Yom Kippur War

About 14:00, 6 October 1973

Egyptian and Syrian forces opened simultaneous attacks at roughly 14:00 local time on 6 October 1973, striking Israeli positions on the Suez Canal and Sinai front and on the Golan Heights.

Egypt’s Second and Third Armies made an assault crossing of the canal, with elements of five infantry divisions establishing bridgeheads on the Israeli-held eastern bank. Syrian forces crossed the ceasefire line onto the Golan at the same hour.

Warned that morning, mobilizing that afternoon

Israel had received warning that morning that a coordinated attack was expected. Golda Meir’s government chose not to strike preemptively — chief of staff David Elazar had argued for both a preemptive strike and broader mobilization — and ordered reserve mobilization only hours before the attack.

That left Israel’s reserve-dependent army fighting defensively with mobilization incomplete.

What the listing overstates

By nightfall Egypt held bridgeheads east of the canal and Syrian forces had penetrated Israeli-held Golan territory. No major Israeli counteroffensives began that day, and the superpower airlifts came later — the first U.S. airlift aircraft reached Israel on 14 October.

In Washington, officials received reports of the fighting, convened a crisis meeting, and decided initially that no U.S. military equipment should move to either side.

“Fourth” is a conventional count rather than a settled one — scholarly works also call this the fifth major interstate round — and “largest” is an unsupported superlative without a stated measure.