宁死不屈(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。
宁死不屈
The Greek island of Kefalona was garrisoned by an Italian division when the armistice between Italy and the Allies were made public on 8 September 1943. Most Italian forces were quickly disarmed by German troops.General Antonio Gandin, in command of the Kefalona division, received from the Germans an ultimatum: his division was to either disobey orders and continue the war alongside the Germans, be disarmed and treated as prisoners of war, or fight. Gandin decided to have all the 12500 soldiers under his command choose the answer to the ultimatum via popular vote. The majority chose to stand and fight despite knowing that they had no chance. The division, stranded on an island and completely surrounded, went down quickly and brutally. The number of survivors is estimated to be in the low hundreds.
一九四三年九月八日，意大利和同盟国停战协议公布。当时意大利一师军队正驻守希腊咖法罗那岛，而各地意大利部队都迅速被德军解除武装。咖法罗那岛驻军指挥官安东尼奥．冈丹将军接到德军最后通牒：他的军队一是抗命，继续和德军并肩作战；一是由德军解除武装，当作战俘；一是和德军兵戎相见。冈丹决定由手下全体一万二千五百名将士投票，选择怎样回答这通牒。将士明知必败，但大部分还是宁愿奋起一战。他们困守岛上，遭四面包围，在德军残酷的炮火下，不久就大败，生还者估计只有二三百人。