有關歷史戰爭和軍隊的10點誤解(上)

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.

人們將戰爭和作戰軍隊列爲最具吸引力的話題之一。鬥爭已經多次塑造、重塑了全球的局勢，世界大戰對人類未來的道路會產生持續性的影響。然而，儘管人類熱衷於研究戰爭，但是有許多研究出來的結果卻不盡準確——由於歷史性的扭曲或過去的君王領袖對其完全的篡改。

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.

正如人們所言，歷史通常是由勝利者所書寫的，這些人在書寫史書時，總是喜歡把自己寫得既聰明又仁慈，也不管事實是不是這樣。雖然這些鬥爭中的領袖在篡改歷史時顯得非常狡猾，但當今的歷史學家還是能夠洞穿歷史的迷霧，找到藏在神祕莫測謎團背後的真相。

Ending Of The Korean War

10.朝鮮戰爭的結局

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鮮當前的狀況：目前，朝鮮正變得越來越好戰，並且將進一步推進他們的彈道導彈試驗計劃。他們這麼做，無疑會在使用核武器方面對美國、日本或者南韓的鄰邦上產生更大的威脅。

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.

局勢越來越複雜，充斥着緊張的氣息，令人擔憂。爲了加劇國內的緊張氣氛、展示其武力，朝鮮曾經把捕獲的囚犯拉到媒體前示衆遊行，並遣送他們做長達數十年的苦力。這羣囚犯中還有一名美國學生，其被捕的原因是他在朝鮮時愚蠢地偷了朝鮮的國旗。

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.

許多人都很擔憂朝鮮會做出什麼極其危險的行爲來，從而引發與美國開戰的導火線。然而，人們並沒有意識到從一開始美國就沒有停止過與朝鮮的鬥爭，這也就是爲何局勢如此緊張的原因之一。

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.

南北朝鮮分別以美國和中國作爲後盾，隨後爆發了戰爭。南北朝鮮戰爭本質上是中美之戰，以及共產主義和資本主義的鬥爭。戰爭結束後，並沒有簽訂正式的官方條約。從理論上講，這僅是臨時停戰，雙方之間的形勢依然嚴峻。中國依然是南朝鮮正式的同盟國，其甚至還幫忙將脫北者遣送回朝鮮。

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.

雖然北朝鮮衝突的火藥味在逐漸變濃，但其實它從一開始就沒有真正停止過。第二次世界大戰後不久，美國與北朝鮮陷入了冷戰——同時與中國進行了代理國戰爭。這是爲什麼美國和其他國家不能輕易進入北朝鮮並緩和其局勢的部分原因。

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.

這樣做極有可能會引發與中國的戰爭，要知道一直以來中國都是北朝鮮堅定的盟友。如果哪個國家有政治力量，並想要通過武力的方式打倒北朝鮮政權，那麼這隻可能會是中國——在中國對北朝鮮政府失去了耐心的情況下。

Rum Rebellion Wasn't Really About Rum

9.朗姆酒叛亂跟朗姆酒無關

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.

也許有很多人都聽過朗姆酒叛亂——澳大利亞歷史上唯一一次政變。在1808年的某一天，布萊總督的宅邸周圍聚集了數百位手持武器的人，布萊是澳大利亞羽翼未豐的殖民地領導。這羣人很快就接管了他的權利，並設立了他們自己的規則——同樣也廢除了政府原有的條例。不久以後英國就派遣了增援，並派麥誇裏上將赴任新總督，麥誇裏很快便平息了叛亂並且爲殖民地帶來了合理的新秩序。

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.

瞭解基本事實的人往往會認爲這次叛亂的主要原因是酒。政府關停了朗姆酒的貿易，而這是不能被人們所輕易接受的。然而，如果真的要說此事的真相的話，那麼朗姆酒僅僅間接地與此相關。

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.

實際上這次政變早期的策劃和實施，都是由一個叫新南威爾士軍團的澳大利亞強大組織進行的。他們擁有大部分的殖民土地，以此收取高額租金，並且在朗姆酒貿易中賺了很大一筆錢。政府的政策傾向於提供公平的土地供所有人使用，並擺脫軍團在供給朗姆酒上的束縛。他沒有從任何人那裏奪走朗姆酒，而僅僅是與一些有權有勢的人混在一起共事。

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.

直到半個世紀之後，這次叛亂才以“朗姆酒叛亂”的名字被提及。在那時，對於每個人來說這次叛亂的政治原因都十分明顯，所以沒有任何必要去責備人們對於酒的熱愛。最終，稱職的麥誇裏上將永久地擊敗了新南威爾士軍團勢力，並且把澳大利亞變爲了一個嶄新的土地，而不是一個總是遣送囚犯的地方。

Roman Empire Did Not Use Slaves As Soldiers

8.羅馬帝國不用奴隸充當士兵

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.

古羅馬曾是歷史上橫跨大陸、雄踞天下的龐大帝國之一。所以也就可以理解，爲什麼人們如此地將其傳奇化，並把它看作有英雄主義色彩的國度。

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.

古羅馬帝國一直以來都作爲數不盡的電影、書籍、歷史文獻和各種猜測的對象，而在這之中最具吸引力的便是羅馬帝國的軍隊。許多人都認爲古羅馬人都是強大野蠻的戰鬥大師，因此他們認爲用奴隸充當士兵對於羅馬人來說也應該不足爲奇。

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.

我們很容易想到，每當羅馬人佔領了一個新的領土後，強迫當地的人民作爲奴隸加入他們的軍隊，以此來增加他們作爲戰爭機器的力量。然而，羅馬元老院認爲，讓奴隸充當士兵這件事應該留到在最危機的時候再實施。而只有當他們在戰場上的指揮部隊有需求時，才允許元老們將奴隸用於他們需求的事上。

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.

對此的合理解釋是奴隸並非是可靠的戰士。如果他們僅僅爲了羅馬的權益而戰卻沒有任何回報，那麼這些奴隸將不會在戰場上拼盡全力。相反，一個待遇優厚的戰士深知他的功績將會爲他帶來榮耀，並且很有可能因此晉升。

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.

羅馬人在戰略原因上，會盡量多的徵收已戰勝的人民來保持他們軍隊在人口上的多樣性。但是羅馬人更傾向於以類似於現今的方式說服新士兵入伍，而並非武力強迫。

dict Arnold Was A Brilliant And Mistreated US General Before The Betrayal

7.貝內迪克特·阿諾德在背叛美國前曾是一個傑出卻被不公對待的將軍

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.

貝內迪克特·阿諾德這個名字成爲了背叛的同義詞。他因給英國泄露重要軍事機密而變得衆所周知，他因此得到了一大筆錢，並背叛了他曾經爲之拋頭顱灑熱血的美國人民。然而，這好像並不是貝內迪克特·阿諾德在某一天醒來就決定去背叛他曾爲之戰鬥的國家的原因。

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.

儘管美國曆史學家不遺餘力地去避免提到他的功績——畢竟，這樣一個叛徒是不能夠成爲美國英雄的——事實上阿諾德在他叛國前曾是最傑出和忠誠的指揮官之一。他的戰術曾被用於提康德羅加堡戰役，儘管最後的榮耀都歸功給了伊頓·阿倫。阿諾德在其他戰役中也展現出了令人欽佩的勇氣和指揮能力，但他最開始因爲那些在文件上有更好記錄的初級軍官，而錯過了自己晉升的機會。

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.

雖然阿諾德最終獲得了晉升，但是他永遠不會忘記曾經的不公對待，並且對那些初出茅廬的美國政府官員越來越憎惡。當他試圖把自己的名字從內線交易指控的名單上清除時，政府宣佈他無罪，但決定扣除他一些罰金作爲一個指揮官在戰爭中造成的損失的補償。他爲此感到極其憤怒，而這也許就成爲了使他從革命聯盟被驅逐的轉折點。

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.

阿諾德將許多重要的機密泄露給了英國，他深知在此舉之後他不可能在國內活下去，因此逃離了美國。雖然很多人認爲他在一定程度上受到了虐待，但其他人則認爲這證明了阿諾德似乎與英國領導層的關係也不融洽。

Children's Crusade Was Probably Nothing Like People Think

6.兒童十字軍也許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.

或許看似愚蠢，但最衆所周知的現代傳說告訴我們，兒童十字軍是一支由兒童組成的真實的軍隊，並且是爲了奪回聖地而組建的。儘管在同一時期描述兒童十字軍的細節有兩種不同的傳說，但沒有任何一種告訴我們有關軍事方面的情況。相反，更多的是在講述一種精神之旅，這是一個人們跟隨一位他們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.

第一個故事講述了一個孩子將麪包施捨給了一個乞丐，這個乞丐恰好就是耶穌，他給了這個孩子一封很重要的信，讓他交給國王。在送信的長途中，這個孩子聚集了一個由30,000兒童組成的隊伍。但他們命運多舛。儘管他們將信送上了船，但他們中有兩人淹死還有五人在非洲終結了生命，在那裏，兒童被當做奴隸販賣。

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.

另一個故事要從德國說起，這個傳說與之前的故事有着相似的開端——一個自稱爲先知的年輕人，聚集了一大羣的追隨者並開始了一段跨越阿爾卑斯山的旅程。而這個旅途最後還是以失敗告終，因爲這位先知無法爲他的追隨者分開地中海從而讓他們輕易地通過，追隨者們便對他失去了信心。

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.

儘管這兩個故事被世人敘說了無數遍，但是很少有歷史證據能證明他們的真實性。甚至沒有任何關於這些人實際做了什麼的細節，或者一開始他們爲什麼這麼做的線索。這兩個故事最初都沒有任何關於兒童是否參與的說法，這另其更加充滿了神祕色彩。

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.

至少在二十年後這兩個故事才被修改，然後才與兒童有關。不管是否有兒童參與，人們都開始對這次運動的規模產生了疑問——如果他們真實存在的話。