hh1节译：死亡守卫军团组织结构

Before they were united with their Primarch, the Dusk Raiders conformed very closely die standard raiment of arms and organisational parterns laid out for the early by the Officio Militaris. The XIVth Legion is noted in record in this period as maintaining a rounded capacity for multiple modes of warfare, although with some bias to heavy assault formations and attritional engagements, as evidenced by the particular use of close-ranged weaponry among its specialised units. With Mortarion as its master much within the Legion, including its art of warfare, changed dramatically over time. He was at his heart an infantryman, and in his Death Guard he saw the chance to perfect the principle of the utilitarian warrior on foot who could go anywhere, right on any ground and destroy any enemy through resilience, resolve and implacable aggression. As part of this doctrine squad formations were nor largely static as with most Legions but were formed, reformed and ordered as needed. To this end a Death Guard Legionary was trained to be equally adept at any infantry role he might be called on to perform on the battlefield rather than fighting in a particular role, acting as a Tactical Marine in one battle, a support weapons operator in another and so on, with only Techmarines and other highly specialised occupations remaining separate.

在与原体团聚之前，暮色袭击者军团极其遵守军务庭在早期制定的那死板的标准化武器涂装与组织形式。根据这一时期的记录，那时的第十四军团保有着进行多种形式战争的全面能力，不过他们也有着对于重型突击编队和消耗战有着某些偏好，军团特殊单位中对于近程武器的特定使用也证明了这一点。随着莫塔里安成为了军团的主宰，包括战争艺术在内的军团内部成分随着时间的推移发生了巨大的变化。莫塔里安在内心中是个步兵，而在他的死亡守卫军团中，他看到了完善他那可以靠着双足走到任何地方的实用主义战士信条的机会，（这些战士可以）走上任何地形，通过快速恢复能力、决心和无情的侵略攻击摧毁任何敌人。作为这种信条的一部分，死亡守卫的军团小队编制并非像大多数军团那样极其静态，而是随着需要而被组建、重组和指挥。结果就是死亡军团战士被训练去同等地擅长任何可能被莫塔里安要求在战场上扮演的步兵角色，而非以某种特定的角色作战，死亡守卫军团战士们要在一场战斗中充当战术星际战士，在另一场战斗中充当支援武器操作手，等等。只有技术军士和其他高度专业化的职业保持着独立。

At its most fundamental level the Death Guard Legion was organized around the principle of equipping individual Space Marines as well as possible, so that they could endure and prevail against any foe encountered, and operate for extended periods without resupply or support if needed. This was a dogma espoused by Mortarion which was readily embraced by the wider Legion, as it built on the independence and surety with which the Dusk Raiders had always fought. Bolter, melta and flamer were now the trinity of weapons around which their wargear was based, keeping supply needs to a minimum. Other types of ranged weapons were deployed sparingly only as the tactical situation or nature of the enemy demanded. Each Death Guard also carried a close combat blade as well—broad trench daggers, warscythes and the heavy slashing “Kukra” of Barbarus, forged of dense black ceramsteel, these brutal and efficient weapons soon became a hallmark of the Legion. This reliance on simple but effective tools of war was an outward manifestation of the cardinal belief held by the Legion that the Space Marine himself was the greatest of all weapons at the Imperiums disposal—a tireless engine of war before which any enemy would eventually succumb, or as Mortarion put it to his Legion: “One man can murder a world given sufficient time and the fortitude to wield the blade again and again, and again until death's work is done.”

在其最为基础的层级上，死亡守卫围绕着尽可能将独立的星际战士进行装备的信条进行组织，这样他们就能忍受并战胜遇到的任何敌人，而且需要时，他们能在没有补给和支援的情况下长期运作。莫塔里安信奉着一种被广大军团欣然接受的信条，他建立于黄昏突袭者们一向的战斗独立性和保证性上。爆弹枪、热熔枪和火焰喷射器现在是死亡守卫的武器三件套，战争装备也是以这些武器为基础，将补给需要保持在最低。只有在战术环境和敌人特性有所要求时，其他类型的远程武器才会被保守地部署。每名死亡守卫也都携带了一把近战格斗刀——宽血槽的匕首、战镰和巴巴鲁斯重型砍刀“库卡拉”，它们由质密的黑色陶铁合金（机仆：“陶钢”的原文是ceramite，其实跟金属无关，“精瓷”可能反而更贴切，creamsteel直译过来更像是“陶钢”）铸造，这些残忍且高效的武器很快成为了军团的一项标志。这种对于简单而有效的战争工具的依赖是军团秉持的基本信念一种表向体现：星际战士本身便是帝国支配的所有武器当中最为强悍的——在任何敌人尚未屈服之前，阿斯塔特们就是不会疲惫的战争引擎；或者就像莫塔里安对军团的看法：“只要被给予足够的时间和反复挥剑的勇气，一个人就可以谋杀整个世界，直到死亡的工作事毕”。

The Death Guard relied almost exclusively on its infantry to provide its strategic strength, with the bulk of tactical support firepower coming from heavily armed support squads, and latterly with considerable numbers of Terminators and Dreadnoughts—a tradition begun by the Dusk Raiders, providing reinforcement and assault spearheads where needed. This focus was also one of the reasons the Death Guard Legion developed a particularly admirable record in fighting to clear space hulks of alien infestation and for their ability to destroy fortifications and citadels from within. While the Death Guard did maintain and utilise field armour, support vehicles and transports (as Mortarion would not allow his forces to be circumvented, cut-off or left wanting for their lack), these were not given any primacy in the Legion's tactical doctrine. The only exceptions to this were dedicated siege units such as the Vindicator which was fielded in disproportionately high numbers by the Legion, alongside squadrons of Fellblade super-heavies and Land Raider Spartans in mass warfare. It was notable in hindsight and would prove to be a telling factor on Isstvan III—that a proportionately high number of Death Guard Legion war machine crews were of Terran blood by the time of the Heresy, while the heaviest infantry strike units, particularly the Legion's sizable core of Terminator armour-equipped shock troops, were of Barbarus stock.

死亡守卫几乎仅仅依靠其步兵来提供战略力量，大部分战术支援火力来自重型装甲支援小队，之后跟进数量可观的终结者部队和无畏机甲——该传统开始于黄昏袭击者时期，在有需要的地方提供增援和进攻矛头。这种专注性也是死亡守卫在清理异形出没的太空废船的战斗中发展出极其令人赞叹的记录的原因之一，还有就是因为他们从内部摧毁防御工事和堡垒的能力。虽然死亡守卫确实也保有和使用着战地装甲载具、支援载具和运输载具(莫塔里安不会允许他的部队因缺乏这些装备而被包围、切断线路或者陷入匮乏状态)，但它们在军团的战术信条中未被给予任何首要地位，仅有的例外是诸如维护者攻城坦克之类的攻城单位——死亡守卫军团以高得不成比例的数量使用此类单位，还有就是大规模战争中的残暴之刃超重坦和斯巴达型兰德掠夺者中队。从事后来看，这些现象是很明显的，而且被证明是伊斯特万三号战役中一个有说服力的因素——在叛乱（爆发）时，死亡守卫军团中有数量高到不成比例的战争机器乘员是泰拉裔；而最为重型的步兵攻击单位，尤其是军团中装备了终结者动力甲的部队的大量核心成员是巴巴鲁斯族裔。

Legion Command Hierarchy

军团指挥等级体系

When the new-found Primarch was given command of his Legion, his fellow Primarchs and the Lords Militant of the Imperium no doubt waited with some expectation to see what manner of warrior this macabre addition to the ranks of the Emperor's sons would prove. The answer came in a perhaps unexpected form as Mortarion proved himself within the span of a very few battles to be one of the finest field commanders the Great Crusade had ever seen, ever at the forefront of his forces smashing down foes. The mysterious Primarch had an uncanny sense for the ride of a battle's turning, and where and when forces under his command—sometimes removed by thousands of miles from his own position— should hold ground or advance to brutal effect—so well did he perceive the ebb and flow of war. Many of his contemporaries, and indeed commentators, since have underestimated Mortarion's razor-sharp intelligence and flare for organisational simplicity and efficiency .These factors, coupled with the ability to inspire a fanarical loyalty in those of Barbaras blood who viewed him as no less than a near-divine saviour, allowed Mortarion to remake his Legion as a single instnimeiit of his will .Of all of the Legions, it was said of the Death Guard that they were but one entity with a single purpose and one body.

当新发现的原体被给予军团的指挥权时，他的原体兄弟和帝国的军事领主们无疑怀着某种期待来等待着的——期待见证这位加入帝皇子嗣行列的恐怖人物会证明何等的战士之道。莫塔里安以一种可能是让人始料未及的形式进行了回答：他在仅仅几场战斗中就证明了自己是（帝国在）大远征中曾经见证过的最优秀的战地指挥官之一，他总是身处他的部队碾碎敌人的前线。这位神秘的原体对于战斗的转向有一种不可思议的感觉，这种感觉也存在于他指挥下的部队应在何时何地坚守阵地或发动野蛮的攻势——某些时候这些部队距离他自己的位置有数千英里之远，他在理解战争潮起潮落的方面也做得很好。他的很多同代人，甚至是评论家们都低估了莫塔里安的敏锐才智和他对于组织简洁性和效率的灵光一闪。这些因素配合着激发视其为一个不亚于神明的救世主的巴巴鲁斯裔们的狂热的能力允许莫塔里安根据他的意志将第十四军团重置为一件独立的工具。在所有军团中，据说死亡守卫军团只是一个有单独目标和形体的实体存在。

Obedience and order in the ranks of the Dearh Guard was absolute and expected, and a clear and unbroken chain of command ran like blood in the Legion's veins. Legionaries were extensions of their sergeanrs’ will, sergeants their captain's, and caprains their commanders, and through them all were instruments of Mortarion, body and soul. Few other ranks or divisions of formal organisation existed, except in very specialized, often technical, roles and each member of the Legion knew their place and the seniority and tasks of those around them without recourse to heraldry and symbol 。All conformed to Mortarion's decree without rancour or dissent, and rivalries and internal strife were observed by outsiders to be few, particularly in comparison to more notably fractious Legions such as the Night Lords or Space Wolves, When an officer died in battle, his successor stepped into his place swiftly and decisively without need for orders or discussion, and so the Legion's chain of command was seamless even under the heaviest losses, contributing to the Death Guard's reputation for endurance in war.

在死亡守卫的部队中，服从和命令是绝对和被要求的，一条清晰且不可打破的指挥链像血液一样在军团的血管中流动。军团战士们是他们的军士们的意志的延伸，军士们是他们的连长们的意志的延伸，连长们是他们的指挥官们的意志的延伸，而他们所有人都是莫塔里安的工具，无论是身体上还是灵魂上。第十四军团中几乎不存在正式组织的军衔或分支，除非是某些非常专业的，通常是技术上的。军团中的每名成员和职责都能在不依靠纹章和符号标志的情况下明白他们的地位与周围人的资历和任务。所有人都要毫无敌意和分歧地服从莫塔里安，局外人在第十四军团中几乎观察不到竞争和内部冲突，尤其是与诸如午夜领主和太空野狼这些明显更为难以控制的军团相比，当一位军官死在战斗中时，他的继任者无需命令和讨论就能快速果断地接替他的位置，所以哪怕是在最为严重的损失下，军团的指挥链也是无缝（连续）的，促成死亡守卫在战争中的耐久力强的名声。

The overall Legion Mortarion had reordered into seven "Great Companies" of considerably larger size than standard Legion organisational structures would mandate—the number seven and its derivations seeming to hold occult and ritual significance both to Mortarion and the culture of his blighted world of adoption. Notionally each company was to hold some 70,000 Space Marines, the desired strength of the Dearh Guard Legion's number then some 490,000 Legiones Astartes—although in reality nothing approaching this number was ever achieved. Attrition and bloodshed, as well as the constraints of time and resources,were to see the Legion never reach this number but the figure remains, if nothing else，a measure of Morrarion’s ambition.

莫塔里安把整个军团分为七个“大连”，其规模比标准军团组织结构所要求的要大得多——对于莫塔里安与收养他的枯萎世界的文化而言，数字“7”及其派生含义似乎具有深奥且仪式性的含义。理论上每个连队拥有大概70,000名星际战士，死亡守卫军团期望的兵力数大概是490000名军团阿斯塔特——但事实上死亡守卫军团的兵力从未接近过这个数字。由于（资源）损耗和（人员的）流血牺牲以及时间和资源的限制，军团人数从未达到过这个数目，但这种数字仍然存在，如果没有其他的话，就是对于莫塔里安野心的一种评估。

Elite units, favoured or chosen warriors singled out from the rest, and sub-formations within the Death Guard Legion were also noticeably lacking in comparison to other Legions, with only a few exceptions - the most notable of which were known as the Deathshroud. Singled out by Mortarion they were veteran warriors, chosen for their skill-at-arms, fearlessness and their proven endurance, and were often selected from Death Guard who had survived where their comrades had fallen， often quite literally having been left the 'last man' from an assault force or particularly bloody defence. The Deathshroud formed Mortarion's silent bodyguard, and in peace or war it was said that at least two of their number remained within forty-nine paces of their Primarch at any time.

相比于其他军团，死亡守卫军团中的精英单位、从其他军团战士中挑选而出的被青睐或被选中的战士和次级编队也明显缺失，只有少数例外——其中最著名的被称为死亡寿衣，他们是由莫塔里安挑选而出的老兵战士，他们受选是因为其武器技艺、无畏精神和他们被证明的忍耐力，莫塔里安通常也会从那些其战友全部阵亡但其自己（独自）幸存的死亡守卫战士中挑选死亡寿衣，这些战士通常是某支进攻部队或者某场极其血腥的防御战中遗留下的字面意义上的“最后一人”。死亡寿衣们组成了莫塔里安寂静的卫队，在非战争或者战争时期，据说至少有两名死亡寿衣成员在任何时候都保持在其原体的四十九步距离之内。

War Disposition

战争配置

Unlike some Legions whose operations were often diffused into separate commands, taskforces and campaigns, the Death Guard were accustomed to fight as one. So it was that the XIVth Legion came to the Isstvan system with its almost complete strength, the most accurate of which placed it at approximately 95,000 Space Marines, 70 capital vessels and perhaps three times that number of smaller escort and assault craft.

不同于某些通常将自己的运作分散在独立的指挥组、特遣队和战役中的军团，死亡守卫军团习惯于作为一个整体来战斗，所以第十四军团带着几乎全部兵力前往了伊斯特万星系，其中最为准确的数据是：死亡守卫军团（在伊斯特万星系）投放了大约95,000名星际战士，70艘主力舰以及数量可能三倍于此的小型护卫舰船和突击艇。

For some considerable time before the betrayal the Death Guard Legion had fought beside the Sons of Horus in the galactic north, either attacking targets of extreme environmental hazard alongside specialized units, or often joining in open battle to form an unbreakable anvil against which the forces of fellow Legions caught and smashed the foe.

在大叛乱之前相当多的时间段中，死亡守卫在银河系北部与荷鲁斯之子并肩作战，无论是和专门的部队一起攻击有极端环境危害的目标，还是经常加入公开战斗来组成（用于）针对被兄弟军团拖住的敌军部队的坚不可摧的铁砧，并将敌人彻底粉碎。

Deployed to the surface of Isstvan III it is believed were a little under a third of the Legions forces, comprising the principal elements of its 2th，5th and 7th Great Companies, as well as a detachment of Legion Fellblades and siege gear. This numbered not only the bulk of the Death Guards Terran blood but many others besides, forming an effective fighting fore to retake the rebel world. It is not known if these non-Terran elements were also distrusted by their master Mortarion to follow him in revolt against the Emperor, merely deemed a necessary sacrifice as part of the Warmaster's plan.

人们相信被部署到伊斯特万三号表面的只是不到死亡守卫军团三分之一成员的少数部分，组成了第2、第5和第7大连的主要部分，以及一支军团残暴之刃和攻城装备分遣队。这些部队不仅是死亡守卫军团的大部分泰拉裔成员，而且还有很多其他成员，他们组成了收复这个叛乱世界的一支实际战斗先遣队。我们不知道他们的主宰莫塔里安是否不相信那些非泰拉裔死亡守卫也会追随他加入反叛帝皇的叛乱，仅仅视之为战帅计划某部分的必要牺牲。

Given the observed nature of the Legion it is then all the more shocking perhaps that despite their unity of purpose and the unflinching loyalty of his Death Guard, that it seems apparent that Mortarion simply did not trust some within his ranks, particularly those of Terran stock, and so conspired in their merciless destruction at Isstvan III. So was Mortarion's betrayal felt the most keenly and bitterly by those he cast down, a loyalty scorned that turned into burning hatred of their former master. Ironically it was also Mortarion's doctrine of endurance and self-sufficiency, and the Legions experiences fighting on the deadliest of battlefields that allowed the betrayed Death Guard to respond swiftly and eflectively to their plight and danger—for in proportion it appears more of them survived the initial viral bombardment of Isstvan III than any other Legion force stranded there, and it was their dogged resistance and will to fight despite the odds which allowed them to prove such a thorn tn the traitors' side.

考虑到第四军团某些被观察的天性，也许更为令人震惊的是：虽然死亡守卫军团目标统一，战士们对于莫塔里安拥有坚定的忠诚，但很明显，莫塔里安就是不信任他部队中的某些人，尤其是那些泰拉裔，所以也在伊斯特万三号上对其阴谋进行了无情的毁灭。那些遭到莫塔里安抛弃的死亡守卫们也对原体的背叛有着最为强烈和痛苦的感受，他们忠诚的蔑视转变成了对于前主子的强烈愤恨。讽刺的是，也正是莫塔里安关于忍耐力和自给自足的信条，以及军团在最为致命的战场上的作战经验允许遭到背叛的（忠诚派）死亡守卫们快速灵活地应对他们的困境与危局——按比例来看，在伊斯特万三号最初的病毒轰炸当中，死亡守卫军团的幸存者多于其他被困于此的军团。尽管身处逆境 ，但正是他们坚韧的抵抗力和战斗意志允许忠诚派死亡守卫战士们证明自己是刺入叛徒们（部队）的一根利刺。