Chapter 13

CHAPTER 13 AUGUST 25, 1776 10:00 A.M. BROOKLYN Three days later the Connecticut 5th was ordered to Brooklyn along with six thousand other soldiers. They were all ferried across the East River on big rowboats. Nate and the men were sent to Fort Greene, one of the six Brooklyn forts.

第十三章1776年8月25日上午10:00 三天后，康涅狄格第5步兵团和其他6000名士兵奉命前往布鲁克林。 他们都被装在大划艇上渡过东河。 内特和他的手下被送到了格林堡，布鲁克林的六个堡垒之一。

All of the forts were spread across Brooklyn Heights. That was the part of Brooklyn that was closest to New York City. Nate hadn't realized how huge Brooklyn was. It had to be at least ten times the size of New York City. And much of the land was wild. Only a few hundred people lived in Brooklyn, and most had fled. But this wild land was important in the war. If the British took Brooklyn, they would put their cannons on Brooklyn Heights. From there, they could blast New York City to bits. "But we're not going to let that happen," Captain Marsh said. It was a few hours after they'd arrived at Fort Greene. Nate and the men had set up their tents inside the fort's tall dirt walls. Now Captain Marsh was explaining the American battle plan. He showed them a map of Brooklyn and pointed out the six American forts. Then Captain Marsh pointed to a squiggly line on the map. It

所有的堡垒都分布在布鲁克林高地。 那是布鲁克林离纽约市最近的地方。 内特还没意识到布鲁克林有多大。 它至少要有纽约市的十倍那么大。 大部分土地都是荒野。 只有几百人住在布鲁克林，大多数人都逃走了。 但这片荒地在战争中很重要。 如果英国人占领了布鲁克林，他们会把大炮放在布鲁克林高地。 从那里，他们可以把纽约炸成碎片。 “但我们不会让这种事发生，”马什上尉说。 那是在他们到达格林堡几个小时之后。 内特和其他人在堡垒高大的土墙内搭起了帐篷。 这时，马什上尉正在解释美军的作战计划。 他给他们看了布鲁克林的地图，指出了美国的六座堡垒。 接着，马什船长指着地图上一条弯弯曲曲的线。 它

looked to be about one mile from Brooklyn Heights. "That's the Gowanus Heights," he said. It was a long ridge of hills. "The British are somewhere on the other side of the ridge, and they have to cross the hills of Gowanus Heights to get to our fort. But we already have three thousand men guarding those hills. When the British try to cross…"

看起来离布鲁克林高地有一英里远 “那是高瓦纳斯高地，”他说。 那是一条长长的山脊。 “英国人在山脊另一边的某个地方，他们必须穿过戈瓦纳斯高地的山丘才能到达我们的堡垒。 但我们已经有三千人守卫那些山了。 当英国人试图越过……”

Paul chimed in. "We'll blast them right back to England!" Captain March cracked a tiny smile. "Or at least back to Staten Island." The Redcoats and Hessians who made it to the forts would face dozens of cannons. Thousands of Americans would be shooting at them from trenches, protected by the tall dirt walls. "It will be like Bunker Hill," Samuel said with a hopeful smile. "That's right," Captain Marsh said, the certainty gleaming in his eyes. The men cheered. Several nights passed, and Brooklyn stayed mostly quiet. On the night of August 26, soldiers from different companies gathered around the campfires. They roasted hunks of pork on sharpened sticks. They insulted the British and

保罗插话了。“我们要把他们炸回英国去!”马奇上尉微微一笑。 “或者至少回斯塔顿岛去。” 英军和黑森人到达堡垒后将面临数十门大炮的攻击。 成千上万的美国人将从壕沟里向他们射击，壕沟被高大的土墙保护着。 “它会像邦克山一样，”塞缪尔满怀希望地笑着说。 “没错，”马什船长说，确信的目光闪过他的眼睛。 男人们欢呼起来。几个晚上过去了，布鲁克林大部分时间都很安静。 8月26日晚，来自不同连的士兵聚集在营火周围。 他们用削尖的棍子烤大块的猪肉。 他们侮辱了英国人

called the Hessians foul names Nate would never repeat. To Nate, it almost seemed that the men were looking forward to a big party, not a bloody battle. They sang songs, including one that Nate had never heard before. It had a bright and catchy tune, but words that made no sense at all. Yankee Doodle went to town, riding on a pony… One man played along on a little twinkling flute called a fife. Paul, Martin, and Samuel all sang along. Yankee Doodle, keep it up, Yankee Doodle Dandy "What's a Yankee Doodle?" Nate asked, raising his voice up over the singing and knee slapping. "It's what the British call us," Martin said. "They say the Americans are a bunch of Yankee Doodles, country fools who don't know how to fight."

骂了黑森一家内特永远不会说的脏话 在内特看来，这些人似乎在期待一场盛大的派对，而不是一场血腥的战斗。 他们唱歌，其中有一首是内特从未听过的。 这首歌的曲调明亮而上口，但歌词却毫无意义。 扬基·嘟嘟骑着一匹小马进城去了，一个人吹着一支闪闪发光的笛子，叫做“笛”。 保罗、马丁和塞缪尔都跟着唱。 扬基嘟嘟，继续，扬基嘟嘟丹迪，什么是扬基嘟嘟?内特问道，他提高了嗓门，盖过了唱歌和拍膝盖的声音。 “这是英国人对我们的称呼，”马丁说。 “他们说美国人是一群美国佬，是不会打仗的乡巴佬。”

"The British made up this song, to tease us in battle," Paul added. "So why are we singing it?" Nate asked. This made no sense at all. "Because at Bunker Hill, we showed them what a bunch of Yankee Doodles can do," Samuel said. "We stole the name — and the song." Nate smiled. Now he got it. The Americans took the British insult — and turned it into a battle song. The singing went on until a blaring trumpet called the men to attention. Three men appeared. The man in the center was very tall and wore a blue uniform. The men leaped to their feet. It was General Washington! The general stood quietly for a moment, as the men gathered around him. A hush came over the camp. Even the grumpiest and sleepiest of the men stood up straight. They brushed the dust from their

保罗补充说:“英国人编了这首歌，是为了在战场上戏弄我们。” “那我们为什么要唱这首歌?”内特问道。 这根本说不通。 “因为在邦克山，我们向他们展示了一群扬基涂鸦能做什么，”塞缪尔说。 “我们偷了它的名字——还有那首歌。” 内特笑了。现在他明白了。 美国人接受了英国人的侮辱，并把它变成了一首战歌。 歌声一直唱下去，直到一声嘹亮的喇叭声叫大家注意。 三个人出现了。中间的那个人很高，穿着蓝色的制服。 男人们一跃而起。 是华盛顿将军!将军静静地站了一会儿，士兵们围了过来。 营地里一片寂静。 即使是最暴躁、最困倦的人也站直了身子。 他们把灰尘从他们的