美利坚合众国(United States)
在欧洲战争爆发之际,美军正处于转型期。虽然它的海军能力很棒,但陆军和海军陆战队相对较弱,而且已经过时,空军仍然隶属于陆军。幸运的是,尽管欧洲正在陷入战争,无论是否准备就绪,美国也将在未来两年内免于直接冲突,为所有服务提供充足的时间重新武装,为即将到来的风暴做好准备。
(At the outbreak of the war in Europe, the United States military is in transition. Although its naval capabilities are excellent, the Army and Marines are relatively small and outdated, and its Air Force is still subordinate to the Army. Fortunately, while Europe is thrust into war, ready or not, the United States is spared direct conflict for another two years, giving all services ample time to rearm and prepare for the coming storm.)
尽管大萧条和强大的孤立主义运动对美国造成了严重影响,认为美国应该保持中立,让欧洲自己解决问题,但富兰克林·D·罗斯福总统于1941年3月签署了《租借法案》,建立一个计划,美国可以通过这个计划向欧洲和中国的盟国提供物资和弹药,从而有效地结束美国的中立伪装。
(Despite the crippling effects of the Great Depression and the strong isolationist movement working in the United States, which believes that the country should remain neu-tral and let Europe deal with its own problems, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Lend-Lease Act in March 1941, creating a programme through which the United States can provide the Allied nations in Europe and China with materials and munitions, effectively ending the US pre-tence of neutrality.)
六个月后,日本海军对珍珠港发动了壮观的突袭,根据与日本的条约,德国向美国宣战,轴心国唤醒了一个沉睡的巨人,而这个巨人(战争结束时)军队数量仅次于苏联,毫无疑问,它是世界上技术最先进的武装力量之一。
(When the Japanese Navy launches their spectacular raid on Pearl Harbor six months later and, under the terms of their treaty with the Japanese, Germany declares war on America, the Axis wakes a sleeping giant which (by the end of the war) possesses a military second only in numbers to the Soviet Union, and without a doubt forms one of the most technologically advanced armed forces in the world.)
美国陆军(US ARMY)
1939年,美国陆军是一支约有17.5万人的专业部队,尽管这是一支部队受到陈旧装备和一个和平时期军官阶级的阻碍,他们对政治野心比对军事事务更感兴趣。幸运的是,美国的中立立场给了新任参谋长乔治·马歇尔将军一个迅速改革军队的机会,到1940年,通过有限的征兵,美军已经发展到140万人,并大幅更新了装备和车辆。
(In 1939, the US Army is a professional force of around 175,000 men, though one hampered by obsolete equipment and a peacetime officer class more interested in political careerism than military matters. Fortunately, the nation’s neutral stance gives the new Chief of Staff, General George Marshall, the opportunity to rapidly overhaul the army and, by 1940, through limited conscription, the US Army has grown to 1.4 million men and updated their equipment and vehicles significantly.)
与英国或法国不同的是,美国军队将晋升建立在个人功绩和个人领导能力的基础上,而不是阶级和地位的区别,并鼓励军官进行创新和自由思考。不幸的是,这种文化功劳往往归于一个敢于冒险的军官,而不是一个保护部队生命的军官,这种冒险往往是以牺牲自己手下许多人的生命为代价的。
(Unlike the British or French, the US Army bases promotion on personal merit and individual leadership, as opposed to class and status distinctions, and encourages innovation and free-thinking amongst its officers. Unfortunately this culture credits an officer who takes daring risks, often at the cost of many lives among his own men, more than an officer who protects the lives of his troops.)
令人惊讶的是,美国军队中的应征士兵与英国和法国的盟友没有相似的文化,他们只是被当作资源,根据需要在部队之间转移。与其他军队不同的是,美军会将损失的部队撤出战场,以加强和恢复部队,而美军则选择将新的新兵部队插入损失的部队,导致士兵之间失去凝聚力。老兵往往把新来的人当作局外人,导致士气和战斗力的丧失。此外,由于新兵没有从老兵那里得到学习的好处,随着损失的进一步扩大,老兵的成分进一步被损失。
(Surprisingly, the enlisted men in the US Army do not have a similar culture to their British and French allies, being treated simply as resources to be shifted between units as required. Unlike other armies, which pull depleted units out of combat to reinforce and restore them, the US Army chooses to insert new, green troops into weakened units, resulting in a loss of cohesion amongst soldiers. The veter-ans tend to treat the newcomers as outsiders, resulting in a loss of morale and combat effectiveness. In addition, as the newcomers do not receive the benefit of learning from the veterans, as further losses are taken, the veteran element is further whittled away.)
在班一级,部队标准配备M-1加兰步枪,提供比其他军队的栓动步枪更大的火力,尽管武器在重新装填前需要消耗一个完整的弹匣有时会很困难,特别是当弹夹自动弹射时,独特的金属“砰”声,用空武器警告敌军士兵。标准的班级支援武器是布朗宁自动步枪(BAR),这是一种威力强大但有限的武器,无论是弹药容量还是射速,尤其是与德国MG34相比。幸运的是,由于他们拥有丰富的资源,大多数班组经常使用多杆来弥补这一不足。
(At squad level, troops are armed as standard with the M-1 Garand rifle, providing greater firepower than the bolt-action rifles of other armies, though the weapon’s requirement to expend a full magazine before reloading can prove difficult at times, particularly the unique metallic “ping”made as the clip automatically ejects, alerting enemy troops to a soldier with an empty weapon. The standard squad level support weapon is the Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR), a powerful but limited weapon, both in terms of ammunition capacity and rate of fire, especially compared to the German MG34. Fortunately, due to the abundance of resources available to them, most squads often sport multiple BARs to compensate for this deficiency.)
除了这一缺陷之外,美国士兵训练有素,装备精良,比他的英国盟友更加精良,而且比世界上任何其他士兵都拥有更好的健康和更好的饮食优势。尽管经历了大萧条,但美国人民生活水平的提高和营养水平的提高,造就了一个个更健康、更耐用的士兵。
(Aside from this flaw, the US soldier is well-trained and equipped, more so than his British ally, and has the advan-tage of better health and a better diet than any other soldier in the world. The higher standard of living, and the levels of nutrition available to the average American despite the Great Depression, produces a fitter and more durable soldier.)
尽管大多数美军部队在战争期间都有出色的表现,但还有一些值得一提。
(While the majority of US Army units serve with distinc-tion during the war, a number deserve additional mention.)
第一特种部队(FIRST SPECIAL SERVICE FORCE)
第一特种部队(FSSF)也被称为“黑魔鬼”,成立于1942年,是一支冬季战争特种部队,专门骚扰在挪威的德国军队。然而,作战要求发生了变化,FSSF在1943-1944年第一次在意大利战斗,然后继续在法国南部作战,直到1944年底解散。
(Also known as the Black Devils, the 1st Special Service Force (FSSF) is created in 1942 as a winter warfare special forces unit to harass German troops in Norway. However, operational requirements change, and the FSSF first sees combat in Italy in 1943-4, before moving on to fight in southern France, until late 1944 when it is disbanded.)
FSSF由专门招募的户外技能志愿者组成,其独特之处在于它是一个在罗伯特上校的指挥下由2000名男性组成的美国和加拿大联合单位。作为突击队员、山地作战专家和伞兵,FSSF使用独特的服装、口粮、装备和武器,以及同质化的指挥结构。据称,这个旅的外号是从一名德国军官的个人日记中发现的,因为部队被涂黑的脸而取得这个外号。
(Consisting of volunteers specifically recruited for their outdoor skills, the FSSF is unique in that it is a combined American and Canadian unit of 2,000 men, under the command of Colonel Robert T. Frederick, giving rise to yet another nickname—Freddie’s Freighters. Trained as comman-dos, mountain warfare specialists, and parachutists, the FSSF uses unique clothing, rations, equipment, and weapons, as well as a homogenised command structure. The brigade’s nickname is purportedly taken from a reference to the blackened faces of the unit’s troops found in a German officer’s personal diary.)
美国空降兵(US AIRBORNE)
美国上校比利·米切尔是第一位建议用降落伞部署突击部队的战略家。苏联是第一个试验这个概念的国家,纳粹德国是第一个在战争中使用这个概念的国家,他们壮观地入侵克里特岛。
(An American Colonel, Billy Mitchell, is the first strategist to suggest the insertion of assault troops by parachute. It is the USSR that first experiments with the concept, and Nazi Germany that first uses it in combat in their spectacular invasion of Crete.)
美国最著名的空降部队是82师和101师。
(The most famous US Airborne units are the 82nd and the 101st (Screaming Eagles) Divisions.)
美国陆军游骑兵(US ARMY RANGERS)
美国陆军游骑兵成立于1942年,相当于美国的突击队。1942年迪耶普突袭,第一游骑兵营第一次行动的一部分,在两个月内的游骑兵变得活跃。第一游骑兵营随后被转移到北非,在阿尔及利亚和突尼斯战役中发挥关键作用,执行夜间突袭和敌后攻击。
(The US Army Rangers are formed in 1942, and are the American equivalent of the Commandos. The 1st Ranger Battalion first sees action as part of the Dieppe raid of 1942, within two months of the unit becoming active. The 1st Ranger Battalion is then transferred to North Africa where it plays a pivotal role in the Algerian and Tunisian campaigns, performing night raids and behind-the-lines attacks.)
第三和第四游骑兵营是从第一游骑兵营创建的,所有三个营,也被称为达比游骑兵,都被派往西西里岛,然后在1943年派往意大利。这三个营实际上都在1944年初的西斯特纳战役中被消灭到最后一人。
(3rd and 4th Ranger Battalions are created from 1st Ranger Battalion, and all three battalions, also known as Darby’s Rangers, are sent to Sicily, and then Italy in 1943. All three battalions are virtually eliminated to the last man by the fighting at the Battle of Cisterna in early 1944.)
第2营和第5营在美国组建,参加了1944年6月的诺曼底登陆,分别占领了霍克角的海岸炮台和奥马哈海滩的滩头阵地。这两个营在法国、比利时和德国作战,直到1945年。该营隶属于游骑兵部队,用于渗透、穿越河流、占领路口和战俘营。
(The 2nd and 5th Ranger Battalions are raised in the United States, and participate in the Normandy landings in June 1944, seizing a coastal battery at Pointe du Hoc, and breaking out of the beachhead at Omaha beach respectively. The two battalions fight through France, Belgium, and Germany until 1945. Attached to cavalry units, the battalions are used for infiltration, river crossings, and seizure of road junctions and prisoner-of-war camps)
美国海军(US NAVY)
美国海军在1939年已经相当庞大,包括15艘战列舰、5艘航空母舰和37艘巡洋舰。海军一直认为日本海军对美国的威胁最大,因此只有美国海军有能力在海军航空和军舰技术方面与日本抗衡。
(The US Navy is already a considerable size in 1939, includ-ing fifteen battleships, five aircraft carriers, and thirty-seven cruisers. Naval thinking has always assumed that the Japa-nese navy presents the greatest threat to the United States, and as a result only the US Navy is capable of rivalling Japa-nese expertise in naval aviation and warship technology.)
日本偷袭珍珠港后,18艘军舰被毁,2400多人丧生,美国海军进入紧急造船计划,订购了数十艘新船(包括16艘大型和9艘小型航空母舰)。到战争结束时,美国海军拥有的舰艇数量超过了包括英国皇家海军在内的所有其他参战海军的总和。
(After the Japanese sneak attack at Pearl Harbor, in which eighteen warships are destroyed and over 2,400 men lose their lives, the US Navy enters an emergency programme of shipbuilding, ordering dozens of new vessels (including sixteen large and nine smaller aircraft carriers). By the end of the war, the US Navy has more ships than the combined navies of all other combatants in the war, including the British Royal Navy.)
美国海军的大部分活动集中在太平洋战区周围,与强大的日本帝国海军进行一系列的战斗,并支持美国海军陆战队解放日本侵略者占领的太平洋岛屿。在大西洋,美国海军与英国合作,保持大西洋舰队的航线畅通,保护舰队免受德国潜艇舰队的威胁。
(Much of the US Navy’s activity centres around the Pacific theatre, fighting a long series of battles against the formidable Imperial Japanese Navy, and supporting the US Marines in their campaign to liberate the Pacific islands occupied by the Japanese aggressors. In the Atlantic, the US Navy cooperates with the British to keep the Atlantic shipping routes open and defend convoys from the ever-present threat of the German U-boat fleet.)
与日本一样,美国海军将舰队集中在航空母舰周围,并且在使用飞机的海上作战中处于领先地位,尤其是俯冲轰炸和鱼雷轰炸。太平洋上的几场关键战役发生在日美航母部队的空军部队之间(更多细节见《注意!克图鲁:太平洋前线指南)。
(Like the Japanese, the US Navy focuses its fleets around its aircraft carriers, and is a leader in naval combat using aircraft, especially dive bombing and torpedo bombing. Sev-eral of the key battles of the Pacific take place between the air fleets of the Japanese and US carrier forces (see Achtung! Cthulhu: Guide to the Pacific Front for further details).)
美国潜艇舰队只占海军兵力的不到2%,但却造成了日本海军30%以上的损失,其中包括8艘航空母舰。它们助长了日本经济与海外进口的隔离,但付出了可怕的代价。美国潜艇部队在海浪下的战斗中损失了50多艘船只和3500多人。
(The US submarine fleet comprises less than two per cent of the Navy’s strength, yet it is responsible for caus-ing over thirty per cent of Japanese naval losses, including eight aircraft carriers. They contribute to the isolation of the Japanese economy from overseas imports, but at a terrible cost. The US submarine force loses over fifty boats and more than 3,500 men in the battle beneath the waves.)
美国陆军航空兵(US ARMY AIR FORCE)
与英国军队不同的是,美军在第二次世界大战期间没有保持独立的空军。相反,军用飞机由美国陆军航空兵指挥,海军航空则由美国海军指挥。然而,在罗斯福的指导下,美国空军在1939年经历了一个大规模的扩张计划,当美国在欧洲参战时,她带来了大量的轰炸机和战斗机参加战斗,加上一个几乎全球的后勤网络,能够供应和维持如此庞大的战斗力量。
(Unlike their British counterparts, the US military does not maintain an independent air force during the Second World War. Instead, military aviation falls under the command of the US Army Air Force, or in the case of naval aviation, the US Navy. However, under direction from Roosevelt, the USAAF undergoes a massive expansion programme in 1939, and by the time America enters the war in Europe, she brings a huge number of bombers and fighters to the fray, coupled with a virtually global logistics network capable of supplying and maintaining such a massive combat force.)
虽然英国皇家空军专门从事夜间轰炸突袭,但美国空军坚持精确白天突袭的政策,制造“24小时”轰炸的噩梦,在战争后期,轰炸范围从军事目标延伸到几乎毁灭德国城市。
(While the RAF specialises in night bombing raids, the USAAF maintains a policy of precision daylight raids creat-ing the nightmare of “around the clock” bombing, which in the later years of the war extends from military targets to the near obliteration of German cities.)
尽管美国B-17和B-24轰炸机拥有重型自卫武器,但早期轰炸空袭中的损失是可怕的,主要是由于缺乏美国战斗机护航,这使得庞大的轰炸机编队容易受到仍然完好无损的德国空军精锐飞行员的攻击。然而,像P-51野马这样的战机的加入确保了更强的保护,到了战争的最后阶段,由于空军不再是威胁,每天的轰炸行动相对不受惩罚。
(Despite the heavy defensive armaments of the US B-17 and B-24 bombers, losses in early bombing raids are terrible, mostly due to the lack of US fighter escorts, which leaves the enormous bomber formations vulnerable to the elite pilots of the still-intact Luftwaffe. However, the introduction of the likes of the P-51 Mustang ensure greater protection and, by the closing stages of the war, with the Luftwaffe no longer a threat, the daily bombing raids operate with relative impunity.)
和美国历史上的这一时刻一样,美国空军也受到种族隔离的影响,大多数非裔美国士兵被禁止进入战斗岗位。然而,美国空军的几个中队是由非洲裔美国人组成的,包括第332战斗机中队(“红尾巴”)和第99战斗机中队,这两个中队在战争期间获得了三次杰出的集体荣誉。
(Like much of the United States at this point in his-tory, the USAAF is subject to racial segregation, with most African-American soldiers barred from combat positions. However, several USAAF squadrons are composed of Afri-can-American aviators, including the 332nd Fighter Group (“The Red Tails”) and the 99th Fighter Squadron, which earns three Distinguished Unit Citations during the course of the war.)