His choice was: focus on Shett, concentrate superior forces to control the southern part of the peninsula, and then concentrate superior forces to fight the Israeli army.

Given the situation at that time, if Qi Kaiwei had enough troops in his hands, he would definitely not have fought like this.

The most effective tactic should be two-way breakthroughs, that is, when the Third Army has made a major breakthrough, let the First Army concentrate at the fifth stop, open the second breakthrough, pose a threat to the flank of the Israeli defense line, and force the Israeli army to leave enough troops on the right to achieve the purpose of dispersing the Israeli army, and then the Third Army attacks northward and annihilate the Israeli army scattered on Highway 2.

After achieving this goal, it is only a matter of time before the defeat of the Israeli army.

Qi Kaiwei did not adopt such a bold tactic, which was mainly related to the quality of the Egyptian army.

In terms of force, the Third Army is equivalent to fifteen Israeli brigades, and the First Army is equivalent to twenty Israeli brigades. Although the total Israeli army has as many as eighty brigades on the Sinai Peninsula, there are only forty infantry brigades and armored brigades, and they have to guard the long front line, and there will be no more than twenty that can be used for combat. Therefore, from the perspective of force comparison, it is about a two-to-one situation, and the Egyptian army has a relatively obvious advantage.

The problem is that the advantage of military strength cannot explain the problem.

Not to mention Qi Kaiwei, even the Egyptian generals did not have much confidence, or they believed that their quality was far inferior to that of the Israeli army.

It can be imagined that the upcoming decisive battle will be held in the vast desert and will be dominated by mobile warfare. Therefore, the quality of military officers and soldiers, especially the quality of grassroots officers and soldiers, is crucial. There is no doubt that this is the stubborn disease of the Egyptian army. Not to mention anything else, in the Israel Defense Forces, grassroots officers all come from regular military academies. Most of them served for more than five years, and the proportion of soldiers among the soldiers is as high as 40%, and 60% have a university degree. In the Egyptian army, less than 40% have high school or above.

Qi Kaiwei's deployment has a very big problem: two armies are concentrated on a ferry crossing the river, and it is difficult to quickly unfold.

If the main forces are concentrated together, the consequences may be difficult to imagine.

Not to mention anything else, as long as the Israeli Defense Force recovers, it will definitely attack Shett, compressing the Egyptian army's activity space, making it difficult for the Egyptian army to form an effective assault force. After delaying for a few days, when the momentum of the Egyptian army weakens, the Israeli Defense Force will drive the Egyptian army back to the west bank of the canal in one go.

This is definitely not alarmist, because what inspires the morale of the Egyptian army is the hope of victory.

Without hope of victory, nothing else can be said.

To put it simply, the Egyptian army is a unit that is good at fighting down the wind. If you encounter setbacks, unexpected situations are likely to occur.

On the contrary, the Israeli army is very good at fighting in adversity.

It can be said that Qi Kaiwei's understanding is very accurate. It is not the Israeli army that really hopes to win quickly, but the Egyptian army. Only by winning quickly can we end the large-scale war in a relatively favorable situation. Whether it can defeat Israel is not a question that Qi Kaiwei considers.

For this reason, Qi Kaiwei had to leave heavy troops near the fifth stop and put on an assault posture.

At that time, in addition to one division of the Second Army, there were also the 14th Infantry Division of the Third Army and an independent armored brigade of the First Army. On the other side of the canal were three infantry divisions of the Egyptian reserve troops, two artillery brigades and an independent armored brigade.

According to Qi Kaiwei's deployment, if the Israeli army goes south to siege Shet, a tactical assault will be launched from the fifth stop.

Of course, the ultimate purpose of these deployments is to force the IDF to fight decisively on the battlefield chosen by Qi Kaiwei, rather than on the battlefield chosen by the Israeli army.
Chapter completed!