On October 6, 1973, the Arab forces of Syria and Egypt attacked Israel. The attack took place on the most holy of days for Jews in an attempt to catch the Israelis as unprepared as possible. At first, it was a massive success. Syrian forces marched through the weak and scattered forces in the Golan Heights while Egyptian forces easily crossed the great Suez Canal and set up a strong defensive line along the east bank of the Canal and, under their strong umbrella of Surface-to-Air missile support, awaited the inevitable Israeli counterattack. And counterattack the Israelis did - only to be shocked at the effectiveness of new Soviet weapons and surprising Arab resolve.