雙語暢銷書《艾倫圖靈傳》第5章:解謎接力賽(138)
It was symbolic of the war effort as a whole, the British situation being one that in 1939 would have seemed disastrous beyond belief.
The loss of all European allies, the reversal of early gains from Italy, the surrender of Singapore—these and other blows were still offset only by the promise of help from an ill-prepared, inexperienced America.
歐洲聯盟受損、意大利派兵、新加坡投降，這種種打擊和失敗，都只能指望新手上陣的美國來彌補。For what it was worth, which was very little, the RAF was gaining superiority over the Luftwaffe in crude bombing capacity.
皇家空軍在與納粹空軍的交戰中處於上風，但這只是杯水車薪，
Yet this did not prevent the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau passing Dover in broad daylight.
無法阻止沙恩霍斯特號和格奈澤魯號戰列巡洋艦在光天化日之下駛過多佛爾。Meanwhile the economy of German Europe, hitherto complacently assessed as 'taut', was in reality only just beginning to adapt to full-scale war production.
與此同時，德國在歐洲範圍的經濟狀況，到目前爲止仍是秩序井然，他們只是剛剛轉爲全面戰時生產。And its principal enemy had only just staved off defeat at the gates of Moscow.
而他的對手，僅能在莫斯科老家門口勉強逃過一劫。They had to think impossible things, and to think them before breakfast.
他們不得不想些奇招了，而且要趁早。An American army had to be created out of almost nothing, and conveyed across the Atlantic to invade a heavily fortified continent dominated by a no less advanced industrial power.
他們幻想美軍橫空出世，護航穿越大西洋，打到正被強大勢力嚴防死守的大陸。But even the preparations for that invasion, let alone its success, were impossible while the Atlantic U-boat fleet was allowed to operate.
但就算美軍真有個打算，在大西洋U艇遍佈的情況下，也是不可能實現的。With Hitler now taking the war seriously, the U-boat force had swollen to a fleet of a hundred larger vessels by January 1942, and was increasing every week.
現在希特勒對戰爭很認真了，到1942年1月，U型潛艇的數量已經增加到100艘，而且每週都在繼續增加。After February, with invisibility restored, they were able to inflict damage that approached disaster levels—half a million tons a month, exceeding the construction rate of the new Allies combined.
2月之後，他們造成的運力損失高達每月50, 0000噸，這遠遠超過了同盟的補充速度。It would be hard even to stay in the same place, let alone build up to the possibility of a victory.
連維持現狀都幾乎不可能了，更別說獲得什麼新的成功。
