In the early hours of the last day of the Yom Kippur War, the Israeli high command ordered an IDF armored division to seize Port Suez, a major city on the southern terminus of The Suez canal. The division attacked at dawn with three brigades, none of which had an experience or training in joint operations in urban warfare. The Egyptians had been planning their defense of the city for about six months. By afternoon, the IDF was retreating and A-4Es were called in to help cover them.