经济学人408:二战代价几何(3)

 　　The majority of the civilian¹ soldiers of the Western democracies, by contrast, just wanted to survive and return to normal life as soon as possible. That also meant that American and British generals had to eschew² the dashing aggression³ of their Russian and German counterparts, who could squander⁴ lives with impunity⁵. Thanks to the bloodbath in Russia, where the Wermacht was broken and nine out of ten German soldiers who died in the war met their end, they could permit themselves to be more cautious.

　　相比之下，西方民主国家的民兵大都只想保住性命，尽快回归正常生活。这也意味着英美两军的将军不得不避开那些为了不受惩罚而不顾生死的好斗的俄国和德国士兵。幸好德国国防军在俄罗斯的大屠杀中被击溃，十个德国士兵中有九个牺牲，他们才能表现的这么谨慎。

　　Mr Hastings excessively admires two German field-marshals: Gerd von Rundstedt and Eric von Manstein, whereas only Bill Slim and George Patton rise above the general mediocrity of Allied⁶ field commanders. Luckily, the tactical virtuosity⁷ of the Germans and Japanese was more than matched by their strategic incompetence⁸ in declaring war against Russia and America. Less hubristic⁹ and more informed leaders would have realised that both countries had the manpower and industrial resources to prevail in a war of attrition.

　　马克斯·哈斯丁极为敬重两位德国陆军元帅：格特·冯·伦德施泰特（Gerd von Rundstedt）和埃里克·冯·曼施坦因（Eric von Manstein），相比之下他认为盟军的将领中却只有比尔·斯里姆（Bill Slim）和乔治·巴顿（George Patton）非泛泛之辈。所幸，德日两国的战略水平远低于其战术素养，对美苏宣战在战略上筑成了大错。更谦逊、见识更为广博的将领会意识到俄美两国都有足够的人力物力打赢一场消耗战。

　　Close connections

　　密切关联

　　Overall, however, Mr Hastings does an admirable job of weaving together deeply personal stories with great events and high strategy. This raises the question of whether another book covering essentially¹⁰ the same ground is necessary. The answer depends on what the reader is looking for. Mr Beevor, who is known for using the sometimes unbearably¹¹ moving diaries and letters of ordinary soldiers to shed new light on old battles, is otherwise less generous than Mr Hastings in the space he gives to primary sources. He has written what is in many ways a more conventional military history. But where he is good, he is very good.

　　不过总体上，马克斯·哈斯丁在将人物故事、重大事件与高层决策编纂成书方面十分出色。这就让人有以下疑问：是否有必要再出另一本题材一样的书。答案取决于读者的诉求。众所周知，安东尼·比弗用了普通士兵的日记和书信（其中一些十分感人）重新诠释过往的战役，但他引用的第一手资料却比马克斯·哈斯丁少。在很多方面他的书都更像一本传统的军事史。但在他所擅长的方面，简直一流。

　　Mr Beevor is full of insight about the connections between things—he sets out “to understand how the whole complex jigsaw¹² fits together”. Thus the relatively¹³ little-known Battle of Khalkhin-Gol, in which Japan’s plans to grab Soviet¹⁴ territory from its base in Manchuria were undone¹⁵ in the summer of 1939 by the Red Army’s greatest and most ruthless general, Georgi Zhukov, had profound consequences. The Japanese “strike south” party prevailed over the “strike northers”, ensuring that Stalin would not have to fight a war on two fronts when the Germans launched Operation Barbarossa in 1941. Mr Beevor decries¹⁶ the rebarbative¹⁷ “Bomber” Harris’s attempt to win the war by bringing death and destruction to every major German city as a moral and strategic failure. But he also points out that by forcing the Nazis¹⁸ to move squadrons of Luftwaffe fighters from Russia to defend the Fatherland, Harris’s campaign allowed the Soviet air force to establish vital air supremacy¹⁹.

　　安东尼·比弗对于事物之间的联系有很多想法——现在他打算解读“整个复杂的二战是如何进行的”。在他眼里，比较少人知道的诺门坎战役对整个二战有着深远的影响。日军计划利用这场战役以满洲为据点夺取苏联的领土，但却在1939年夏天被苏联红军中最伟大、最无情的将军朱可夫（Georgi Zhukov）破坏了。日军的“南进派”压倒了“北进派”，确保了在1941年德国进行巴巴罗萨计划时斯大林不必同时在两条前线开战。在安东尼·比弗笔下，讨人厌的“炸弹”哈里斯试图通过轰炸所有德国主要城市以赢得战争的做法是道德上和战略上的失误。但他也指出，哈里斯的轰炸迫使纳粹将大批空中战斗机调离俄罗斯以保卫本土，让苏联空军夺取了至关重要的制空权。

　　Mr Beevor also has a surer hand than Mr Hastings in describing how the great land battles of the war unfolded. Although his judgments²⁰ are less waspishly entertaining than his rival’s, they are also more measured. He is notably²¹ more generous about Britain’s contribution to defeating Hitler, which Mr Hastings at times appears to think was mainly confined to the code-breaking centre at Bletchley Park and, after defeating the Luftwaffe in 1940, providing an “unsinkable aircraft-carrier” for the build-up of American military power.

　　与马克斯·哈斯丁相比，安东尼·比弗对大型陆地战如何展开的描述更能令人信服。尽管他的观点没他对手的那么尖刻，但却也更有分寸。尤其是谈及英国在打败希特勒方面所作的贡献时，他更加宽容；而马克斯·哈斯丁却似乎一再认为英国的功劳不过是建立了布莱切利园的密码破译中心，以及在1940年打败纳粹空军后为美军发展空军力量提供了一艘“不会沉没的航空母舰”。

1 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

2 eschew   

v.避开，戒绝

参考例句：

• Eschew fattening foods if you want to lose weight.你如想减肥，就不要吃致肥的食物。
• Good kid should eschew bad company.好孩子应避免交坏朋友。

3 aggression   

n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害

参考例句：

• So long as we are firmly united, we need fear no aggression.只要我们紧密地团结，就不必惧怕外来侵略。
• Her view is that aggression is part of human nature.她认为攻击性是人类本性的一部份。

4 squander   

v.浪费，挥霍

参考例句：

• Don't squander your time in reading those dime novels.不要把你的时间浪费在读那些胡编乱造的廉价小说上。
• Every chance is precious，so don't squander any chance away!每次机会都很宝贵，所以不要将任何一个白白放走。

5 impunity   

n.(惩罚、损失、伤害等的)免除

参考例句：

• You will not escape with impunity.你不可能逃脱惩罚。
• The impunity what compulsory insurance sets does not include escapement.交强险规定的免责范围不包括逃逸。

6 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

7 virtuosity   

n.精湛技巧

参考例句：

• At that time,his virtuosity on the trumpet had no parallel in jazz.那时，他高超的小号吹奏技巧在爵士乐界无人能比。
• As chemists began to pry out my secret they discovered my virtuosity.化学家开始探讨我的秘密，他们发现了我的精湛技巧。

8 incompetence   

n.不胜任，不称职

参考例句：

• He was dismissed for incompetence. 他因不称职而被解雇。
• She felt she had been made a scapegoat for her boss's incompetence. 她觉得，本是老板无能，但她却成了替罪羊。

9 hubristic   

adj.傲慢的，目中无人的。

参考例句：

• The results of this investment are sometimes hubristic, but often impressive. 这一投资的结果有时是高傲的，但通常是令人印象深刻。 来自互联网
• A hubristic America, however a trap of its own making by invading Iraq in 2003. 无论如何，一个傲慢的美国，2003年入侵伊拉克的行动让它自食苦果。 来自互联网

10 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

11 unbearably   

adv.不能忍受地，无法容忍地；慌

参考例句：

• It was unbearably hot in the car. 汽车里热得难以忍受。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She found it unbearably painful to speak. 她发现开口说话痛苦得令人难以承受。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 jigsaw   

n.缕花锯，竖锯，拼图游戏；vt.用竖锯锯，使互相交错搭接

参考例句：

• A jigsaw puzzle can keep me absorbed for hours.一副拼图就能让我沉醉几个小时。
• Tom likes to work on jigsaw puzzles,too.汤姆也喜欢玩拼图游戏。

13 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

14 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

15 undone   

a.未做完的，未完成的

参考例句：

• He left nothing undone that needed attention.所有需要注意的事他都注意到了。

16 decries   

v.公开反对，谴责( decry的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Mr Basescu decries communism as criminal, but Bulgarian leaders only mumble. 巴塞斯库总统将共产主义比作犯罪，而对这个问题，保加利亚的领导人却避而不谈。 来自互联网
• A staunch materialist,he decries economy. 一个坚定的唯物主义者公开谴责经济。 来自互联网

17 rebarbative   

adj.讨厌的，冒犯人的

参考例句：

• He became rebarbative and prickly and spiteful.他变得令人讨厌、易发怒，怀有恶意；我发现他的奉承令人厌恶。
• He has the rebarbative habit that is smoking during eating.他有边吃饭边抽烟那让人讨厌的习惯。

18 Nazis   

n.（德国的）纳粹党员( Nazi的名词复数 )；纳粹主义

参考例句：

• The Nazis worked them over with gun butts. 纳粹分子用枪托毒打他们。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Nazis were responsible for the mass murder of Jews during World War Ⅱ. 纳粹必须为第二次世界大战中对犹太人的大屠杀负责。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 supremacy   

n.至上；至高权力

参考例句：

• No one could challenge her supremacy in gymnastics.她是最优秀的体操运动员，无人能胜过她。
• Theoretically,she holds supremacy as the head of the state.从理论上说，她作为国家的最高元首拥有至高无上的权力。

20 judgments   

判断( judgment的名词复数 )； 鉴定； 评价； 审判

参考例句：

• A peculiar austerity marked his judgments of modern life. 他对现代生活的批评带着一种特殊的苛刻。
• He is swift with his judgments. 他判断迅速。

21 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。