How 105 Tanks Stopped 900 Syrian Tanks on the Golan (Valley of Tears, 1973)

At two in the afternoon on October 6, 1973, about 900 Syrian tanks started to roll across the Golan Heights. In the north, a brigade of 105 Israeli Centurions stood in their way. Three days later, the Syrians had lost about 260 tanks in a single valley, and the brigade that held it had fewer than 45 left that could still fire. This is how a few tanks stopped a flood, on the ground where it happened: a ditch the Syrians had to cross, mines that held them still, ramps that hid a Centurion to the neck, and one rule from the armored corps: first shot, first kill. Then the four reasons, the count (which differs between sources, and the video gives both), and the question historians still argue about: why did the Syrians stop? CHAPTERS 0:00 The attack 0:38 Ben-Gal reads the signs 1:12 Not enough tanks 1:39 The ground 2:14 The ramp 2:50 The Syrian plan 3:37 The ditch 4:25 The first night 5:19 500 tanks at point-blank range 6:08 Kahalani 6:53 First shot, first kill 7:27 Four reasons 8:22 Not only Israeli skill 8:37 The count 9:17 Run it again 9:50 Why did the Syrians stop? 10:15 The rule SOURCES Avigdor Kahalani, The Heights of Courage (1992) Dan Asher and Eric Hammel, Duel for the Golan (1987) Chaim Herzog, The War of Atonement (1975) Abraham Rabinovich, The Yom Kippur War (2005) Kenneth M. Pollack, Arabs at War (2002) Trevor N. Dupuy, Elusive Victory (1978) Martin van Creveld, The Sword and the Olive (1998) U.S. Army Armor magazine, "The Saga of OZ 77" (Fall 2019) Unit positions are a reconstruction. Counts of tanks and losses differ between sources and between the two sides. The "run it again without the dark" section is the author's own reasoning, not a published model. CREDITS (required by the licenses) 3D models (Sketchfab, CC BY 4.0): "Centurion Mk. 5/1 (World of Tanks Blitz)" by KojfDiscord; "T 54/55 Tank" by SGAstudio; "Low poly T-62" by SIpriv; "BTR-60 Simple" by Malcolm Hopper; "Pine Tree - PS1 Low Poly" and "Leaf Tree - PS1 Low Poly" by Wersaus33; "Stylized Bush" by Daniel; "Worn Shed PBR Game-Ready" by donnichols; "Stone House" by Lofvu; "Watch Tower" by EDMINchi; "Wolfsschanze (low poly)" by Götz von Berlichingen. Map data (c) OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Elevation: AWS Terrain Tiles (SRTM and other open sources). Sound effects: Freesound (CC0) and free libraries.