15 In the center of Russia, Hitler's goal was the capture of Moscow. Because the Germans had anticipated a quick victory, they had made no plans for winter supplies. October arrived with heavy rains. "General Mud" slowed down the movement of the Germans' lightning attack.
在俄國中部,希特勒的目標是占領莫斯科。由于德國人指望速戰速決,他們沒有準備過冬的補給。10月來臨,大雨不停。“泥濘將軍”拖延了德國人閃電式進攻的行動。
16 As Hitler's armies drew closer and closer to Moscow, an early, severe winter settled over the Soviet Union, the harshest in years. Temperatures dropped to minus 48 degrees Celsius. Heavy snows fell. The German soldiers, completely unprepared for the Russian winter, froze in their light summer uniforms. The German tanks lay buried in the heavy snowbanks. The Russian winter brought the German offensive to a halt.
正當希特勒的軍隊逼近莫斯科時,寒冷的冬季早早地降臨蘇聯,那是多年不遇的嚴寒。氣溫降到攝氏零下48度。大雪紛飛。對俄國的嚴寒冬季毫無思想準備的德國士兵身著單薄的夏裝,一個個被凍傷。德國人的坦克掩埋在深深的雪堆中。俄羅斯的冬季阻止了德國人的攻勢。
17 By the summer of 1942, Hitler had launched two new offensives. In the south, the Germans captured Sevastopol. Hitler then pushed east to Stalingrad, a great industrial city that stretched for 48 kilometers along the Volga River. Despite great suffering, Soviet defenders refused to give up Stalingrad.
到1942夏天,希特勒又發起兩場新的攻勢。在南方,德國人占領了塞瓦斯托波爾。希特勒隨后向東推進到斯大林格勒,那是沿伏爾加河綿延48公里的一座大工業城市。盡管艱苦卓絕,蘇聯抵抗者拒絕放棄斯大林格勒。
18 In November 1942, the Russians launched a counterattack. With little or no shelter from the winter cold in and around Stalingrad, German troops were further weakened by a lack of food and supplies. Not until January 1943 did the Germans give up their siege. Of the three hundred thousand Germans attacking Stalingrad, only ninety thousand starving soldiers were left. The loss of the battle for Stalingrad finally turned the tide against Hitler. The German victories were over, thanks in part to the Russian winter.
1942年11月,俄國人發起了一場反攻。德國軍隊在斯大林格勒城內外幾乎沒有擋風避寒的地方,食品和補給的匱乏更使其元氣大傷。直到1943年1月德國人才放棄圍城。進攻斯大林格勒的30萬德國人只剩下9萬忍饑挨餓的士兵。斯大林格勒一戰的失利最終使希特勒時乖運蹇。部分地由于俄羅斯的冬季,德國人走向失敗。
19 During 1943 and 1944, the Soviet armies pushed the German front back toward the west. In the north, the Red Army broke the three-year siege of Leningrad with a surprise attack on January 15, 1944. Within two weeks, the heroic survivors of Leningrad saw their invaders depart. By March 1944, the Ukraine farming region was again in Soviet hands. On May 9, 1944, Sevastopol was liberated from the Germans. The Russians were now heading for Berlin.
在1943年與1944年期間,蘇聯軍隊將德軍陣線往西逼退。在北方,1944年1月15日,紅軍發起突然襲擊,解除了列寧格勒長達3年之久的圍困。列寧格勒那些英勇無畏的幸存者看著入侵者在兩個星期內全部撤離。到了1944年3月,烏克蘭的農村又回到了蘇維埃手中。1944年5月9日,塞瓦斯托波爾從德國人手中被解放出來。至此,俄國人向柏林進發。
20 For Hitler, the invasion of the Soviet Union had turned into a military disaster. For the Russian people, it brought unspeakable suffering. The total Soviet dead in World War II reached almost 23 million.
就希特勒而言,對蘇聯的入侵成為一場軍事災難。對俄羅斯人民來說,這場入侵帶來了無法形容的苦難。蘇維埃在第二次世界大戰中死亡的人數幾乎達到2300萬。
Russia's Icy Defender
21 The elements of nature must be reckoned with in any military campaign. Napoleon and Hitler both underestimated the severity of the Russian winter. Snow, ice, and freezing temperatures took their toll on both invading armies. For the Russian people, the winter was an icy defender.
俄羅斯的冰雪衛士
任何軍事行動都必須考慮到自然的因素。拿破侖和希特勒都低估了俄羅斯冬季的嚴酷。冰雪和極低的氣溫使兩支侵略軍付出慘重的代價。對俄羅斯人民而言,嚴冬是他們的冰雪衛士。