聲明：本人高三學(xué)生，學(xué)藝不精，翻譯錯(cuò)誤請(qǐng)指出。其次這是沒(méi)事摸魚(yú)翻譯的，下會(huì)在有空時(shí)候發(fā)出來(lái)。

正文

“Smoke and dust rose up from the shore, thousands of feet high,” wrote the Pulitzer Prize-winning war correspondent Ernie Pyle, watching from the 5th Marines’ command ship, “until finally the land was completely veiled. Bombs and strafing machine guns and roaring engines mingled with the crash of naval bombardment and seemed to drown out all existence. The ghastly concussion set up vibrations in the air – a sort of flutter – which pained and pounded the ears as though with invisible drumsticks. During all this time the waves of assault craft were forming up behind us.”

“煙塵從幾千尺的海岸上升起”，從第五海軍陸戰(zhàn)隊(duì)的指揮艦上望去的，在之后獲得普利茲獎(jiǎng)的戰(zhàn)地記者Ernie Pyle寫(xiě)到，“直到最后，大地已經(jīng)完全蒙上了面紗。炸彈，掃射的機(jī)槍?zhuān)叵囊婊祀s著海軍炮擊的巨響，好似要埋沒(méi)所有存在?？植赖臎_擊在空中震蕩，讓人有幾分震顫，好像一根無(wú)形的鼓槌，損害、擊打著耳朵。在這期間，登陸艇的浪花在我們身邊掀起來(lái)?！?/p>

It was 7:45am on 1 April 1945 – or ‘Love Day’, the invasion of the 70 mile-long island of Okinawa, the most southerly of Japan’s 47 prefectures. Pyle’s ship was just one of 1,300 Allied vessels, containing 183,000 combat troops, that were taking part in the greatest air-land-sea battle in history, the last major clash of the Second World War, and one that would have profound consequences for the modern world.

這是1945年4月1日7:45——愛(ài)之日。對(duì)70英里長(zhǎng)的沖繩島——日本47個(gè)縣中最南端——攻擊開(kāi)始了。Pyle所在的船是包括1300艘盟軍艦隊(duì)，183,000名攻擊部隊(duì)中的一艘，他們正參與著歷史上最大的海陸空戰(zhàn)斗，也是二戰(zhàn)中最后、最主要的沖突，這是一件對(duì)現(xiàn)代社會(huì)意義深遠(yuǎn)的事件。

The decision to attack Okinawa – Operation ‘Iceberg’ – had been taken by American military chiefs the previous October. Possession of Okinawa, just 400 miles south of the Japanese home islands, would allow Allied planes to bomb strategic targets on the mainland and prepare the ground for an amphibious invasion. It was the culmination of a two-pronged American advance – through New Guinea and the Philippines and, further north, through the islands of the central Pacific – that had been gathering pace since the landings on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands in August 1942. Now, with this second landing on Japanese soil (following Iwo Jima in February 1945), the end of the Pacific War was in sight.

攻擊沖繩的決定——冰山行動(dòng)，早已被美軍主管在先前10月提出。擁有沖繩，這個(gè)與日本本土只有400里的小島，將允許盟軍的飛機(jī)去轟炸日本的戰(zhàn)略目標(biāo)和準(zhǔn)備了一塊用于兩棲作戰(zhàn)的土地。從1942年在所羅門(mén)群島的瓜達(dá)康納爾島登陸，這是兩方面美軍從新幾內(nèi)亞和菲律賓以及更北方的中太平洋的小島推進(jìn)的高潮，它進(jìn)步神速。如今1945年2月在硫磺島的登陸，隨著這次在日本土地上的第2次登陸，讓二戰(zhàn)的結(jié)束在望。

DEAD IN THE WATER

命喪于海水

In one of the first assault craft to hit the beach at H-hour – 8:30am – was 22-year-old Corporal Jim Johnston from Nebraska. As they approached the shore, Johnston thought of the dead Marines he had seen in the water and on the beach during the bloody battle for the island of Peleliu the previous September, and “wondered what we would look like to the waves that would come behind us”. He approached a pillbox, anticipating the “impact of bullets ripping into my body”, but there was “no fire”. The pillbox was empty. So he and his men moved inland and, within an hour, the beachhead “was several hundred yards deep and growing by the minute”.

在H時(shí)沖上沙灘的第1批登陸艇中，是來(lái)自內(nèi)布拉斯加州的22歲下士，吉姆·約翰斯頓，當(dāng)他接近海灘，他想起了在先前9月血腥的佩萊利馬島戰(zhàn)役中，他所見(jiàn)到的死在水中和沙灘上的海軍陸戰(zhàn)隊(duì)員，“想想我們會(huì)在我們身后接近的浪花中變成什么樣”。他接近了一個(gè)碉堡，想著“子彈射穿我身體會(huì)怎么樣”，但這兒“沒(méi)有開(kāi)火”，這個(gè)碉堡是空的。因此他和他的隊(duì)友向島中前進(jìn)，在一小時(shí)中，灘頭已有“幾百碼深，并無(wú)時(shí)在擴(kuò)大”。

By nightfall, the beachhead on the west coast of Okinawa was 15,000 yards long and, in places, 5,000 yards deep. More than 60,000 men were ashore. In addition, numerous tanks and anti-aircraft units had been landed, as had all the divisional artillery and, by evening, guns were in position to support the forward troops. A captured airfield was now serviceable for emergency landings.

夜幕降臨沖繩西邊的灘頭已有15,000碼長(zhǎng)，有些地方有5000碼深。6000人被送上岸，此外大量的坦克、防空單位以及炮兵已經(jīng)登陸，在夜晚之前，支援前線部隊(duì)的槍械已經(jīng)就位。一個(gè)繳獲的機(jī)場(chǎng)，現(xiàn)在有能力為緊急登陸服務(wù)。

The American commander, Lieutenant General Simon B Buckner Jr, was elated. “We landed practically without opposition,” he noted in his diary, “and gained more ground than we expected to for three days… The Japs have missed their best opportunity.”

美軍的指揮，西蒙·B·巴克納中將十分高興。“我們實(shí)際的登陸沒(méi)有遭到抵抗”，他在日記中寫(xiě)到，“我們用三天時(shí)間取得了比我們預(yù)期中更多的土地……日本人已經(jīng)失去了他們最好的機(jī)會(huì)。”

Unbeknown to Buckner, who was fighting his first ever battle, the day was going entirely to plan for the Japanese commanders. Aware that their 80,000 soldiers, bolstered by around 20,000 Okinawan ‘Boeitai’ (home guard), were outgunned and outnumbered, they had chosen to concentrate the bulk of their forces behind several heavily fortified lines in the southern third of the island where, well protected in tunnels and caves, they could withstand any amount of American bombs and shells. Here several jagged lines of ridges and rocky escarpment had been turned into formidable nests of interlocking pillboxes and firing positions. All were connected by a network of caves and passageways inside the hills that allowed the defenders to move safely to each point of attack.

而首次戰(zhàn)斗的巴克納沒(méi)有預(yù)料到，這一天完全按照日本指揮官的計(jì)劃進(jìn)行。認(rèn)識(shí)到他們只有8萬(wàn)名士兵和2萬(wàn)名沖繩“自衛(wèi)隊(duì)”，在火力與數(shù)量上被超越，他們選擇將大量的兵力部署在用隧道和洞穴牢牢加固的許多戰(zhàn)線的南方1/3的島上，它們能夠抵抗美軍大量的轟炸與炮擊。在這兒，許多鋸齒狀的山壟和巖石陡坡被轉(zhuǎn)變成了恐怖的連鎖碉堡和火力點(diǎn)巢穴。所有的東西都被山中的洞穴和交通網(wǎng)連接，允許防御者安全的轉(zhuǎn)移到每一個(gè)攻擊點(diǎn)。

STIFFENING?OPPOSITION

對(duì)抗似膠漆

Blissfully unaware of the Japanese strategy, Buckner’s men made rapid progress during the first few days of the campaign, cutting the island in two and brushing aside light enemy forces. By 4 April, Buckner’s US 10th Army held a slice of Okinawa 15 miles long and from three to ten miles wide. The beachhead included two airfields and beaches that, in the words of the official history of the Okinawa campaign, “could take immense tonnage from the cargo ships, and sufficient space for dumps and installations that were rapidly being built”.

愉快地忽略了日軍的戰(zhàn)術(shù)，巴克納的部隊(duì)在戰(zhàn)役的前幾天快速前進(jìn)，將島一分為二，并掃清了一側(cè)瑣碎的敵軍。4月4日之前巴克納的美國(guó)第5集團(tuán)軍將沖程分割成了長(zhǎng)15里，寬3~10里。部分灘頭，已有兩座機(jī)場(chǎng)，在官方對(duì)沖程戰(zhàn)役的描述中，“這些沙灘能夠停泊，大噸位貨船，也有足夠的空間來(lái)堆積軍需和設(shè)施，以便他們能被快速建起?！?/p>

But, as the US Army’s XXIV Corps moved south towards the main Japanese defences, the opposition stiffened. The first line was the Kakazu hill mass, which boasted formidable defensive features, including a deep moat, a hill studded with natural and man-made positions and a cluster of thick-walled buildings. A four-day assault began on 9 April, but failed to break through the storm of Japanese artillery, mortar and machine gunfire – costing the XXIV Corps almost 3,000 casualties. One veteran described the operation as a “meat-grinder” for the US troops.

但是，隨著美國(guó)24軍向南方日軍主要防御挺進(jìn)，雙方的對(duì)抗愈發(fā)焦灼。第1道坎就是卡卡祖山的麻煩，他以可怕的防御設(shè)施自豪，包括一條深壕，布滿自然和人造的攻擊點(diǎn)的山丘和一群厚墻建筑。4天的攻擊從4月9日開(kāi)始，但無(wú)法突破日軍炮擊，迫擊炮和機(jī)槍所產(chǎn)生的煙霧，并損失了24師大約3000人。一位老兵這樣描述“為美軍準(zhǔn)備的絞肉機(jī)”。

When a second offensive in late April made little headway, subordinates urged Buckner to try an amphibious landing behind the Japanese defences. He refused on the grounds that the beaches in the south were too small for resupply and there was a danger that the troops would fail to break out of their beachhead.

在4月末的第2次進(jìn)攻成效甚微時(shí)，下屬們催促巴克納，待日軍防御后進(jìn)行兩棲登陸。他拒絕了那里，因?yàn)槟戏缴碁┨《荒軌蜓a(bǔ)給，以及部隊(duì)會(huì)有突破失敗的危險(xiǎn)。

It was a missed opportunity, and one that would have costly consequences. Buckner admitted as much to his wife when he wrote: “The Japs here seem to have the strongest position yet encountered in the Pacific, and it will be a slow tedious grind with flamethrowers, explosives placed by hand and the closest of teamwork to dislodge them without very heavy losses.

這是一個(gè)錯(cuò)失的機(jī)會(huì)，也是會(huì)有巨大花費(fèi)的結(jié)果。巴克納在信中向自己的妻子承認(rèn)，“這兒的日本人是在太平洋戰(zhàn)場(chǎng)上所遇的最頑強(qiáng)的，這將是一場(chǎng)以火焰噴射器，手動(dòng)安放的炸藥和緊密的團(tuán)結(jié)協(xié)作的緩慢冗長(zhǎng)的拉鋸戰(zhàn)，來(lái)驅(qū)逐他們而不大量損耗?！?/p>

STUMPS OF RITTING??TEETH

樹(shù)樁如爛齒

In early May, Buckner ordered the Marines of III Amphibious Corps, which had captured the Motobu peninsula in the north, to reinforce the ‘doughboys’ of XXIV Corps in the south. The first view of the battlefield was a shock to Sergeant William Manchester of the 2/29th Marines .“It was,” he recalled ,“a monstrous sight, a moonscape. Hills, ridges and cliff srose and fell along the front like the gray stumps of rotting teeth. There was nothing green left; artillery had denuded and scarred every inch of ground. Tiny flares glowed and disappeared. Shrapnel burst with bluish white puffs. Jets of flamethrowers flickered and here and there new explosions stirred up the rubble.”

5月初，巴克納指揮著之前控制了北方的Motobu半島的第3海軍陸戰(zhàn)隊(duì)，支援24軍在南方的步兵師。對(duì)戰(zhàn)場(chǎng)的第一景象震驚了2/29海軍陸戰(zhàn)隊(duì)的軍事長(zhǎng)威廉·曼特斯特。他回憶到“這就是一個(gè)可怕的景象，如同一個(gè)月面。山、山脊和懸崖，在前方起起伏伏，像灰色的樹(shù)樁，就像腐爛的牙齒，這兒幾乎沒(méi)有剩下一點(diǎn)綠色。炮擊剝光了和創(chuàng)傷了每一尺的土地。小火苗又燃起。榴彈爆炸升起藍(lán)白色煙霧，噴射的火焰噴射器閃爍著，新的爆炸又?jǐn)嚻鹚槭瘔m土?！?/p>

During this phase of the fighting, Private First Class Desmond Doss, a 26-year-old Seventh Day Adventist from Virginia – who had joined up as a medic to avoid the need to kill – won the Medal of Honor after rescuing at least 50 wounded comrades and then lowering them to safety down a sheer cliff known as the Maeda Escarpment. Doss’s astonishing feat was celebrated in the 2016 Mel Gibson-directed film Hacksaw Ridge.

這一階段，獨(dú)立一師的的埃蒙斯·多斯——一位來(lái)自弗吉尼亞州的基督教徒加入了軍隊(duì)，作為醫(yī)務(wù)員來(lái)避免減員。在救助了至少50名傷員，并將他們安全地降下了被稱(chēng)為利達(dá)坡的陡崖后榮獲榮譽(yù)勛章。多斯令人震撼的功績(jī)?cè)?016年被梅爾吉伯斯的電影《血戰(zhàn)鋼鋸嶺》展現(xiàn)。

Some of the most savage fighting was for a seemingly insignificant feature – described by one veteran as an “ugly hive” of “coral and volcanic rock, 300 yards long and 100 feet high” – dubbed Sugar Loaf Hill. The week long battle to capture the hill cost the 6th Marine Division more than 2,600 casualties, including three battalion commanders and nine company commanders, and a further 1,200 cases of combat fatigue. With heavy rain adding to the misery, the battlefield was a hellish sight. “The scene,” wrote Eugene Sledge of 3/5th Marines, “was nothing but mud; shellfire, flooded craters with their silent, pathetic, rotting occupants; knocked[1]out tanks and amtracs, and discarded equipment – utter desolation… Men struggled and fought and bled in an environment so degrading I believed we had been flung into hell’s own cesspool.”

Sugar Loaf Hill，被一位老兵戲稱(chēng)為“丑陋蜂巢”的300碼長(zhǎng)1百尺高的珊瑚火山巖，一些殘酷的戰(zhàn)斗正在爭(zhēng)奪這些似乎無(wú)意義的地點(diǎn)。為了控制這座山頭，一周長(zhǎng)的戰(zhàn)斗消耗了第六海軍陸戰(zhàn)隊(duì)超過(guò)2600人，包括了三名營(yíng)長(zhǎng)，九名連長(zhǎng)，1200名戰(zhàn)斗雜役人員。大雨傾盆而下，落入迷一般的戰(zhàn)場(chǎng)，活像一個(gè)地獄。恩吉爾·斯雷吉說(shuō)：“這里什么都沒(méi)有，只有泥土，炮火，大量的彈坑，戰(zhàn)士們安靜憂郁又憔悴的，在其中攻擊著坦克與兩棲車(chē)，丟棄了裝備，無(wú)比荒涼。人們?cè)谝巴鈷暝?，?zhàn)斗著，流著血，如此落魄，我相信我們已被扔進(jìn)地獄的污水池。”

Determined to defend Okinawa to the last, the Japanese fought with fanatical bravery. The garrison was supported by waves of kamikaze attacks from planes, manned rockets, human torpedoes and even ships launched on suicide missions from the home islands. The planes were flown by officers of the Shimpū Tokkōtai, the Divine Wind Special Attack units, who had pledged to “crash their airplanes into enemy ships in acts of self-immolation”. Meanwhile, the one-way surface ship mission, known as Operation ‘Ten-go’, was an attempt by the superbattleship Yamato, the world’s largest, to wreak havoc among the Allied ships with its 18-inch guns before beaching itself on the shore and using its crew as naval infantry.

以狂熱的勇氣來(lái)戰(zhàn)斗的日本人，決心在沖繩戰(zhàn)至最后一刻。守軍靠著飛機(jī)的神風(fēng)攻擊，人控火箭，人肉魚(yú)雷，甚至從本土啟程的，執(zhí)行自殺任務(wù)的船。這些飛機(jī)由神風(fēng)特攻隊(duì)的隊(duì)員駕駛，他們宣誓“以自焚之行動(dòng)，將飛機(jī)刺入敵軍之艦船”。此外單程艦艇任務(wù)，天國(guó)行動(dòng)，這是一次由世界最大的超級(jí)戰(zhàn)艦大和號(hào)進(jìn)行的，在擱淺前用它的18英尺炮重創(chuàng)盟軍部隊(duì)，并在之后將船員作為海軍步兵的嘗試。

These attacks were launched with the aim of destroying or driving off the ships of the US Fifth Fleet (including a powerful Royal Navy component) and isolating the American troops on Okinawa. But they failed – and thousands of Japanese lost their lives, including 2,500 on Yamato alone. However, they did sink 36 US ships and damage a further 368, the heaviest US naval losses of the Second World War.

這些攻擊以摧毀或驅(qū)趕美軍第五艦隊(duì)和孤立在沖繩美軍為目的進(jìn)行。但他們失敗了，數(shù)千日本人喪生，包括孤立的大和號(hào)上的2500人。但是他們也擊沉了36艘和損傷了超368艘美國(guó)艦船，這是美國(guó)海軍在二戰(zhàn)中最大的傷亡。

Left to fight on alone, the Japanese garrison made a desperate last stand in the southern tip of the island where it had herded many civilians. The end came on 22 June 1945 when the 10th Army HQ announced that all organised resistance on Okinawa had ceased, though it would take another week to complete the mopping-up operation.

被留下孤立戰(zhàn)斗日本守軍孤注一擲，最終在聚集了許多百姓的島嶼的南部負(fù)隅頑抗。勝利來(lái)自于1945年6月22日，美軍第十司令部宣稱(chēng)有組織的抵抗在沖繩已經(jīng)結(jié)束，盡管肅清活動(dòng)又花費(fèi)了一周完成。

上部分暫時(shí)發(fā)出來(lái)，碼字有點(diǎn)累，學(xué)業(yè)也挺重