THE stryf the biggest war that ever was cannt be tld all inne chapter. S this chapter is abut Wrld War II， t.
After France was taken，nly the British Empire was left uncnqueredf all thse cuntries that Germany had attacked. Even after the Battlef Britain， nne was sure that the Nazis wuld nt try t invade England. But just keeping the Germansutf England wuld nt win the war. Nne believed that the English by themselves culd beat the Germans. That is， nne believed it except the English. They refused t give up and they kept fightn trying t beat the mst pwerful， the best trained， and best equipped army in the wrld.
ther partsf the British Empire sent sldiers t help England. But thesether cuntries (Canada， Australia， Suth Africa， New Zealand， and India) were far away acrss seas in which German submarines hunted fr ships t trped.
Musslini had brught Italy int the warn the sidef Germany. Japan was burning， killing， and bmbing in China， and Japan was friendly t Germany.
N cuntry culd be sure it wuld be safe frm attack. Wh wuld be nextn the list？
Even the United States， three thusand miles acrss thecean frm Eurpe， felt its defenses shuld be strengthened. The very small American army was made int a very large army and American factries were put t wrk making tanks and airplanes andther war supplies. New ships began t be built fr the navy. A large mdern army， hwever， cannt be raised and trained and equipped in just a few days. It takes nt a few days， nr mnths， but years. Warships take even lnger than an army. Luckily fr us the president， Franklin D. Rsevelt， led the cuntry t prepare itself fr war when he did， fr just abut a year later we were attacked. Even then we weren"t ready. But that cmes later in the stry.
Nw， while the Germans were still busy setting up their rule in France and Denmark and Nrway and trying t subdue England with their airplanes， Italy tried t capture Greece and Egypt. But the Italians were nt as gd fighters as the Germans. A brave little Greek army heldff the Italians there while an English general in Nrth Africa， using sldiers frm all partsf the British Empire， beat tw Italian armies that had five times as many sldiers as he had.
This freed Ethipia frm the Italians.
But then the Germans sent an army that cnquered Greece in three weeks. They sent an army als t Nrth Africa， which fught the British there fr the next three years.
Suddenly Hitler attacked Russia. Nw， yu might think this was a flish thing fr Hitler t d. Russia was a huge cuntry with a large army. Even Naplen had been unable t take Russia. But Hitler knew that if he cnquered Russia， Germany wuld gain great quantitiesfil， wheat， lumber， and minerals. Besides， he thught Russia might attack Germany， fr Russia had been building up a big army ever since the Nazis had started their cnquests. Hitler had by nw brught fifteen Eurpean cuntries under Nazi rule and his armies had never been beaten， thugh his air frce had nt been able t make England surrender.
Int Russia rushed the Nazis. They hped t destry the Russian armies quickly. Far int Russia the Nazis fught， but the Russian armies， thugh driven back， were nt destryed. Finally the Nazis reached Mscw and attacked the cityn three sides atnce. Hitler annunced that the battlef Mscw wuld be the death blwf the Russian armies. But he spke t sn. The Russians held Mscw fr weeks against Germans， wh were attacking with thusandsf tanks and airplanes. Russian sldiers and the civiliansf the city fught side by side t defend it. Finally the Russians pushed back the German army. Mscw was saved.
Hwever， keeping the Germans frm taking Mscw wuld nt win the war， just as keeping themutf England wuldn"t win the war. Germany and Italy still held almst allf Eurpe.
Then just as the Russians were driving back the Nazis frm Mscw， Japan struck. Japanese airplanes withut warning bmbed the American fleet at Pearl Harbr in Hawaii. This wasn December 7， 1941. All the American warships there were sunkr damaged and mre than tw thusand Americans were killed. The next day Britain and the United States declared warn Japan. Fur days later， Germany and Italy declared warn the United States.
The United States was still nt ready t fight bth Germany and Japan at the same time.ur new armies were nt yet trained， and a new fleet was nt yet ready t take the placef the ships bmbed at Pearl Harbr. It was lucky that Russia was fighting s fiercely in Eurpe， fr this kept millinsf Nazisccupied there and gave us anther year t get ready. As fast asur factries culd make them and ships culd carry them， we sent tanks and trucks andther supplies t Russia and t the British army in Egypt.
Japan， hwever， culd nt be stpped at first. The Japanese captured thePhilippine Islands， which belnged t the United States. They captured the great British naval basef Singapre in Asia. They captured the islandsf the East Indies， which belnged t Hlland. They captured Siam and Burma and pushedn tward India. They captured the Malay Peninsula. They had already seized French Ind-China and a ltf China.
Yu prbably have a mapf Asia in yur atlasr gegraphy bk. If yu lk these places upn the map， yu"ll see hw far Japan"s armies went in Asia.n a mapf the Pacificcean， yu can find the islands they captured far frm Japan， islands with strange names yu wuld never hear abut in a histry bk except fr the battles that were fught there in Wrld War II：
GUAM AND WAKE NEW GUINEA
BUGA1NVILLE AND GUADALCANAL KISKA IN THE ALEUTIANSManyf the places the Japanese captured were defended bravely. The Philippines were takennly after the American and Philippine sldiers were all either killedr captured， except the few that escaped t the hills， where little bandsf men keptn ding what damage they culd t the Japanese cnquerrs.
President Rsevelt and Prime Minister Churchill had decided t try t beat Hitler first and then clean up the Japanese. S American and British sldiersPacific areas in Wrld War II ( 第二次世界大战时的太平洋地区 )were sent t Nrth Africa and fught and beat the German army there. Then they attacked Italy.
Great numbersf American and British sldiers were assembled in England. Frm England their airplanes bmbed the Germans and fught the German airplanes. Finally， in June， 1944， all was ready fr the attackn the main German armies. A huge frcef American and British sldiers， under the cmmandf General Dwight Eisenhwer， crssed the English Channel and landedn the castf Nrmandy in France. They fught the Germans in fierce and bldy battles and chased them back acrss France t Germany. France and Belgium and Hlland were made free and became again independent cuntries.
Meanwhile， the Russians wh had been fighting the Germans all this timen thether sidef Germany， putn a tremendus drive and pushed the Germans back int Germany. They captured Berlin， the capital. Musslini had been caught and sht by the Italians themselves in Italy， and nw Hitler， with his armies defeated， cmmitted suicide. He culd nt stand the thughtf defeat.
The terrible Nazis were at last beaten， but thusandsf peple were still hmeless and hungry and had t be fed with fd shipped in frmther cuntries.
n thether sidef the wrld， the war against Japan was still gingn. Many battles had been fught against the Japanese-airplane battles， sea battles， and land battles.ne after anther， the islands Japan hadverrun were recaptured， nt easily but by fierce and bldy fightsften with the heat and diseasesf trpical jungles t add t the difficultiesfur sldiers. In the Pacific war， General Duglas MacArthur was the cmmanding general. His armies with the helpf the navy recaptured the Philippines. They were ready t invade Japan itself， when a terrible new weapn was used against the Japanese， and Japan surrendered.
This new weapn was the atmic bmb. Just twf them were drpped frm American airplanesnt tw Japanese cities. They caused such awful destructin thatnly tw were needed.
Germany surrendered in May， Japan in Augustf 1945. The biggest and mst terrible war in the histryf the wrld wasver.
【中文阅读】
世界上有史以来规模最大的战争的故事在一章之内是讲不完的。 所以这章还是关于第二次世界大战的。 法国沦陷以后，在所有那些被德国进攻过的国家中只有英帝国还没有被征服。
即使在不列颠战役之后，谁也不能肯定纳粹就不会企图入侵英国了。但是只阻挡德 国不入侵英国也不能赢得这场战争。没有人相信英国人全靠自己就能够击败德国人。 就是说，除了英国人，没有人相信这一点。他们决不放弃抵抗，而且他们坚持要努 力打败世界上这支最强大、训练有素、装备最精良的军队。
英帝国在其他地区的附属国派兵来援助英国。但是这些国家（加拿大、澳大利 亚、南非、新西兰和印度）都与英国远隔重洋，而海上的船又是德国潜水艇搜索的 目标，一旦发觉，就用鱼雷击毁。
墨索里尼让意大利加入这场战争之中，站在德国一边。日本在中国烧杀抢掠、 狂轰滥炸，日本也对德国友好。
没有哪个国家能够确信不遭到攻击。谁会是名单上的下一个呢？ 就连与欧洲相距 3000 英里，远在大洋彼岸的美国都感到必须加强防卫。规模很小的美国陆军被扩充为一支规模庞大的军队，美国工厂被要求加紧生产坦克、飞机和其他战备物质，开始建造用于海军的新船。但是，一支庞大的现代化军队不可能 在几天之内就招募并完成训练，装备齐全。建设一支军队不是几天、几个月，而是 需要数年时间。海军舰艇部队的建设需要的时间比陆军更长。美国人民很幸运，富 兰克林D 罗斯福担任总统期间领导全国人民为战争作了准备。因为仅仅大约一年 后美国就遭到了袭击。甚至那时候我们都还没有准备好。不过那是后话了。
再来说欧洲，就在德国还忙于在法国、丹麦和挪威建立自己的秩序，同时设法 用飞机征服英国的时候，意大利试图占领希腊和埃及。但是意大利人不像德国人那 样勇猛善战。希腊一支军队人数虽少，但很英勇，在那里抵挡住意大利人的进攻， 与此同时在北非的一个英国将军带领从英帝国各个地区来的士兵，击败了兵力五倍 于自己的两支意大利军队。此举将埃塞俄比亚从意大利人的统治下解放出来。
但是接着德国人派了一支军队在三周之内占领了希腊。他们还派兵到北非，与 那里的英国人交战，这场战争一打就是三年。
希特勒突然进攻俄国。也许你认为希特勒这么做很愚蠢。俄国是个幅员辽阔的 国家，有一支庞大的军队。甚至拿破仑都攻克不了俄国。但是希特勒知道如果他征 服了俄国，德国就可以得到大量的石油、小麦、木材和矿产。此外，他认为俄国可 能会进攻德国，因为自从纳粹开始侵略别国，俄国就一直在建设一支强大的军队。 到目前为止希特勒已经将 15 个欧洲国家置于纳粹的统治之下，尽管他的空军未能让 英国投降，但是他的陆军从未战败过。
纳粹冲进了俄国。他们希望迅速打垮俄国军队。纳粹在俄国境内长驱直入，但 是俄国军队虽然被击退，却没有被打垮。最后纳粹到达了莫斯科城下，接着就同时 从三面攻城。希特勒宣称莫斯科战役将是对俄国军队的致命一击。但是他言之过早。 尽管德国人用几千辆坦克和飞机轮番进攻，俄国人坚守莫斯科达数周之久，不使之 沦于敌手。俄国士兵和城中的市民并肩战斗保卫莫斯科。最终俄国人击退了德国军 队。莫斯科得救了。
但是，阻止德国人夺取莫斯科并不意味着赢得这场战争，就像把他们赶出英国 并不意味着赢得这场战争一样。德国和意大利还控制着几乎整个欧洲。
就在俄国人把纳粹赶出莫斯科的同时，日本发动突袭。日本飞机没有预先发出 警告，就轰炸了在夏威夷珍珠港的美国舰队。这一天是 1941 年 12 月 7 日。那里所 有的美国军舰都被击沉或损毁，2000 多美国人丧生。第二天英国和美国对日本宣战。 四天以后，德国和意大利对美国宣战。
美国还没有准备好同时与德国和日本作战。美国新招募的军队还没有训练好， 一支新建立的舰队还没有准备好去代替在珍珠港被炸掉的船只。幸运的是俄国在欧 洲猛攻德军，这样就使盘踞的数百万纳粹无暇顾及别处，也让美国又有了一年的准 备时间。美国的工厂尽快地生产出坦克、卡车和其他军需品，美国的船只也尽快地 运送这些物品，美国也就尽快地把这些物品送到俄国和在埃及的英国军队那里。
然而一开始就把日本阻止住是不可能的。日本人占领了属于美国的菲律宾群岛。 他们占领了英国在亚洲新加坡的大海军基地。他们占领了属于荷兰的东印度群岛。 他们占领了暹罗和缅甸，继而向印度推进。他们占领了马来半岛。而在此之前他们 已经夺取了法属印度支那和中国的许多地方。
也许在你的地图册或地理书里，有张亚洲地图。如果你在地图上查找到这些地 方，就能看到日本军队在亚洲入侵到多远的地方。在一张太平洋的地图上，你能发 现他们占领了离日本很远的岛屿，这些岛屿的名字都很奇怪，要不是因为在第二次 世界大战中那里发生过战役，你就不会在历史书中听说这些岛屿：
关岛和威克岛
新几内亚
布干维尔岛和瓜达尔卡纳尔岛 阿留申群岛中的基斯卡岛在很多地方，日本人攻占时都遭到顽强的抵抗。日本人在攻占菲律宾群岛时， 美军和菲律宾士兵抵抗到最后，直到他们全部被杀或被俘，少数士兵逃到山里，在 那里他们分成小股队伍不断打击日本侵略者 ， 尽可能对他们造成破坏。
罗斯福总统和丘吉尔首相决定先设法打败了希特勒，然后再清除日本人。于是美军和英军被派往北非，与那里的德军作战，并击败了德军。接着他们进攻意大利。 大批美国和英国士兵被调集到英国。他们的飞机从英国出发去轰炸德国人，还 与德国飞机展开空战。最后，在 1944 年 6 月，进攻德军主力的准备一切就绪。在德 怀特 艾森豪威尔将军的指挥下，美国和英国的庞大军队渡过了英吉利海峡在法国诺 曼底登陆。他们与德国人浴血苦战，击退了德军，德军在追击下，从法国逃回德国。
法国、比利时和荷兰都被解放了，再次成为独立的国家。 与此同时，在德国另一边一直与德国人作战的俄国人展开了大规模的强攻，一举把德国人打回了老家。他们占领了德国的首都柏林。在意大利，墨索里尼被本国 人抓起来枪决了。此时希特勒得知自己的军队战败就自杀了。一想到失败他就怎么 也受不了。
可怕的纳粹最终被打败了，但是还有成千上万的人无家可归、忍饥挨饿，不得不从其他国家运来粮食救济他们。 在世界的另一边，抗日战争仍在继续。打击日本人的许多战役都展开了--空战、海战以及陆地战。日本侵占的岛屿一个又一个被收复了，战斗并不轻松，都经 过了浴血苦战，由于热带丛林的炎热和引起的疾病，战士们的行动往往更困难。在 太平洋战争中，道格拉斯 麦克阿瑟将军是指挥将军。在海军的帮助下，他的军队收 复了菲律宾群岛。他们正准备打入日本本土时，一件可怕的新式武器被用来打击日 本，于是日本投降了。
这件新式武器就是原子弹。从美国飞机上只扔下其中两枚原子弹，轰炸两座日 本城市。原子弹带来了毁灭性的后果，令人恐怖，因此只需两枚就够了。
德国 1945 年 5 月投降，日本 1945 年 8 月投降。世界历史上规模最大、最可怕 的战争结束了。
公元 1945 年