牺牲科芬特里(英中对照)

古德明《征服英语》之英语军事故事，古德明，香港英语教育作家，他开了一个《征服英语专栏》，在专栏中专门用英语写了世界近代史上的军事小故事，用英语讲述历史中那些惊心动魄的战争。
牺牲科芬特里
on the night of 14 november 1940, the german luftwaffe bombed the english city of coventry. the raid destroyed more than 50,000 houses and shops, and killed 554 citizens and wounded 865. the 14th century st michael's cathedral, coventry's most famous building, was destroyed.churchill knew beforehand, through ultra* intercepts, that coventry was about to be bombed, but to evacuate the population or to engage in great strength the bomber fleet as it approached, was to tell the germans that their enigma security system had been penetrated. the british prime minister therefore made no preparations for the raid. this was the only way to protect ultra, one of the most important weapons of victory in the whole war.

一九四○年十一月十四日晚，德国空军轰炸英格兰城市科芬特里，五万多所房屋、商店被毁，市民有五百五十四人被炸死，八百六十五人被炸伤。市内最著名的建筑物圣麦可大教堂，建于十四世纪，也遭摧毁。丘吉尔早已截取得绝密情报，知道科芬特里将被轰炸，但假如撤退居民，或大举迎击来犯的轰炸机队，等于告诉德国说，他们的恩尼格玛密码系统已遭破解。这位英国首相于是没有部署防范，一任德军空袭。这是保卫绝密情报的唯一办法，而绝密情报是全盘战事取胜的最重要武器之一。
备注：
*英国利用恩尼格玛译码器，破解德国军事密码，所得绝密情报称为 ultra。