The story of the "ghost chariot" first came from the mouth of a former Soviet tank soldier who was rescued from a German prisoner-of-war camp during World War II. Devastated in a prisoner-of-war camp, on his deathbed, he told Soviet soldiers the story of a Soviet prisoner of war driving a T-34 and trying to escape from a German tank training camp.
Later, when the Soviets attacked Germany, in a tank training camp on german soil, they found destroyed Soviet tanks with the remains of Soviet soldiers inside, confirming that the Germans did use Soviet prisoners of war to drive captured Soviet tanks as mobile targets for training. This also shows that the story told by the Soviet tank soldier may be true.
Due to the lack of first-hand information and materials for the parties involved, the truth of the story may not be completely unraveled. But perhaps through the restoration of several films based on this theme, we can understand what may have happened at that time.
The first film to follow this legendary story was the 1965 Soviet film Ghost Chariot T-34.
In the film, the Germans select prisoners of war from prisoner-of-war camps to pilot captured T-34 tanks and serve as live targets for anti-tank guns at the training ground. Through such training, on the one hand, the effect and power of the new anti-tank shells can be tested, and on the other hand, it can also be used to discover the weaknesses of the T-34.
For the Germans, tanks piloted by real people certainly improved the quality of training, but for those Soviet prisoners of war in tanks, it was very tragic, and the doomed "failure" meant death, even if not in the tank, and finally it would be shot.
A German officer in charge of the project turned a blind eye to one of the prisoners of war. He saw that he was a good tank driver, did not kill him after his first tank was hit, and promised to release him if he could not be hit next time.
The German officer, of course, did not have a sympathetic feeling for his opponent, and his purpose was still selfish and cunning. "The enemy is strong and we are strong", he wants to make full use of such a "good talent", and he also enjoys the pleasure of killing.
For the driver, there is a glimmer of life to let go. He took advantage of the "care" of the officers and made some preparations beforehand. He got matches for smoking and secretly hid some oil while refueling his tanks.
When he arrived at the training ground, he used his excellent driving skills to avoid the attack, and let the other team members mix fuel with clothes, igniting and emitting billowing smoke, creating the illusion of being hit. When the Germans thought that they had once again done a great job, relaxed their guard, and went down to the training ground to admire the results, the T-34, which had not actually been hit, suddenly launched, and in the shock and panic of the Germans, rushed out of the training ground and escaped.
The design of the film about the tank escaping from the training ground is not complicated, but it is reasonable. Last year's Russian film "T-34" also used this legendary story as material, but it is a bit ridiculous in some key details.
This new "t-34", there is a process of fighting - captured - fleeing - fighting again, emphasizing the tank battle in the theme performance, so in the link of the prisoner of war driving the tank to escape, for the service theme, the prisoners of war were given a tank with ammunition!
It was a damaged T-34-85 tank transported directly from the battlefield, and it still contained the body of a Soviet tank soldier. The repair and clean-up of the tanks was left to the PRISONERs, who found several unused shells inside. Tanks captured from the battlefield, will the Germans themselves not check? Even if the corpse that emits a foul odor is not cleaned up, is there no danger of bacteria and viruses? Directly handing over the tanks in the state of the battlefield to the prisoners of war, no matter how modified, is difficult to justify.
With tanks and shells, the prisoners of war were much easier to handle. At the training ground, they took advantage of the smoke and cover of the bushes they had created to take the initiative. First destroyed a clueless Panther tank, and then attacked the German observation and command tower at the training ground with high-explosive bombs. In a state of confusion and confusion, the prisoners of war flew T-34s out of the training ground.
The POWs were brave, intelligent, and successful, and the film's performance of escaping from the training ground was brilliant, but it was still very embarrassing to deal with the innate condition that possession of shells could attack. However, for the film itself, the flaws are not hidden. "T-34" focuses on tank battles, exquisitely examines and restores various World War II weapons led by tanks, and reproduces the real tank battles with excellent special effects.
The truth of the "ghost chariot" may have been drowned in history, but the bravery and faith of the Soviet soldiers it represented has become an indelible spirit that inspires future generations. As the most representative tank and even the most representative weapon of the Soviet Union in World War II, the T-34 has been given a legendary color, becoming a symbol of spirit and victory, and will always be enjoyed by military fans.