Editing Yom Kippur War (section)

===Securing the bridgehead===
[[File:Position with RPD Light Machinegun Overlooking Suez Canal During Yom Kippur War.jpg|thumb|150px|left|An Israeli position with captured RPD machine gun overlooks the Suez Canal on 16 October 1973]]
Despite the success the Israelis were having on the west bank, Generals Bar-Lev and Elazar ordered Sharon to concentrate on securing the bridgehead on the east bank. He was ordered to clear the roads leading to the canal as well as a position known as the [[Battle of the Chinese Farm|Chinese Farm]], just north of Deversoir, the Israeli crossing point. Sharon objected and requested permission to expand and break out of the bridgehead on the west bank, arguing that such a maneuver would cause the collapse of Egyptian forces on the east bank. But the Israeli high command was insistent, believing that until the east bank was secure, forces on the west bank could be cut off. Sharon was overruled by his superiors and relented.{{sfnp|Rabinovich|2004|p=393}}

On 16 October, he dispatched Amnon Reshef's Brigade to attack the Chinese Farm. Other IDF forces attacked entrenched Egyptian forces overlooking the roads to the canal. After three days of bitter and close-quarters fighting, the Israelis succeeded in dislodging the numerically superior Egyptian forces. The Israelis lost about 300 dead, 1,000 wounded, and 56 tanks. The Egyptians suffered heavier casualties, including 118 tanks destroyed and 15 captured.{{sfnp|Rabinovich|2004|p=425}}{{sfnp|Sharon|2011}}{{page needed|date=December 2024}}{{sfnmp|Rabinovich|2004|1p=427|Pollack|2002|2pp=118–119|Hammad|2002|3pp=335–408|Gawrych|1996|4pp=62–64}}