Wars and the armies that fight them are one of the most fascinating subjects to the human race. Conquest has shaped and reshaped the globe many times, and great wars will continue to alter the future course of humanity. However, while humanity loves to study and learn about wars, many of the most accepted facts are highly inaccurate—either due to historical distortion or outright manipulation by past leaders.
人们将战争和作战军队列为最具吸引力的话题之一。斗争已经多次塑造、重塑了全球的局势，世界大战对人类未来的道路会产生持续性的影响。然而，尽管人类热衷于研究战争，但是有许多研究出来的结果却不尽准确——由于历史性的扭曲或过去的君王领袖对其完全的篡改。
As they say, history is usually written by the winners, and the winners will nearly always make sure that things are written in a way that makes them look smarter and more benevolent than they probably were. While many of these lords of conquest were quite sly in their manipulations, some historians today have managed to pierce through the fog of history and find the truth behind many of the myths.
正如人们所言，历史通常是由胜利者所书写的，这些人在书写史书时，总是喜欢把自己写得既聪明又仁慈，也不管事实是不是这样。虽然这些斗争中的领袖在篡改历史时显得非常狡猾，但当今的历史学家还是能够洞穿历史的迷雾，找到藏在神秘莫测谜团背后的真相。

10.The Ending Of The Korean War
10.朝鲜战争的结局

Everyone is aware of the situation going on in Korea right now. The North Koreans are becoming increasingly belligerent and moving further ahead with their ballistic missile testing programs. As they do so, they continue to make more threats about using nuclear weapons against the United States, Japan, or their neighbors in South Korea.
如今人人都非常清楚朝鲜当前的状况：目前，朝鲜正变得越来越好战，并且将进一步推进他们的弹道导弹试验计划。他们这么做，无疑会在使用核武器方面对美国、日本或者南韩的邻邦上产生更大的威胁。
The situation has becoming increasingly complex and fraught with tension. To up the tension and show off their force, North Korea has also paraded captured prisoners in front of the media and sentenced them to decades of hard labor. This includes an American student who foolishly stole a North Korean flag while visiting the country.
局势越来越复杂，充斥着紧张的气息，令人担忧。为了加剧国内的紧张气氛、展示其武力，朝鲜曾经把捕获的囚犯拉到媒体前示众游行，并遣送他们做长达数十年的苦力。这群囚犯中还有一名美国学生，其被捕的原因是他在朝鲜时愚蠢地偷了朝鲜的国旗。
Many people are afraid that the North Koreans' unpredictable behavior is extremely dangerous and could cause them to take action that leads to open war with the United States. However, many people don't realize that the United States has never stopped being at war with North Korea in the first place and that is part of the reason why tensions have always been so high.
许多人都很担忧朝鲜会做出什么极其危险的行为来，从而引发与美国开战的导火线。然而，人们并没有意识到从一开始美国就没有停止过与朝鲜的斗争，这也就是为何局势如此紧张的原因之一。
The war between the North and South Koreans was backed by the Chinese and US governments, respectively. It was essentially a proxy war between the two countries, fighting ideologically over the spread of communism or capitalism. Although the war ended, there was no official treaty. It was just a temporary cease-fire, and technically, that is all that it has ever been. China has also remained an official ally of North Korea and even sends escaped defectors and prisoners back to their doom if they're caught.
南北朝鲜分别以美国和中国作为后盾，随后爆发了战争。南北朝鲜战争本质上是中美之战，以及共产主义和资本主义的斗争。战争结束后，并没有签订正式的官方条约。从理论上讲，这仅是临时停战，双方之间的形势依然严峻。中国依然是南朝鲜正式的同盟国，其甚至还帮忙将脱北者遣送回朝鲜。
Although the conflict with North Korea may escalate, it never really ended in the first place. We have been in a cold war with North Korea—and by extension, a proxy war with China—since shortly after the end of World War II. This is part of the reason that the United States and other countries do not simply enter North Korea and fix the situation.
虽然北朝鲜冲突的火药味在逐渐变浓，但其实它从一开始就没有真正停止过。第二次世界大战后不久，美国与北朝鲜陷入了冷战——同时与中国进行了代理国战争。这是为什么美国和其他国家不能轻易进入北朝鲜并缓和其局势的部分原因。
To do so would risk open war with China, which has always been a staunch ally of North Korea. If anyone were likely to have the political power to upend the North Korean government by force, it would be the Chinese government themselves—if they ever decide that they have lost patience with the North Korean administration.
这样做极有可能会引发与中国的战争，要知道一直以来中国都是北朝鲜坚定的盟友。如果哪个国家有政治力量，并想要通过武力的方式打倒北朝鲜政权，那么这只可能会是中国——在中国对北朝鲜政府失去了耐心的情况下。

9.The Rum Rebellion Wasn't Really About Rum
9.朗姆酒叛乱跟朗姆酒无关

Many people may have heard about the Rum Rebellion—the only coup in the history of Australia. One day in 1808, hundreds of armed men surrounded the mansion of Governor Bligh, the installed leader of the fledgling colony of Australia. They quickly took over, removing him from power and establishing many rules of their own—as well as undoing many of the governor's own rules. Before long, the British sent reinforcements and Admiral Macquarie, who quickly stamped out the rebellion and brought a decent state of order to the colony.
也许有很多人都听过朗姆酒叛乱——澳大利亚历史上唯一一次政变。在1808年的某一天，布莱总督的宅邸周围聚集了数百位手持武器的人，布莱是澳大利亚羽翼未丰的殖民地领导。这群人很快就接管了他的权利，并设立了他们自己的规则——同样也废除了政府原有的条例。不久以后英国就派遣了增援，并派麦夸里上将赴任新总督，麦夸里很快便平息了叛乱并且为殖民地带来了合理的新秩序。
Those who know the basic facts often believe that the main reason for the coup was booze. The governor had shut down the rum trade, and this simply could not be tolerated. However, the truth was that booze was only involved indirectly, if at all.
了解基本事实的人往往会认为这次叛乱的主要原因是酒。政府关停了朗姆酒的贸易，而这是不能被人们所轻易接受的。然而，如果真的要说此事的真相的话，那么朗姆酒仅仅间接地与此相关。
The actual coup was planned and executed by a powerful group in the early days of Australia called the NSW Corps. They owned most of the land—on which they charged exorbitant rents—and made a killing on the rum trade. The governor's rules had attempted to provide fair land use to all and take away the stranglehold that these men had on supplying rum. He wasn't taking rum away from anyone; he was just messing with some powerful rich guys' businesses.
实际上这次政变早期的策划和实施，都是由一个叫新南威尔士军团的澳大利亚强大组织进行的。他们拥有大部分的殖民土地，以此收取高额租金，并且在朗姆酒贸易中赚了很大一笔钱。政府的政策倾向于提供公平的土地供所有人使用，并摆脱军团在供给朗姆酒上的束缚。他没有从任何人那里夺走朗姆酒，而仅仅是与一些有权有势的人混在一起共事。
The rebellion wasn't actually referred to as the "Rum Rebellion" until about half a century later. At the time, the political reasons for the coup were quite obvious to everyone and there was no need to blame it all on people's love of booze. Eventually, the good Admiral Macquarie permanently broke the power of the NSW Corps and turned Australia into a place that was more of a brand-new country than a place to send prisoners.
直到半个世纪之后，这次叛乱才以“朗姆酒叛乱”的名字被提及。在那时，对于每个人来说这次叛乱的政治原因都十分明显，所以没有任何必要去责备人们对于酒的热爱。最终，称职的麦夸里上将永久地击败了新南威尔士军团势力，并且把澳大利亚变为了一个崭新的土地，而不是一个总是遣送囚犯的地方。

8.The Roman Empire Did Not Use Slaves As Soldiers
8.罗马帝国不用奴隶充当士兵

The Roman Empire was one of the most powerful and planet-spanning empires in known history. So it is understandable that people have greatly romanticized it and also made many aspects of it much larger-than-life.
古罗马曾是历史上横跨大陆、雄踞天下的庞大帝国之一。所以也就可以理解，为什么人们如此地将其传奇化，并把它看作有英雄主义色彩的国度。
The great Roman Empire has been the subject of countless movies, books, historical treatises, and speculations of many different sorts, and of them all, one of the greatest fascinations is with the Roman military. Many people think of the Romans as masters of brutal conquest, and so they imagine them using slaves in their combat force.
古罗马帝国一直以来都作为数不尽的电影、书籍、历史文献和各种猜测的对象，而在这之中最具吸引力的便是罗马帝国的军队。许多人都认为古罗马人都是强大野蛮的战斗大师，因此他们认为用奴隶充当士兵对于罗马人来说也应该不足为奇。
It is quite common to believe that the Romans would take over a new area and force the population to join their army as slaves to increase the power of the Roman war machine. However, the Roman Senate believed that using slaves as actual soldiers should be reserved for the greatest crisis or issue imaginable. The only exception allowed officers and other high officials to bring attendant slaves to provide for their needs while these officials commanded forces on the battlefield.
我们很容易想到，每当罗马人占领了一个新的领土后，强迫当地的人民作为奴隶加入他们的军队，以此来增加他们作为战争机器的力量。然而，罗马元老院认为，让奴隶充当士兵这件事应该留到在最危机的时候再实施。而只有当他们在战场上的指挥部队有需求时，才允许元老们将奴隶用于他们需求的事上。
The likely reason for this was that slaves were simply not reliable warriors. If they fought only for the right to keep fighting for the Romans and received no compensation, they wouldn't have the same level of commitment in a battle. In contrast, a well-paid warrior who knew that his deeds could earn glory and a promotion would always go above and beyond.
对此的合理解释是奴隶并非是可靠的战士。如果他们仅仅为了罗马的权益而战却没有任何回报，那么这些奴隶将不会在战场上拼尽全力。相反，一个待遇优厚的战士深知他的功绩将会为他带来荣耀，并且很有可能因此晋升。
The Romans did their best to recruit soldiers from conquered peoples to keep their army varied demographically for strategic reasons. But they likely convinced these new soldiers with a pitch more similar to modern-day army recruitment commercials instead of forcing recruitment at sword point.
罗马人在战略原因上，会尽量多的征收已战胜的人民来保持他们军队在人口上的多样性。但是罗马人更倾向于以类似于现今的方式说服新士兵入伍，而并非武力强迫。

7.Benedict Arnold Was A Brilliant And Mistreated US General Before The Betrayal
7.贝内迪克特·阿诺德在背叛美国前曾是一个杰出却被不公对待的将军

Benedict Arnold is a name that has become synonymous with treachery. He is well-known for giving important military secrets to the British for a large sum of money and betraying the people for whom he once shed his blood. However, it wasn't as though Benedict Arnold woke up one day and decided that he was going to betray the cause for which he once fought.
贝内迪克特·阿诺德这个名字成为了背叛的同义词。他因给英国泄露重要军事机密而变得众所周知，他因此得到了一大笔钱，并背叛了他曾经为之抛头颅洒热血的美国人民。然而，这好像并不是贝内迪克特·阿诺德在某一天醒来就决定去背叛他曾为之战斗的国家的原因。
Although US historians go to great lengths to avoid mentioning his accomplishments—after all, such a betrayer could not be an American hero—the fact is that Arnold was one of the most brilliant and loyal American commanders before his betrayal. His tactics had been instrumental in the Battle of Ticonderoga, although Ethan Allen ended up with all the credit. Arnold also showed incredible bravery and command skill during many other important battles, but he was initially passed over for promotion in favor of junior officers who had better records on paper.
尽管美国历史学家不遗余力地去避免提到他的功绩——毕竟，这样一个叛徒是不能够成为美国英雄的——事实上阿诺德在他叛国前曾是最杰出和忠诚的指挥官之一。他的战术曾被用于提康德罗加堡战役，尽管最后的荣耀都归功给了伊顿·阿伦。阿诺德在其他战役中也展现出了令人钦佩的勇气和指挥能力，但他最开始因为那些在文件上有更好记录的初级军官，而错过了自己晋升的机会。
Although Arnold was eventually promoted, he never forgot this mistreatment and became increasingly resentful of the fledgling United States government. When he tried to clear his name of insider trading charges, the government acquitted him of that wrongdoing and then decided that he owed them money for some losses incurred as a commander in battle. He felt incredibly incensed by this, and it was likely the breaking point that drove him away from his alliance with the revolutionaries.
虽然阿诺德最终获得了晋升，但是他永远不会忘记曾经的不公对待，并且对那些初出茅庐的美国政府官员越来越憎恶。当他试图把自己的名字从内线交易指控的名单上清除时，政府宣布他无罪，但决定扣除他一些罚金作为一个指挥官在战争中造成的损失的补偿。他为此感到极其愤怒，而这也许就成为了使他从革命联盟被驱逐的转折点。
Arnold betrayed many important secrets to the British and fled the country, knowing that he would not survive long at home after the actions he had taken. While some may feel that he was partly mistreated, others feel vindicated by the knowledge that Arnold also seemed to have trouble getting along with the leadership in his new country of choice.
阿诺德将许多重要的机密泄露给了英国，他深知在此举之后他不可能在国内活下去，因此逃离了美国。虽然很多人认为他在一定程度上受到了虐待，但其他人则认为这证明了阿诺德似乎与英国领导层的关系也不融洽。

6.The Children's Crusade Was Probably Nothing Like People Think
6.儿童十字军也许和世人所想的完全不同

Perhaps the silliest but most common modern myth is that the Children's Crusade was an actual military attempt by a group of children to form an army and take back the Holy Land. Although there are two different stories from the same time period that detail a supposed Children's Crusade, neither of them suggests any kind of military aspect whatsoever. On the contrary, it was more of a spiritual journey with a large group of people following someone whom they believed to be a prophet of the Most High.
或许看似愚蠢，但最众所周知的现代传说告诉我们，儿童十字军是一支由儿童组成的真实的军队，并且是为了夺回圣地而组建的。尽管在同一时期描述儿童十字军的细节有两种不同的传说，但没有任何一种告诉我们有关军事方面的情况。相反，更多的是在讲述一种精神之旅，这是一个人们跟随一位他们所信仰的上帝的先知的旅程。
The first story claims that a child gave bread to a beggar, and the beggar—who just happened to be Jesus—gave the child an important letter to take to the king. Along the way to deliver his letter, the child managed to amass a group of 30,000 other children. But their attempt was ill-fated. Although they managed to make it aboard boats, two of them sank and the other five ended up in Africa where the children were sold into slavery.
第一个故事讲述了一个孩子将面包施舍给了一个乞丐，这个乞丐恰好就是耶稣，他给了这个孩子一封很重要的信，让他交给国王。在送信的长途中，这个孩子聚集了一个由30,000儿童组成的队伍。但他们命运多舛。尽管他们将信送上了船，但他们中有两人淹死还有五人在非洲终结了生命，在那里，儿童被当做奴隶贩卖。
The other story started in Germany and had a similar beginning—a young, self-styled prophet amassed a large group of followers and headed on a journey over the Alps. Their adventure ended when he was unable to part the Mediterranean Sea for them to easily cross and they become disillusioned with him.
另一个故事要从德国说起，这个传说与之前的故事有着相似的开端——一个自称为先知的年轻人，聚集了一大群的追随者并开始了一段跨越阿尔卑斯山的旅程。而这个旅途最后还是以失败告终，因为这位先知无法为他的追随者分开地中海从而让他们轻易地通过，追随者们便对他失去了信心。
Although both of these stories have been recounted many times, there is little historical evidence for the veracity of either story. There is even less evidence in terms of details about what these people actually did or were trying to do in the first place. To make matters more muddled, the two stories were originally told without any suggestion at all that children were involved.
尽管这两个故事被世人叙说了无数遍，但是很少有历史证据能证明他们的真实性。甚至没有任何关于这些人实际做了什么的细节，或者一开始他们为什么这么做的线索。这两个故事最初都没有任何关于儿童是否参与的说法，这另其更加充满了神秘色彩。
It was at least 20 years later that both stories were modified to include that. This calls into question just how large these movements were—if they even existed—and whether there were actually any children involved at all.
至少在二十年后这两个故事才被修改，然后才与儿童有关。不管是否有儿童参与，人们都开始对这次运动的规模产生了疑问——如果他们真实存在的话。