At eight o'clock in the early morning of the 19th, Wang Zhong heard the rumbling of tanks outside. He switched his view and saw the vanguard squadron of the 40th Tank Army rolling in mightily.
After switching back, he made a gesture to Pavlov and Popov, "The 40th Tank Army should have arrived, let's go out to meet them and see how many tanks have broken down along the way."
Popov said, "I think about one-fifth might have broken down?"
"Based on our experience with long-distance maneuvers in the past, one-fifth, but they probably don't have as good maintenance and care as we do. I guess one-third," Pavlov said.
Wang Zhong replied, "Then I have no choice but to bet on one-half."
Everyone laughed, and Wang Zhong himself couldn't hold back and joined in the laughter. Clearly, no one thought there would be such high non-combat losses.
After the laughter, Wang Zhong made a gesture and then took the lead as they all headed towards the gate.