Zidane spoke about the moments preceding the operations, where the Egyptian leadership maintained complete secrecy. The formations and weapons were surprised by the zero hour after the Egyptian planes executed the first strike and returned from over the canal to the western bank directly. This prompted everyone to launch the attack at the same moment. Zidane revealed the crucial role played by the “SAM 6” missiles in destroying the Israeli aircraft and paralyzing its movement from the early hours of the war. This was mentioned in an exclusive interview with the “Sputnik” agency on the occasion of the 52nd anniversary of the October Victory.
Firstly, we had no fears of death, nor did we feel we would die. We had gone through the War of Attrition and conducted many operations against the enemy, which was a very tough war where we witnessed all kinds of Israeli weapons and we were not afraid of them. We were eager for any war, no matter with the Israeli enemy, and indeed we won thanks to the great morale among the soldiers, officers, leaders, and everyone. The cannon I worked on was from 1944 or 1945, but it performed its task at the highest level.
The battle started at ten minutes to two, not five past two as rumored. As soon as we saw them crossing over our heads, we fired cannon shots at the enemy without waiting for orders from the leaders. All cannons fired in unison, with the goal being to destroy the enemy that had troubled us for seven years.
The “SAM 6” missiles had a significant and great role during the early hours, especially since we were unaware of their presence next to us. We were surprised by missiles launching from the ground and hitting their targets accurately, causing them to fall or forcing them to flee and preventing them from approaching the Egyptian forces on the ground.
The surprise was that we didn’t know the weapon was next to us. We passed by the soldiers daily without knowing anything about them, nor did we see any launch platforms or anything indicating the presence of missile bases in the area. What the Russian missiles did to the Israeli planes was a great miracle and a story that should be told and studied. They provided a protective shield for the soldiers along the canal line to complete the crossing operation.
It is difficult to count the number of planes that were shot down during the early hours from the site where we were located, especially since we were at one point and there were many other points. However, the area where I was located shot down about 20 planes in a matter of hours or during the first day.
One of the difficult moments we experienced was crossing the bridges prepared for these purposes, which were not fixed bridges. There was a high likelihood of falling from the bridges, but it seemed as if divine will was protecting us and preventing us from falling into the canal. We crossed with the cannon and the armored vehicle in the dark under a small flashlight, unable to see to the right or left.
The main cannon is the only cannon that bombards any target appearing on the eastern bank, where I bomb it with one or two shots, and the third shot completely destroys the target. After that, all the cannons of the company conduct a “fire gathering,” meaning that the right and left cannons, at distances between Q and more, right and left, intensify their strikes on the enemy target, conducting a fire gathering and completely destroying the target at once.
