全新版大学英语综合教程第四册
Unit 1 Text B
Would nature be on the side of the Allied forces as they prepared to invade mainland Europe or would it favour the Germans? No one was certain. 大自然会站在秣马厉兵准备进攻欧洲大陆的同盟国一方，还是会偏袒德国人？谁也说不准。
The Normandy Landings
诺曼底登陆
1. The largest and most ambitious military expedition in history was the invasion of
Normandy in northern France by British, American and Canadian forces that took place in the summer of 1944. Even nature played a role.
2. It took more than a year for military planners to orchestrate every movement of troops, artillery, ships and aircraft and to set everything in place for the move that was to open up a second front in Europe. This would liberate France and way for the final assault on Germany itself.
历史上最大最具野心的军事远征是1944年夏天英国、 美国和加拿大军队在法国北部
发动的诺曼底入侵。甚至自然也发挥了作用。军事侵略家精心安排军队、大炮、船舰和飞机的每一步运作，将进军的一切准备就绪去打开在欧洲的第二战线， 这种准备花了一年多的时间。这将解放法国并且为对德国的最后攻击开路。
3. Everything was controlled; right down to the placement of military decoys across the English Channel to fool the Germans into thinking the attack would come from Britain's closest point to France at Pas de Calais rather than in Normandy as planned.
4. Everything was controlled, that is, except the weather.
一切尽在掌控之中。军事诱饵的布置也准备好横穿英吉利海峡以欺骗德国人， 使他们误以为攻击会从英国距法国最近的那个位置即加莱海峡而不是按照计划在诺曼底登陆。除了天气，一切尽在掌握之中。
5. D-day, the code name given to the day of invasion, was originally scheduled for 5 June 1944. This date had been arrived at by considering two factors--moonlight and tide. The hour of the invasion would need to be near sunrise, when the seaborne troops would have a rising tide. This would enable them to land close to the obstacles that had been placed to hinder their landing without coming ashore on top of them. The paratroopers needed a full moon for visibility. The days with the proper tide-moonlight formula closest to the target date were 5, 6 and 7 June. (1) The fifth was chosen for D-Day to allow a safety margin in case the attack needed to be postponed.
入侵日子的代号，登陆日，最初定在 1944 年 5 月 1 日。这一天在月光和潮汐这两个因素的考虑中到来了。入侵的时间需要在日出左右，那时海上运输的军队将会遇到上涨的潮汐。这将使他们接近已经设置好的用来阻碍他们登陆的障碍物而不用上岸。伞兵部队需要一轮明月来提高能见度。拥有适当的潮汐、月光的方案的日子属 6 月6、7 日最接近预定日期。第五天被选作诺曼底登陆日，万一进攻需要延期，这样可以留有安全的余裕。
6. In addition to moonlight and favourable tides, calm seas were needed for the crossing. (2) But an unusually stormy transition from spring toward summer that year held our little hope that there would be a suitable break in the weather. It also meant the possibility that Operation Overlord, as the invasion was called, might have to be postponed until later in the year or even the following year.
除了月光和最合适的潮汐，平静的海面对于横渡也是十分需要的。但是那年从春季到夏季的不平常的猛烈过渡表明天气上不会有一个合适的间隙，它也意味着这场被称作霸王行动的入侵有可能不得不延期到年后或下一年。
7. With the arrival of 5 June, the weather was so bad that General Eisenhower, supreme commander of the invasion forces, was forced to postpone the invasion by one day. When he met with his staff to review their options, they were faced with the grim reality that 6 June did not look much better than the original D-Day. The meteorological report gave a thin ray of hope that a lull in the storm would allow enough time to launch the invasion. Consultations went on late into the night on whether to press ahead. Opinions were divided. Finally, Eisenhower made his decision. \"I am quite positive we must give the order,\" he said. \"I don't like it, but there it is. I don't see how we can do anything else.\" Within hours, an armada
of 3,000 landing craft, 2,500 other ships, and 500 naval vessels began to leave English ports.
6月5日到了，天气太糟糕了，入侵军队的最高指挥官艾森·豪威尔将军被迫延迟一天入侵。当他和他的将士回顾他们的选择时，他们面临了残酷的现实。6月 6 日看起来并没有比最初的登陆日好多少。气象预报表明在这场暴风雨中暂停以求得足够的时间来发动入侵几乎没什么希望。关于是否继续进行入侵的磋商持续到很晚，意见发生了分歧。最后，艾森豪威尔做出了决定。“我很确定我们必须下达命令，”他说，“我不喜欢，但是情况就是这样。我不知道我们还能怎么做。”几个小时内，由3000 艘登陆艇、2500艘其他船只和500 艘舰艇组成的无敌舰队开始撤出英国港口。
8. Meanwhile, critical errors by the German side allowed them to be taken completely by surprise. Due to the bad weather, the German navy cancelled its usual patrol of the English Channel. Also, a practice drill scheduled for June 6 was called off. The Garman meteorological services were unaware of the break in the weather. On the eve of the attack, many of the top German leaders were absent from their commands. Rommel, the general in charge of the coastal defenses, was in Germany visiting his wife on her birthday, and several officers were some distance away in Rennes or on their way there for a war-game exercise.
同时，德方的关键性失误令他们大吃一惊，由于天气糟糕，德国海军取消了它在英吉利海峡的正常巡逻。并且，定于6月6日的训练取消了。德国气象局没有意识到恶劣天气的间断，在攻击的前一晚，许多德国的高级领导人擅离职守，隆美尔，负责海岸防御的将军，在德国庆祝他妻子的生日，一些官员在遥远的雷思或者在赶到那里参加战争游戏演戏的路上。
9. The assault on Normandy began at 12:15 a.m., when the pathfinders for the American airborne units left their planes and parachuted to earth. Five minutes later, on the other side of the invasion area, the British pathfinders made their jump. The pathfinders were specially trained to find and mark the drop zones. The main airborne assault was to commence within the hour.
当美国空降部队的探路者离开他们的飞机，跳伞降落时，在诺曼底的攻击在上午 12点15分开始了。5分钟后，在入侵地区的另一方，英国探路者也完成了跳伞。这些探路者经过特殊的训练去找到并标记轰击区。主要的空降袭击在几个小时内就要开始了。
10. The airborne attack became confused because of stiff winds and the evasive flying of the transport planes when they encountered anti-aircraft fire. As a result, the paratroopers were scattered over a wide area and most missed their drop zones, some by as much as 20 miles. Other complications were caused by the terrain, and the worst terrain was on the Cotentin Peninsula. The Germans had laced the open fields with anti-personnel and glider stakes and flooded the low areas. The flooding caused the most trouble for the Americans of the 101st and 82nd Airborne divisions, with many of the troops drowned, laden down by their heavy equipment.
由于强烈的风，加上运输机遭遇防空工事炮火时所作的规避飞行，空中袭击一片混乱。结果伞兵的降落点散落在一个广阔的范围，大多数都没有命中降落点，有些偏离了达20 英里远。其他的困难由地形导致，且最不利的地形是在科唐坦搬到。德军在开阔地带绑定了杀伤性的滑翔机发射台，并且这种武装充斥了低海拔地带。这种装备给美国空军 101 师和 82 师造成了最大的阻碍，许多士兵溺水身亡，在繁重装备的重压之下。
11. The airborne units were to secure the flanks of the amphibious assault. That meant capturing bridges, crossroads and coastal batteries. After accomplishing those tasks, the paratroopers had to withstand any German counterattacks.
空降兵各部队需要保证此次海陆空突袭的侧翼。这意味着占领桥梁，十字路口和沿海炮台。在完成以上任务之后，伞兵部队就需要抵抗德军的任何反攻。
12. As the airborne units struggled to achieve their goals, the great fleet made its way across the channel to its appointment with destiny. Leading that grand armada were the minesweepers. Behind them followed a vast array of naval vessels of every conceivable type. Never before had such a fleet been assembled. Including the landing craft carried on board, the combined Allied invasion armada numbered up to 6,000 ships. Approximately 150,000 men were to cross the English Channel and land at assault beaches code-named \"Utah,\" \"Omaha,\" \"Gold,\" \"Juno\" and \"Sword.\"
正在空军部队奋力完成任务的同时，庞大的联军舰队正穿越海峡，奔赴命运之约。巨大战船队伍由扫雷舰领航。接着是一个由你能想到的任何种类的战船所组成的巨大的海上编队。这次集合前无古人。包括甲板上被运载的登陆舰在内，联合舰队共有 6000 艘战船在 编。大约150000名战士将穿越英吉利海峡，在指定的海滩登陆。它们的代号分别是：犹他，奥马哈，戈德，朱诺，利剑。
13. The first areas of French soil wrested from German control were a group of small islands located three miles off Utah Beach. Allied commanders were
concerned that these islands could be used as sites for heavy guns. The men of the U.S. 4th and 24th Cavalry squadrons were designated to take the islands prior to the main invasion. The assault teams found only land mines. The Germans had left the islands unoccupied.
游离于德国人控制之外的法国的第一块土地是一系列小岛，正好位于犹他海滩附近三英里处。联军司令官确信这些小岛将被〈德国人〉用作重武器的存放地。美国第4及第24机械中队被指派在总攻发起前拿下这些岛屿。突击部队发现这里只有地雷。德军并没有占领这些岛屿。
14. For the majority of the assault troops, however, the war had not begun yet. After spending as long as 48 hours aboard the various transport ships as a result of the delay, many of the men were miserably seasick and in poor shape for the challenge ahead.
然而，对于此次突袭的大多数士兵来说，战斗远未开始。由于战时的延误，大多数士兵在各种战舰上生活了48 小时之久，他们严重的晕船，面对即将到来的挑战状态不佳。
15. The naval bombardment began around 5:45 a.m. The air attack followed. The naval and air bombardments were designed to destroy the beach guns and obstacles, pin down the enemy and provide shelter for the ground troops on the open beaches by making craters. Both, however, largely failed in their objectives. Weather conditions had improved, but they were not perfect. Because of poor visibility caused by low cloud cover, it was decided that the bombers would delay the release of bombs 30 seconds to avoid hitting the assaulting
troops. As a result, the bombs fell inland and missed their targets. Although the naval bombardment was more accurate, it was not much more effective against the hardened German gun emplacements.
海军轰炸在清晨 5:45开始了。 然后是空袭。海上和空中袭击的初衷是彻底摧毁沙滩上的兵力和障碍物，压制敌人，并通过炸出弹坑为陆军提供掩体。然而，这两个目标都没有达到。天气状况有了好转，但是并不完美。由于低垂的大雾造成的极低的能见度，炮兵部被命令延迟30 秒发射，以防误伤突击士兵。结果，炸弹降落在了内陆，未击中目标。尽管，海军部队的轰炸更加精确，由于德军已加强武装，因而还是显得作用不大。
16. The weather also was partially responsible for causing some of the assault craft to miss their assigned landing areas. Additionally, many of the
landing craft and amphibious tanks foundered in the rough sea. In the Omaha area, most of the craft carrying artillery and tanks intended to support the incoming troops sank in the high waves.
天气也是造成突袭舰未在预定地点登陆的部分原因。而且，很多登陆舰和两栖坦克在波涛汹涌的海中沉没。在奥马哈登陆区，载有坦克及炮兵部队的大多数舰船也沉没于波涛之中，它们本来是要增援将登陆的部队。
17. At Utah Beach, however, a strange stroke of good fortune occurred when the assault craft encountered a southerly current that caused them to land in the wrong sector. (3) The German shore batteries that would have contested a landing in the original area would undoubtedly have taken a heavy toll. The landing at the new sector was virtually unopposed.
然而，在犹他海滩，发生了一件蹊跷的幸运之事：一阵从南来的气流导致突袭部队在错误的防区着陆了。要是在原定地区登陆的话，德军海岸炮群无疑会拼命抵抗并给盟军造成惨重伤亡。在新登陆区的登陆几乎没有遭到任何抵抗。
18. (4) Despite difficulties, Eisenhower's gamble with the elements was to pay off. The invasion forces succeeded in establishing a toehold on French soil. Reinforcenments began to pour in, thrusting on deep into France. Within a year Hitler's empire, which he had boasted would last a thousand years, lay in ruins.
尽管困难重重，艾森豪威尔在与恶劣天气的赌博中取得了胜利。突袭部队成功的在法国土地上建起了大本营。后续部队接续而来，深深刺进法国的土地。在一年之内，希特勒曾鼓吹将持续千年的王国，土崩瓦解。
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