(单词翻译:单击)
Between Wars
一战和二战之间
With the Great War at an end Patton returned to the United States of America where he found a good deal to keep him busy. He learned to fly, drove the latest automobiles, sailed his yacht, mixed with high society, kept a stable of horses, and won hundreds of trophies and ribbons in numerous sporting events. Such an extravagant lifestyle would ordinarily be well out of reach on a major's salary. However, in 1910 Patton had married Beatrice Ayer, the extremely wealthy heiress of a Boston industrialist. The Pattons had more than enough money to do almost anything they wanted, but George had never wavered from his belief that he was destined to be a great soldier. He maintained a special interest in armored warfare, and some visionaries were proclaiming that tanks would become the decisive weapon in any future conflict.
一战结束后，巴顿回到美国，在那里，他找到了让自己忙起来的事。他学习飞行、驾驶最新款汽车和游艇、接触上流社会、养马，还在无数的体育赛事中赢得了成百上千个奖杯和绶带。少校的工资自然负担不起如此奢华的生活方式。然而，1910年，巴顿与比阿特丽斯·艾尔结婚，她是波士顿一实业家的女继承人，十分富有。巴顿家族有足够的钱去做他们想做的任何事，但乔治从未动摇过要当个伟大军人的念头。他一直对装甲战抱有特殊的兴趣，一些有远见的人表示，坦克将会成为未来冲突中的决定性武器。
Heinz Guderian in Germany and Charles de Gaulle in France argued that tanks would return mobility to the battlefield, punching through enemy positions to create havoc in the rear. Patton was thinking along similar lines, and he got the chance to test out some of his ideas in 1941 when the US Army held vast wargames across the states of Louisiana and Carolina. More than 400,000 soldiers and 1,000 aircraft took part in mock battles held over 30,000 square miles. With Germany once again at war with Britain and Russia, and no guarantees that America would be able to remain neutral, it was a much needed opportunity to test out tactics and equipment. It also served as a test of the men who would lead America's armies into battle. The battles weren't real, but they were a close enough approximation for sixty-one men to lose their lives. However, despite these losses, the US Army gained valuable experience, and Patton staked his claim to be arguably the US Army's finest exponent of armored warfare.
德国的海因茨·古德里安和法国的夏尔·戴高乐都认为坦克会重返战场，穿过敌阵进行猛击，在后方发动大破坏。巴顿也想到了同样的事情，1941年，他有了测试自己想法的机会，美军举办了跨越了路易斯安那州和南卡罗来纳州的大型军演。40多万士兵、1000多架飞机参与了这场覆盖3万平方英里模拟战。德国、英国和俄罗斯又一次参与了战争，无法保证美国能够保持中立，这个检测战术和装备的机会是十分必要的。这还能够考量谁能够带领美军作战。这并不是真实的战争，但它们粗略估计出有61个人会牺牲。然而，尽管有一些亏损，美军依然收获了非常有价值的经验，巴顿说他理应是美军装甲战的第一倡导人。
Africa
非洲
On 7 December 1941 Japan attacked the United States of America at Pearl Harbor. Four days later Germany declared war on America. And with that World War II became a truly global war. With plans for a 1942 Allied invasion of Western Europe having been shelved, the Allied High Command instead chose to strike at Hitler's Vichy French allies in North Africa. Three separate task forces were launched, with General George Patton taking command of 35,000 men of the Western Task Force, sailing for Casablanca from Virginia. If Patton had any fears or doubts, he certainly wasn't showing them, and he wrote in his diary: "When I realize what I am, I am amazed, but on reflection, who is as good as I am? I know of no one." Modest too... The amphibious landings of 8 November were largely unopposed, and despite some fierce resistance as Patton's men pushed inland, the Vichy French signed an armistice later that day.
1941年12月7日，日本在珍珠港袭击了美国。四天后，德国对美宣战。因此，二战的确是一场全球性战争。1942年盟军入侵西欧的计划被搁置了，盟军最高指挥部选择了打击希特勒在北非的法国维希同盟。三个特遣部队分别派出，乔治·巴顿将军指挥西部特遣部队的3.5万名士兵，从弗吉尼亚州渡海到达卡萨布兰卡。如果巴顿有任何的恐惧或疑惑，他一定不会显露出来，他在日记中写到：“当我意识到我是怎样的人时，我很吃惊，但再三考虑一下，谁能像我一样优秀呢？我不知道谁能做到。”他很谦虚……11月8日的两栖登陆几乎没有受到阻拦，尽管巴顿带领的士兵向内陆推进时，有一些猛烈的抵抗，当天的晚些时候，法国维希签署了停战协议。
Far more formidable than the French, however, was Germany's Erwin Rommel and his Afrika Korps. On 14 February 1943 they attacked in force, striking at US forces in Tunisia's Atlas Mountains. By the 20th February the immediate crisis was over, but the Americans had been pushed back 50 miles. Huge amounts of equipment had been abandoned, and 4,000 Americans, including Patton's own son-in-law, had been captured by the Germans. With morale on the floor, Eisenhower sacked the commander he held responsible and placed all American troops in Tunisia under Patton's command. Patton immediately subjected his men to an intensive drill routine and a strict disciplinary code. His methods were far from universally popular, but they got results and within a month Patton was on the offensive defeating the formidable German 10th Panzer Division at the Battle of El Guettar. Patton rapidly built a reputation for himself in North Africa, but it was here that he began his rivalry with Bernard Montgomery, the commander of the British Eighth Army. While Patton was bold, aggressive, and often acted on gut instinct, Montgomery was by nature a far more cautious man who put great stock in meticulous planning. Patton believed Eisenhower deferred to Montgomery far too often, a feeling that was only strengthened when the British commander was given the go-ahead to plan the invasion of Sicily...
但是，比法国更难对付的是德国的埃尔温·隆美尔和他的非洲军团。1943年2月14日，他们在突尼斯的阿特拉斯山脉进攻并打击美军。2月20日，紧急危机解除，但美军后退了50英里。大量的装备被丢弃，包括巴顿女婿在内的4000名美国士兵被德军俘虏。艾森豪威尔的士气降到最低，他解雇了他的指挥官，把突尼斯的所有美军全部交由巴顿指挥。巴顿马上让他带领的士兵们进行密集训练并遵守更加严格的纪律。他用的方法并不普遍，但有了成效，不到一个月，巴顿就发动了进攻，在爱尔圭塔战役中击败了十分难对付的德国第十装甲师。巴顿迅速在北非树立起了威望，但正是在那里，他开始了与英国第八集团军司令伯纳德·蒙哥马利的对抗。巴顿勇猛好战，总是凭直觉做事，而蒙哥马利天生就是个非常谨慎的人，他做计划十分周密。巴顿觉得艾森豪威尔太听蒙哥马利的了，这位英国指挥官得到同意，去计划入侵西西里岛……此时，巴顿更是这么觉得了。
Sicily and Scandal
西西里岛与丑闻
The invasion of Sicily was to be a joint operation conducted by the British Eighth Army led by Montgomery and the Seventh US Army commanded by George Patton. Much to Patton's disgust, Montgomery's plan placed the main emphasis on the British contingent and cast the Americans in the supporting role. "This is what you get," fumed Patton, "when your commander-in-chief (Eisenhower) ceases to be an American and becomes an ally." The invasion force landed on the beaches of Sicily on 10 July 1943. By nightfall the Allies had put 80,000 men and 300 tanks ashore. The next day Patton himself came to inspect the beachhead, wading in through the surf even as artillery shells exploded around the beach. While it soon became clear that the Germans would not be able to hold Sicily, they fought a fierce rear-guard action as they began to evacuate their army to the Italian mainland. As Montgomery's army became bogged down, Patton decided to take a loose interpretation of his orders. He was expected to support the British, but surely the best way to do so would be to hit the Germans hard. Patton drove the Seventh Army on, his goal now was to beat Montgomery to the city of Messina in the north of the island. He was driven not just by personal ambition, but by a desire to prove the American soldier was the best in the world... The Sicily campaign was fought at a blistering pace in blazing heat; casualties were inevitable...
蒙哥马利领导的英国第八集团军和乔治·巴顿指挥的美国第七集团军联合行动，入侵了西西里岛。令巴顿十分反感的是，蒙哥马利把计划的重点放在了英国特遣队上，而让美军扮演支援角色。巴顿愤怒地说：“当你的总司令（艾森豪威尔）成为同盟，而不再是个美国人时，这就是你得到的东西。”1943年7月10日，入侵部队登上西西里岛的海滩。夜幕降临时，8万士兵和300辆坦克上了岸。第二天，巴顿亲自检查了滩头、冲破了海流，即便炮弹在沙滩周围爆炸。没过多久，德军无法控制西西里岛的局面就变得显而易见了，他们采取了猛烈的殿后行动，并开始撤退军队到意大利大陆。蒙哥马利的军队受困，于是巴顿决定不再严格遵守他的命令。别人希望他支持英国，但这样做的最佳方法一定是严厉打击德军。巴顿带领美国第七集团军继续前进，他现在的目标是将蒙哥马利打击至西西里岛北部的墨西拿。他这么做，除了受个人抱负驱使之外，他还想证明美国士兵是世界上最棒的……战火猛烈的西西里岛战役以极快的速度结束了；伤亡是在所难免的……
On 3 August 1943 Patton visited the wounded at a field hospital. When he discovered that one of the patients was physically unhurt but suffering from shellshock, he exploded with rage. Patton slapped the unfortunate man, dragged him from the tent, kicked him in the backside, and threatened to shoot him for cowardice. Unfortunately for Patton, this extraordinary display had been conducted under the noses of a number of journalists. Patton didn't seem to realize he'd done anything wrong, but striking a subordinate was a court martial offence. Eisenhower ordered Patton to apologise, begged the witnesses not to report on the incident, and hoped that would be enough to protect his most dangerous weapon in the war against the Nazis. While Patton won his race to Messina and threw the Nazis out of Sicily, his vicious temper came back to bite him as word of his assault leaked out in the press. There was little more that Eisenhower could do. Patton was removed from his command; and with that it seemed as if his career might be over...
1943年8月3日，巴顿到战地医院慰问伤员。当他发现一个病人身体并未受伤、但患了弹震症时，他勃然大怒。巴顿掌掴了这个不幸的人，将他拉出了帐篷，狠狠地踢了他的屁股。因为那名士兵的软弱，巴顿还威胁要击毙他。很遗憾，许多记者看见了巴顿这番特别的做法。巴顿似乎并未意识到他做错了什么，但在军事法庭上，攻击下属属于犯罪行为。艾森豪威尔命令巴顿道歉，并请目击者不要将其进行报道，希望这能保护他打击纳粹时最危险的武器。虽然巴顿成功地行进到了墨西拿，并把纳粹从西西里岛上赶出，但他的暴脾气却给他带来了祸害，因为他的攻击性言论被媒体泄露了。艾森豪威尔没法再做什么了。巴顿被司令部开除；他的职业生涯似乎到此终止……
