Memoirs of General Saad Eddin Shazly October War

The wife of Field Marshal Saad Al-Shazly, Mrs. Zeinat Al-Suhaimi, wrote in dedicating this book on the first page: "To the youth of January 25 who made the greatest revolutions and without which this book would not see the light." Yes, this book remained exiled away from its homeland for more than thirty years... pursued like its owner who refused silence at the expense of truth, his homeland, and reality. He sacrificed his position and comfortable life and spoke out now despite us being the unjust sultan. So, his share was exile and fleeing from pursuit, and finally surrendering himself to serve a prison sentence instead of being honored for a war that everyone testified was a military miracle, based on facts, not words or rhetorical phrases. But does this book deserve all that? Yes, because it exposes all the lies propagated by Sadat and attempts to hide from the October War. It clarifies and answers in it "Field Marshal Saad Al-Din Al-Shazly" about decisive and pivotal questions in that war, indeed in that Arab-Israeli conflict. Field Marshal Saad Al-Din says about his book in the introduction of its first edition: "Despite the release of many books about the October 1973 war between Arabs and Israel, there are still many hidden facts that no one has addressed to date, and there are other facts that some have distorted, sometimes out of ignorance, and sometimes out of a deliberate mistake to conceal these facts. Among the topics still shrouded in mystery are the following questions: Why did the Egyptian forces not develop their attack eastward after successfully crossing the Suez Canal? Why did they not seize the straits in Sinai? Did the general command of the Egyptian armed forces truly imagine that the enemy would break through specifically in the Deversoir area, and did they prepare the necessary plan to repel this breakthrough if it occurred? And if this was true, why did the Egyptians not eliminate the breakthrough immediately after it happened? How did the enemy’s breach in the Deversoir area develop day by day, and how were the plans made by the military officials overturned by the President and the Minister of War? Who is responsible for the siege of the Third Army? Are the military leaders or the political leaders? How did the siege of the Third Army affect the results of the war politically and militarily, not only for Egypt but for the entire Arab world?" When I decided to start writing my memoirs in October 76 — three years after the October 73 war — my goal was not to reveal Sadat’s lies, which he fabricated recklessly after the war ended. My primary goal was to give a true picture of the glorious and honorable deeds carried out by the Egyptian soldier in this war. It is truly unfortunate that Sadat and his men could not present this war in the frame it deserved as one of the most remarkable military works in the world. They relied on rhetorical and flowery words without using numbers or scientific analysis of the surrounding factors. Their concern was limited to hiding and erasing the role of "Field Marshal Saad Al-Din Al-Shazly," who held the position of Chief of Staff of the Egyptian Armed Forces from May 1971 — 29 months before the war — until December 12, 1973 — seven weeks after the ceasefire. Sadat did not realize that with this hatred for Field Marshal Saad Al-Din Al-Shazly, he had greatly wronged the Egyptian armed forces. "Al-Shazly" was not lying; the book is a testimony that casts falsehood aside, pushing it to its destruction despite all authority, media, and everyone who tried to hide the truth from the Egyptian, Arab, and global people. But after these years and restrictions, the truth emerged from its summit, breaking the chains and shackles from the Egyptian people. The days spoke their word, and places changed, so the book became free and unrestrained, and its jailers became humble in their lives and deaths. Let us see in the story of this book and what was written in its lines a lesson of the days about lies, liars, the greatness of the Egyptian soldier, his genius, and his resilience — a soldier and a leader.