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The track the Dubrovka is dedicated to the VChK also known later as the KGB of the Soviet Union and the FSB of the Russian Federation for combating counter-revolution and sabotage during the Civil War 1918-1923. A tachanka was a horse-drawn cart (such as charabanc) or an open wagon with a heavy machine gun mounted on the rear side. A tachanka could be pulled by two to four horses and required a crew of two or three (one driver and a machine gun crew). A number of sources attribute its invention to Nestor Makhno. A regular civilian horse cart could be easily converted to military use and back. This made the tachanka very popular during the Great War on the Eastern Front, where it was used by the Russian cavalry. The use of tachankas reached its peak during the Russian Civil War (1917–1920s), particularly in the peasant regions of Southern Russia and Ukraine, on fronts where fluid mobile warfare gained much significance. With up to 4 horses abreast pulling a tachanka, it could easily keep up with cavalry units and support them with mobile firepower. Tachanka tactics were centered around taking advantage of its speed to surprise the enemy. Tachankas, before the introduction of the tank or automobile to the battlefield, were the only way to provide high-speed mobility for the heavy, bulky machine guns of World War I. The speed of the horse-drawn cart would be used to move the machine gun platform to a favorable firing position, and then the enemy would be fired upon before they had a chance to react. Since the machine gun pointed towards the rear of the cart, the tachankas also provided effective suppressive fire onto pursuing enemy cavalry after raids and during retreats. Ukrainian anarchist leader Nestor Makhno pioneered the use of the tachanka en masse during the Russian Civil War. Makhno’s forces relied so heavily upon the use of the tachanka that one Makhnovite referred to himself and his fellow troops as “a republic on tachanki“. The Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army of Ukraine used tachankas mainly against enemy cavalry. Makhnovists also used tachankas to transport infantry, thus improving mobility of the army (about 100 km each day). Tachankas soon became used by the Red Army, with the famous example of Vasily Chapayev. One of the songs glorifying the Red Army during the Russian Civil War was called “Tachanka“. The concluding lyrics, roughly translated, run: And to this day, the foe has nightmares Of the thick rain of lead, The battle-chariot And the young machine gunner. Tachankas can be seen in the classic Soviet films such as Chapayev and The Burning Miles. A modern variant of tachanka can be seen in a cult Russian film Brother 2. In modern Russian slang the word “tachanka“ is used for any heavily armed non-standard tactical vehicles.
