趙毅衡

一

并沒(méi)有想去德累斯頓，我們想去的是美麗而浪漫的布拉格。

坐柏林城里的S-Bahn線路去中心火車站，卻在Bellevue站停了下來(lái)，時(shí)間一長(zhǎng)，我們才發(fā)現(xiàn)站臺(tái)上有些異樣。有幾個(gè)人在匆忙奔跑，有人在嚷著，好像是在發(fā)命令。但是整個(gè)站臺(tái)還是空空蕩蕩，沒(méi)幾個(gè)乘客走出車廂張望，也沒(méi)人像我們這樣焦急地打聽(tīng)。

“有人跳軌自殺?！笨粗覀兊囊苫蟊砬椋晃焕舷壬届o地說(shuō)，接著就像其他乘客一樣埋頭看報(bào)。過(guò)了近半個(gè)小時(shí)，車又開(kāi)動(dòng)了。

那是個(gè)寧?kù)o的早晨，這個(gè)巨大的城市幾乎全埋在綠蔭中，規(guī)行矩步，悄然無(wú)聲。從車站月臺(tái)上遠(yuǎn)望，好像整個(gè)中歐晴空萬(wàn)里，誰(shuí)會(huì)想在這樣一個(gè)好日子尋找毀滅？

于是誤了火車。下一班直達(dá)車要等五個(gè)小時(shí)。我們正在自罵倒霉，售票員建議我們不妨分兩段走，到德累斯頓再換車。

德累斯頓？

德累斯頓！我做研究生時(shí)讀過(guò)伏涅格特的《第五號(hào)屠場(chǎng)——兒童十字軍》，里面寫(xiě)到德累斯頓的轟炸。我心中一直認(rèn)為那是個(gè)敘述學(xué)上所謂地理“錨定”。像伏涅格特那樣的后現(xiàn)代先鋒作家，錨定是否扎實(shí)可信，不僅無(wú)所謂，而且是嘲弄對(duì)象。他從德累斯頓一下子跳到另外一個(gè)星球——“特拉法馬多”，而且跳到2000年后，那里有五種性別。

歐洲人說(shuō)到德累斯頓，艷稱其為“東歐的佛羅倫薩”，它是日爾曼諸邦國(guó)中最古老的薩克森大公國(guó)首府。老城（Alstadt）是個(gè)沿著易北河建起的城市，一個(gè)宮殿、宅第、園林、博物館、美術(shù)館的集合，里面有希臘羅馬時(shí)代留下的浮雕和塑像，古老的薩克森王國(guó)首府，著名的“日本宮”珍藏大批手稿、古書(shū)、古地圖。帶鐘樓的“牢房”（Zwinger）名字奇怪，原是城堡中刑場(chǎng)，拆了改建成美術(shù)館。

德累斯頓是德國(guó)音樂(lè)的福地：巴赫的大兒子23歲時(shí)成為薩克森宮廷風(fēng)琴師，是老巴赫最大的得意；瓦格納在巴黎窮愁潦倒，到德累斯頓演出歌劇《里恩其》和《飛行的荷蘭人》后，一舉成名。古老的音樂(lè)學(xué)院，造成了此地宮廷貴族鑒賞上的挑剔，在德累斯頓演出成功，使許多音樂(lè)家從此得以驕人。

二

“你知道，任何人想寫(xiě)反對(duì)戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)的書(shū)，我都贈(zèng)送一句金言?！狈裉氐呐笥呀逃?xùn)他說(shuō)，“我奉勸你寫(xiě)一本反對(duì)冰川的書(shū)?！?/p>

1943年，英國(guó)皇家空軍轟炸漢堡，首先觀察到后來(lái)名之為“火焰風(fēng)暴”（fire-storm）的奇景：許多大火在短時(shí)間內(nèi)糾結(jié)成一團(tuán)，在城市上空燎出上千度的高溫氣團(tuán)，旋成一個(gè)尖聲狂囂的龍卷風(fēng)，猛地抽緊周圍空氣，把周圍的人、車輛和建筑硬吸進(jìn)去?；鹧骘L(fēng)暴所及路徑，一切灰飛煙滅。

要炸出火焰風(fēng)暴，得有幾個(gè)條件：轟炸機(jī)群在極短時(shí)間內(nèi)投下巨量燃燒彈和高爆炸彈，而被炸區(qū)域有集中的高層建筑。

為此目的，德累斯頓市中心老城——密集的教堂城堡，顯然是最佳選擇。轟炸的整個(gè)實(shí)施方案，其中燃燒彈的比例極大，目的就是燒出一個(gè)火焰風(fēng)暴。德累斯頓火焰風(fēng)暴，據(jù)說(shuō)達(dá)3000℃，而砌城堡的砂石1200℃開(kāi)始熔化，教堂美奐美侖的銅頂1083℃時(shí)熔化，2595℃時(shí)氣化。

在許多飛行員的記憶中，德累斯頓是一個(gè)奇觀。從4英里的高處回顧，那是一種令人震驚的美——一個(gè)巨大的火山云。

如果不是廣島、長(zhǎng)崎的原子彈蘑菇云，火焰風(fēng)暴將成為第二次世界大戰(zhàn)留下的最宏偉形象，成為戰(zhàn)神最令人戰(zhàn)栗的顯靈。

三

火車沿著易北河走，這條著名的“會(huì)師之河”曾裹著硝煙出現(xiàn)在很多戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)片里。兩岸風(fēng)光之旖旎多姿，大出我意料之外。歐洲以河流美麗著稱，萊茵河、多瑙河沒(méi)有如此秀美：兩岸壁立著絕壁險(xiǎn)峰，千巖競(jìng)秀，連綿百里。峰底的河邊卻是沙岸平展，淺坡蔥綠，火車從峰腰盤(pán)山而過(guò)，底下綠蔭中一座座漂亮的別墅，一江澄碧清澈見(jiàn)底，或見(jiàn)到一二游泳者。白沙的河灘上是五彩繽紛的躺椅、帳篷，還有一條條曬得油光光的肉體。我看到一處可能是德國(guó)人（除了“道德立國(guó)”的納粹時(shí)期）一向做急先鋒的天體主義營(yíng)地。

“拿照相機(jī)，拿照相機(jī)！”我說(shuō)，“快！快！”

“干嗎？真沒(méi)見(jiàn)過(guò)世面?！?/p>

“望遠(yuǎn)鏡頭！”我急著說(shuō)，“鏡頭能望遠(yuǎn)！”

“你還看他們。你瞧，他們還在看我們！”

果然，好些“肉條兒”站在一塊巨巖上，貨真價(jià)實(shí)，還拿著望遠(yuǎn)鏡在看我們。看來(lái)，在峻峭河岸中腰蜿蜒的火車，是易北河奇景?；疖嚤P(pán)過(guò)了一個(gè)彎兒，我們?yōu)樽约旱难笙鄻?lè)得大笑不止。

火車慢了下來(lái)，一抬頭，我們遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)地望見(jiàn)德累斯頓涌進(jìn)地平線。高聳的圣母院（Frauenkirche）那只剩幾條肋骨的圓頂，周圍是斷壁，像一個(gè)高個(gè)兒女人，眼窩是巨大的空洞，腳底是兒女的尸體。我們一下子悚然無(wú)言了。

難道我們真的來(lái)到了德累斯頓？

四

1945年的2月13日，按日歷，是德國(guó)的狂歡節(jié)（Fasching）：兒童衣彩，大人放假。這一年卻不是這樣的：科涅夫元帥指揮的烏克蘭第一方面軍突破了德軍防線，從卡爾巴仟山一帶攻入德國(guó)。400萬(wàn)難民拖兒帶女，擁塞道路。60萬(wàn)人口的德累斯頓，此時(shí)人口暴漲近一倍，100多萬(wàn)，街沿坐滿了拖著箱子的難民。

所以，大轟炸之后，連大致的死亡人口也統(tǒng)計(jì)不出來(lái)。

但是，那個(gè)星期二的夜晚，街上還是有穿得奇形怪狀的大人和小孩，看來(lái)是去參加化裝晚會(huì)的。當(dāng)時(shí)德國(guó)流行一句“幽默”：“享受戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)吧，和平會(huì)更受不了?！?/p>

這話太樂(lè)觀了。他們沒(méi)有料到這場(chǎng)戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)還將帶給德累斯頓人出乎意料的“享受”。

德累斯頓老城有巨大的屠宰廠，有上百個(gè)被俘的美軍在干苦力活，其中包括伏涅格特。轟炸時(shí)，他們中的部分人正好逃入結(jié)實(shí)的地下肉庫(kù)。4噸巨型炸彈的爆炸，聽(tīng)來(lái)像巨靈神隆隆的步子。當(dāng)他們走出第五號(hào)肉庫(kù)時(shí)，在晨光中看到的幾乎是月球景色。一個(gè)大城市如此徹底地消失了?！耙怯腥嘶钕聛?lái)，肯定有問(wèn)題，偉大的規(guī)劃出了點(diǎn)兒紕漏?！?/p>

德軍守衛(wèi)押著戰(zhàn)俘成四行隊(duì)列，去挖掘廢墟，“像無(wú)聲電影中的男聲四重唱”。

街上堆滿頹壁，完全不可能行走。正好這時(shí)美軍飛機(jī)來(lái)掃射，地形就有用了。飛機(jī)當(dāng)然是認(rèn)錯(cuò)自家人，但沒(méi)有認(rèn)錯(cuò)是救援人員。

伏涅格特說(shuō)他的作品有兩個(gè)主題：第一，為人要行善；第二，上帝不在乎你行善不行善。

回過(guò)頭來(lái)看，選擇德累斯頓這樣只有輕工業(yè)的民居城市做一次恐怖轟炸，只能是政治性的：1944年底，德國(guó)敗局已定，同盟的每個(gè)國(guó)家都想把勝利變成自己的勝利。英、美急于舉行“三巨頭”會(huì)晤：英國(guó)急于“挽救”東歐，美國(guó)急于得到俄國(guó)對(duì)日作戰(zhàn)的允諾，而斯大林硬是拖著，直到1945年1月底，蘇聯(lián)紅軍橫掃東歐，進(jìn)入了德國(guó)本土之后，才同意2月上旬舉行雅爾塔會(huì)議。會(huì)議剛結(jié)束，2月13日與14日，英、美空軍就實(shí)施了德累斯頓轟炸。

“攻擊德累斯頓的意圖是打在敵人的最疼處，目標(biāo)在一個(gè)已經(jīng)部分潰敗的戰(zhàn)線的后方，使其無(wú)法使用此城市作為前出基地，順便也讓進(jìn)抵此城的俄國(guó)人看看我軍轟炸指揮部的能力?！保ㄕ浴痘始铱哲妰?nèi)部報(bào)告》）

此前不久，正想攻入萊茵河地區(qū)的美軍，在比利時(shí)邊境的阿登山區(qū)受到希特勒三個(gè)裝甲軍團(tuán)的反攻，一時(shí)極為狼狽。此時(shí)正需要讓進(jìn)展順利的斯大林看看英、美軍力發(fā)達(dá)的二頭肌——能夠僅一次轟炸就將一座大城市夷為平地。

丘吉爾在《二戰(zhàn)史》每卷開(kāi)首都重復(fù)他的箴言：

在戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)中：決心；

在失敗時(shí)：蔑視；

在勝利時(shí)：寬仁；

在和平時(shí)：善意。

問(wèn)題是這四種時(shí)間，區(qū)分并非如此清晰。哪怕在戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)中，“寬仁”和“善意”并非不必要。還是中國(guó)古人說(shuō)得明白：“兵器乃兇事，圣人不得已而用之?！?/p>

五

火車站離市中心不遠(yuǎn)。下車后，我們又吃了一驚。德累斯頓依然美麗非凡：易北河邊，游人如織，修復(fù)區(qū)平展鋪砌的街道與河濱，飄著咖啡的濃香。一眼就可以看出，游人大部分是德累斯頓本地人。問(wèn)路是問(wèn)不出名堂的，不像在柏林或慕尼黑，滿街各種膚色，英語(yǔ)幾乎通用?？磥?lái)德累斯頓還沒(méi)有重新成為旅游熱點(diǎn)。我們沿著假日里懶洋洋的街道走，只覺(jué)得這城市太新，直到拐過(guò)彎，突然走進(jìn)大片的廢墟。

“我真不想說(shuō)這本笨拙的小書(shū)花了我多少噸紙片?！狈裉剡@樣寫(xiě)道。1969年，對(duì)自己的親身經(jīng)歷思考了25年，這已經(jīng)是他的第六本小說(shuō)了。結(jié)果寫(xiě)成了他最異想天開(kāi)的作品。

“又短又亂又鬧騰——對(duì)于大屠殺，沒(méi)什么理智的東西可說(shuō)。”

大屠殺之后，本應(yīng)當(dāng)一片寂靜，也確是一片寂靜，除了幾只鳥(niǎo)兒。那么鳥(niǎo)兒說(shuō)什么呢？關(guān)于大屠殺，它們只說(shuō)：“唧啾，唧啾。”

德累斯頓的防空洞，大部分是原有建筑的地窖之類加固而成。頹墻倒在防空洞上，出口很容易被堵住。而火焰風(fēng)暴短時(shí)間燒掉大量氧氣，擁擠在地窖中的人不少窒息而死。“像上下班時(shí)擠滿人的街車，突然每個(gè)人心臟病發(fā)作?！币灿斜容^強(qiáng)壯的人，用斧子砍開(kāi)門(mén)，掙扎著爬出街面，卻正好落進(jìn)火焰風(fēng)暴的掃蕩或巨型炸彈的震波中，內(nèi)臟炸裂而死，甚至被屋頂熔化的金屬汁燙死。

唯一的生路是向荒郊野外開(kāi)闊地奔跑，在那里，第二天白晝會(huì)遭到美軍轟炸，但是不至于被活活燒死。

德累斯頓轟炸的死亡人數(shù)，最低估計(jì)是8200人，最高估計(jì)是25萬(wàn)人，相差竟然是30倍。數(shù)字大小看統(tǒng)計(jì)者是親英、親美、親德，還是親蘇，也得看是什么時(shí)間說(shuō)的什么話。在冷戰(zhàn)時(shí)期，德累斯頓慘案，是蘇聯(lián)宣傳的有力武器。在受窘的英、美戰(zhàn)史作家筆下，德累斯頓常常被寫(xiě)成是一個(gè)不小心做過(guò)頭的事件，究竟怎么會(huì)做過(guò)頭，卻總被史家忽略。

伏涅格特相信的是中間數(shù)字，13.5萬(wàn)人死亡。因此，他認(rèn)為這是人類有史以來(lái)最大的“一次性”屠殺?！罢麄€(gè)地球上，德累斯頓轟炸只有一個(gè)人得到好處。這場(chǎng)轟炸并沒(méi)有使戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)縮短半秒鐘，沒(méi)有削弱德軍的防御，沒(méi)有協(xié)助任何方面的攻勢(shì)，沒(méi)有從集中營(yíng)里解救任何人。只有一個(gè)人得了好處。那就是我，伏涅格特，死一個(gè)人我得3美元。想不到吧！”

戰(zhàn)后，清理了幾百萬(wàn)噸廢料，當(dāng)時(shí)，東德的工程師認(rèn)為德累斯頓無(wú)法修復(fù)，只能推平重建。

的確，整個(gè)居民區(qū)完全重建了，到處可見(jiàn)的工人新村式建筑，有規(guī)有劃，無(wú)邊無(wú)際，整齊而無(wú)性格。德累斯頓又恢復(fù)到50多萬(wàn)人口。

易北河美麗的城堡區(qū)，又鋪砌成只準(zhǔn)行人通行的廣場(chǎng)和河濱道。

我們見(jiàn)到的是半修復(fù)的城堡區(qū)?！袄畏俊贝箸姌侵亟?，收藏蘇聯(lián)表示兄弟國(guó)家友好而送還的一部分美術(shù)珍藏；熔化了的路德雕像重塑了，背景卻是斷垣殘壁；巴洛克式皇宮修復(fù)了一半，延伸入一片廢墟之中；浮雕墻重新樹(shù)立起來(lái)，上面的羅馬人物重新光鮮；宮廷的羅可可式圍廊修復(fù)了一段，繁花鏤葉，雕梁畫(huà)棟，叫人想見(jiàn)奧古司徒王室昔日的奢華，但只消向前幾步，又見(jiàn)大片殘柱上煙燒火燎的驚心動(dòng)魄。

我不知道設(shè)計(jì)人員是什么想法，是否有意保留廢墟，提醒東德人民毋忘英、美的罪惡?，F(xiàn)在這景象，讓我們驚奇得啞口無(wú)言：半修復(fù)的廢墟，輝煌與慘淡相間，絢麗與毀敗并存。

如果說(shuō)廢墟有一種特殊美的話，德累斯頓把這種美大揮大灑地勾勒了出來(lái)。

六

伏涅格特說(shuō)：“我去公共圖書(shū)館，查印第安納玻利斯的報(bào)紙，只有半寸長(zhǎng)一條消息：‘我軍轟炸德累斯頓，損失兩架飛機(jī)?？磥?lái)這是戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)中最微不足道的一件事?！?/p>

“我1954年復(fù)員回國(guó)，就開(kāi)始寫(xiě)這個(gè)事，就寫(xiě)這個(gè)事，就寫(xiě)這個(gè)事。二十五年，結(jié)果這本薄薄的小書(shū)寫(xiě)的是：如何寫(xiě)這樣一件事?！?/p>

“如何寫(xiě)這樣一件事”，的確需要伏涅格特這樣的天才才能弄明白。

英國(guó)轟炸指揮部司令空軍元帥哈利斯爵士（Sir Arthur Harris）的回憶錄《轟炸攻勢(shì)》（1947年）對(duì)德累斯頓的轟炸只有醫(yī)案史的敘述。此后出版的回憶錄或歷史書(shū)，才不得不當(dāng)一樁事來(lái)寫(xiě)。近年的如吉爾伯（Martin Gilbert）1989年出版的巨著《第二次世界大戰(zhàn)》則提到離德累斯頓不遠(yuǎn)的集中營(yíng)里，一個(gè)猶太人目擊地平線上的火光，興奮若狂。

或許只有伏涅格特寫(xiě)得“亂糟糟”的后現(xiàn)代奇書(shū)，才把西方讀者真正震得醒過(guò)來(lái)。

“為什么我沒(méi)有用現(xiàn)實(shí)主義的寫(xiě)法？我做不到，因?yàn)檫@本書(shū)早就存在，在我的頭腦中，我從中取出來(lái)而已。這件事還有一怪，關(guān)于德累斯頓轟炸，我頭腦中是一片空白，什么也不記得。我找到幾個(gè)難友，他們也不記得，他們也不想談這件事。關(guān)于此事現(xiàn)在已有不少材料出版，但是我的記憶真是一片空白，故事的核心部分硬是給抽掉了?！?/p>

美國(guó)空軍當(dāng)時(shí)不善夜戰(zhàn)，13日夜，由805架英國(guó)飛機(jī)打頭陣。英軍的夜間轟炸有一套規(guī)范，可謂有條不紊：先由一隊(duì)飛機(jī)飛臨上空，從高空不斷投照明彈，八架木制的輕便蚊式機(jī)進(jìn)入低空，確定目標(biāo)，投下紅色燃燒彈作為標(biāo)記，而轟炸指揮員則坐在一架蚊式機(jī)中，作低空盤(pán)旋飛行。轟炸機(jī)人員總是“上半段給政府干，下半段自保小命”，在火力威脅下提前投彈幾乎是下意識(shí)的本能，所以得有監(jiān)戰(zhàn)隊(duì)看著他們。

空軍的氣象學(xué)家預(yù)報(bào)極準(zhǔn)，說(shuō)夜10點(diǎn)放晴。果然10點(diǎn)5分開(kāi)始“放標(biāo)”，地面警報(bào)剛拉響，近300架轟炸機(jī)就沖出云陣做第一次轟炸。第二波529架飛機(jī)卻有意等到1點(diǎn)30分才開(kāi)始轟炸，為了“給地面救援工作造成最大混亂”。第二天白晝，400架美軍飛機(jī)的轟炸，讓白天救援工作也無(wú)法進(jìn)行——要燒就燒透。德累斯頓轟炸，戰(zhàn)術(shù)上可稱“完美”，準(zhǔn)確得像演習(xí)。

整個(gè)城市不久就燒成了一把大火炬。

三場(chǎng)轟炸之后，德累斯頓作為轟炸目標(biāo)，連象征意義都不再具備。這個(gè)城市終于可以自己處理自己的死人。集中在德累斯頓的各國(guó)俘虜都被派來(lái)挖人。雖然是冬天，但待挖掘的活人、死人太多，不久尸臭濃重，腐爛的肉體淤出綠汁，大群蒼蠅圍來(lái)撒蛆，倒是給挖尸隊(duì)指引了目標(biāo)。于是就采取了新辦法：每次找到一地窖尸體，不再挖出來(lái)，而是用火焰噴射器火葬于地下。

德國(guó)黨衛(wèi)軍的效率再次顯現(xiàn)出來(lái)：所有被人聽(tīng)到詛咒希特勒帶來(lái)災(zāi)難的人以及悲觀地認(rèn)為戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)已失敗的人，一律槍決或絞死。一個(gè)美國(guó)戰(zhàn)俘從廢墟中揀起個(gè)色彩亮麗的德累斯頓茶壺，當(dāng)然已經(jīng)破了，從技術(shù)上說(shuō)，他不是救護(hù)，而是搶劫。軍事法庭效率極高，行刑隊(duì)卻缺乏訓(xùn)練，要在他胸前貼一張靶子才瞄得準(zhǔn)。

“無(wú)論如何，我當(dāng)初應(yīng)當(dāng)死在那里，統(tǒng)計(jì)在死亡人數(shù)中。死人越多，報(bào)復(fù)就越正確。”

1945年3月底，丘吉爾終于下指示停止對(duì)德國(guó)城市進(jìn)行“無(wú)論什么借口”的恐怖轟炸。理由卻極為實(shí)際：“不然，我們將占領(lǐng)的是一片廢墟，我們的軍隊(duì)將無(wú)處宿營(yíng)?！?/p>

當(dāng)然，在戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)中，丘吉爾無(wú)法對(duì)這種事作道義反思。但是，在他獲得諾貝爾文學(xué)獎(jiǎng)的《二戰(zhàn)回憶錄》中，竟然沒(méi)有一個(gè)字說(shuō)到德累斯頓轟炸。最后一卷有專章“無(wú)目的亂炸”說(shuō)的也只是德國(guó)V-1與V-2飛彈。

也許，德累斯頓轟炸形成的道義問(wèn)題，已經(jīng)被用同樣手段達(dá)到同樣目的（只不過(guò)效率高得多）的原子彈遮蔽。

道義問(wèn)題，在受害的德國(guó)，一樣沒(méi)有得到再思。德累斯頓被炸后，德國(guó)宣傳機(jī)器全副開(kāi)動(dòng)，大罵“空中強(qiáng)盜”、“兒童殺手”，戈培爾第一次請(qǐng)了中立國(guó)瑞典和瑞士的報(bào)界實(shí)地報(bào)導(dǎo)英、美戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)罪行。

3月18日，希特勒在他的地下室舉行最高指揮部會(huì)議。德國(guó)戰(zhàn)時(shí)工業(yè)主監(jiān)斯皮爾向希特勒提出報(bào)告，認(rèn)為德國(guó)經(jīng)濟(jì)將在四到八個(gè)星期內(nèi)崩潰，意思是最好不再打下去。但是會(huì)議決定實(shí)行自殺性焦土政策。會(huì)后，希特勒召見(jiàn)斯皮爾訓(xùn)話，說(shuō)了一段妙言：

如果戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)失敗，人民也將失敗。那就不必考慮靠什么活下去。相反，剩下的這些東西也應(yīng)當(dāng)摧毀。這民族證明了自己弱質(zhì)，未來(lái)只屬于那個(gè)強(qiáng)質(zhì)的東方民族。不管怎么說(shuō)，這場(chǎng)斗爭(zhēng)后留下的只是弱者，因?yàn)椤按笊啤币呀?jīng)死亡。

希特勒這段最后坦言，倒是他的一貫本色，邏輯混亂，用詞夸而不當(dāng)，卻一針見(jiàn)血：仗打輸了，是因?yàn)榈乱庵久褡骞钾?fù)了他希特勒的期望。這樣的人民，不如死絕，不值得挽救。

而俄國(guó)，被希特勒最后欽佩地稱為“強(qiáng)質(zhì)民族”，也的確不在話下。3月，蘇軍進(jìn)入德累斯頓，他們對(duì)顯示在面前的英、美空軍威力，似乎根本沒(méi)注意，也不想恭維。蘇軍的紀(jì)律（中國(guó)人半年后在東北就會(huì)領(lǐng)教）使尚未西逃的居民也擁入了難民狂流。

20世紀(jì)的戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)，幾乎全是“人民戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)”。以前人類互相集體殘殺，只是貴族與職業(yè)士兵們的事，后來(lái)是“適齡”成年男性的事，其他婦幼老弱的工作只是準(zhǔn)備痛哭，準(zhǔn)備逃難。也許是戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)產(chǎn)業(yè)化的結(jié)果，本世紀(jì)不打則可，一打就是全民戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)。后勤供應(yīng)的組織，比前線將帥的策劃更重要。許多時(shí)候，也全民作戰(zhàn)。戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)既然成了全民事業(yè)，空軍的任務(wù)，就名正言順地改變了：轉(zhuǎn)向轟炸橋梁軍工廠，再轉(zhuǎn)向炸毀整個(gè)城市。

二戰(zhàn)期間，盟軍戰(zhàn)略中的一大爭(zhēng)論，就是英國(guó)轟炸空軍司令哈利斯堅(jiān)持：光靠戰(zhàn)略轟炸，尤其“整區(qū)轟炸”，就能使德國(guó)崩解，打贏戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)。諾曼底登陸要轟炸機(jī)群全力支持，哈利斯認(rèn)為是不必要的干擾，很不高興。很多人指責(zé)哈利斯頭腦荒唐，其實(shí)并不見(jiàn)得：投原子彈的最大理由，不就是用來(lái)替代美軍在日本本土登陸作戰(zhàn)？

既是全民戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)，“一概炸毀”也并非事出無(wú)因。

“我原想寫(xiě)一部戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)小說(shuō)，可以讓好萊塢西部片大明星出場(chǎng)。最后一個(gè)小姑娘對(duì)我說(shuō)：‘你們?cè)谀抢飼r(shí)，不過(guò)是小孩子，想充大明星是不對(duì)的。她的話對(duì)我是個(gè)很大的啟發(fā)……我們那時(shí)都是二十上下，娃兒臉?！?/p>

所以，《第五號(hào)屠場(chǎng)》的副標(biāo)題是《兒童十字軍》。伏涅格特是說(shuō)這轟炸如兒戲，如同中世紀(jì)宗教狂煽動(dòng)兒童去攻打耶路撒冷；還是說(shuō)人類一打仗，就像從來(lái)沒(méi)有長(zhǎng)大？

七

在德累斯頓老城區(qū)流連忘返，我心中想，哪怕現(xiàn)代式的全民戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)，還有沒(méi)有個(gè)道義限制，或者說(shuō)，游戲規(guī)則？應(yīng)當(dāng)還是有的。哪怕對(duì)手是法西斯或其他反動(dòng)派，至少應(yīng)當(dāng)明白這里有個(gè)互惠問(wèn)題。

例如英、德雙方在戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)之初，就約定德軍不炸牛津與劍橋，英國(guó)不炸海德堡與圖賓根。這條雙方都遵守了。至今不少德國(guó)人誤認(rèn)為不炸海德堡，是美軍預(yù)定要用作司令部?？匆幌虑鸺獱柲欠庑?，這樣的想法也并非事出無(wú)因。美國(guó)人只是后來(lái)才發(fā)現(xiàn)占了這條君子協(xié)定的便宜。

再例如，不攻擊掛著紅十字記號(hào)的醫(yī)院，這條需要將心比心。德累斯頓有幾幢大醫(yī)院，整個(gè)屋頂漆成了白底紅十字。在火焰風(fēng)暴中，當(dāng)然再大的標(biāo)記也沒(méi)有用。

要仲裁究竟德國(guó)犯規(guī)多，還是盟軍違例多，當(dāng)然不難，不然第二次世界大戰(zhàn)就無(wú)所謂善惡，放棄正義、非正義。但是，我們經(jīng)?？吹降氖悄脤?duì)方的暴行作為放棄道義反思的借口。

一位芝加哥大學(xué)社會(huì)學(xué)教授著文反駁伏涅格特，指出德國(guó)人在戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)中犯的罪行更令人發(fā)指。

“我能對(duì)他說(shuō)的只是：我明白，我明白，我——明——白?！?/p>

應(yīng)當(dāng)說(shuō)句公道話：在英、美這樣的民主國(guó)家，哪怕是在戰(zhàn)時(shí)，還是能不斷地聽(tīng)到理智的聲音。1944年年底，V-1火箭盲目轟炸英國(guó)時(shí)，報(bào)上不斷有來(lái)信，要求對(duì)德國(guó)進(jìn)行報(bào)復(fù)性轟炸。英國(guó)報(bào)紙刊登來(lái)信時(shí)，大部分編者附言：“我們支持政府的政策，即打擊德國(guó)軍事機(jī)器，但決不參加報(bào)復(fù)競(jìng)賽?！?/p>

伏涅格特在“海松小學(xué)”演講：“請(qǐng)不要去拯救世界，也別聽(tīng)你們的父母親說(shuō)什么現(xiàn)在該輪到你們拯救世界，因?yàn)闆](méi)這個(gè)事?！?/p>

德累斯頓大轟炸后，德國(guó)大作宣傳攻勢(shì)。此時(shí)英國(guó)議員斯托克有勇氣在下院發(fā)言，公開(kāi)指責(zé)政府犯下了戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)罪行?？哲姴块L(zhǎng)辛克萊爵士當(dāng)場(chǎng)離席而去，留下副手宣讀答復(fù)，言辭傲慢，實(shí)為抵賴：“我們不會(huì)浪費(fèi)炸彈與時(shí)間做純粹的恐怖轟炸。這位議員先生真不值得到議會(huì)來(lái)發(fā)表演說(shuō)，說(shuō)是有空軍指揮官飛行員成天在策劃如何多殺一些德國(guó)婦孺?！蹦敲?，轟炸的理由究竟是什么呢？說(shuō)德累斯頓是鐵路交通樞紐。此言非虛，不然我們?cè)趺磿?huì)來(lái)到德累斯頓換車？但是英、美情報(bào)機(jī)構(gòu)難道不知道德累斯頓擁塞著難民？

“原子彈爆炸時(shí)”，伏涅格特寫(xiě)道，“杜魯門(mén)總統(tǒng)發(fā)表演說(shuō)，說(shuō)廣島有鐵路編組場(chǎng)。這么說(shuō)，把全世界每個(gè)有鐵路編組場(chǎng)的城市炸平，就不會(huì)再有戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)?！?/p>

人們說(shuō)英國(guó)“戰(zhàn)略空軍司令”哈利斯，是“極糟的戰(zhàn)略家，出色的指揮員”。這話意思是：哪怕決策錯(cuò)了，他也能讓部下士氣高昂。

蒙哥馬利、艾森豪威爾等戰(zhàn)時(shí)將帥戰(zhàn)后獲得殊榮，而1945年9月空軍元帥哈利斯辭職，離開(kāi)英國(guó)去南非，擔(dān)任一家海運(yùn)公司經(jīng)理，此后，哈利斯默默無(wú)聞地度其余生。有的書(shū)上說(shuō)他是被工黨政府解職的，兩者一回事：辭職是留面子，不是給哈利斯留面子，而是英國(guó)官方不想過(guò)早自我檢討，此后好像也從來(lái)沒(méi)有對(duì)德累斯頓發(fā)表過(guò)任何正式文字，也正如美國(guó)政府也并不想對(duì)廣島、長(zhǎng)崎發(fā)表任何文字，正如日本政府至今沒(méi)有對(duì)侵略行為道歉。

人類最可悲的缺點(diǎn)是能自動(dòng)忘卻不方便記住的事。

“回想起來(lái)，可能最奇怪的事情是只有我一個(gè)人關(guān)心德累斯頓被炸這回事。我時(shí)不時(shí)碰到個(gè)把參加那次轟炸的飛行員。他們挺羞怯，不是什么可驕傲的事。我至今沒(méi)有碰到一個(gè)人心里為此難受，包括挨炸的人，他們肯定有親屬死在轟炸中。我跟一個(gè)朋友回那里去過(guò)，沒(méi)聽(tīng)到一個(gè)德國(guó)人說(shuō)：‘啊，這地方以前多美，街邊種滿了樹(shù)，還有公園。”

八

又是好天氣，又是一個(gè)千紅百紫好夏日，坐在噴泉邊布傘下的人們，已經(jīng)被近50年的和平慣壞，看風(fēng)景、看女人，散漫而慵懶。一個(gè)淺紅頭發(fā)的女人走過(guò)，上身窄小的無(wú)袖短衫，中空一大截之下，牛仔褲胡亂剪得僅游泳褲那么大，雙腿卻長(zhǎng)得沒(méi)完沒(méi)了。她成了附近的焦點(diǎn)，我們也就放開(kāi)賊眼看。

“老天，這裝束比天體營(yíng)還性感?！?/p>

“胡扯！天體營(yíng)根本不性感。”

我想不起來(lái)全世界什么地方有如此大一片古跡，不是半毀壞，而是半修復(fù)。全修復(fù)的古跡讓人覺(jué)得假得可恨，全毀敗的圓明園一片凄涼，調(diào)子都是統(tǒng)一的。半傾塌的長(zhǎng)城讓人更為黯然，塌與未塌處，合成一個(gè)格調(diào)。

德累斯頓老城，卻是半修復(fù)狀態(tài)，而其震人心魄，正在其錯(cuò)亂，修復(fù)段與廢墟段的對(duì)峙，使得華美處華美之極，慘淡處慘淡之最：修復(fù)欲將廢墟更新，卻裝作比廢墟古老；廢墟本是待修復(fù)，難道修復(fù)處不是待淪為廢墟？這個(gè)城市最好永遠(yuǎn)懸在這個(gè)中間狀態(tài)，讓每個(gè)來(lái)訪者一生難忘，別讓過(guò)度熱心的重建破壞。

又想起《第五號(hào)屠場(chǎng)——兒童十字軍》：

瞧！他睡下去時(shí)，是個(gè)衰老的鰥夫，醒來(lái)時(shí)卻正舉行婚禮；他從1955門(mén)進(jìn)去，卻從1941門(mén)出來(lái)；他多次看見(jiàn)自己的出生死亡，生死之間由著他挑。

主人公們離開(kāi)屠場(chǎng)，飛向“特拉法馬多”星球，航程中放一支樂(lè)曲，能消解一切肉體、精神的痛苦。

我想讓德累斯頓作個(gè)見(jiàn)證的，并不是說(shuō)不清、道不明的人類道德，而是形而下的美感問(wèn)題。

ONE

Instead of Dresden the place we planned to go was the beautiful and romantic Prague.

We took the line of S-Bahn in Berlin to the Central Station but were stopped at Bellevue. After quite a while we noticed that something seemed wrong on the platform. Some people were running in hurry， some shouting like ordering somebody. Meanwhile the platform still looked empty. Passengers scarcely stepped out to look around and no one is the like of us and asks around curiously.

“Someone was committing suicide on the rail.” Looking at our wondering face， an old gentleman calmly told us so ， and then continued to read his newspapers as other passengers did. Half an hour later， the train resumed moving.

That was a tranquil morning. This huge city was almost wholly shaded by the green. The world was in orderly silence. Looking into distance from the platform， seemingly the central Europe was under vast and clear skies. In such a nice day who would seek death？

And that caused our train delay. The next through train would come within five hours. While we were complaining about our bad luck， the conductor advised us to break our journey in Dresden then transferr.

Dresden？

Dresden！ I once read Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut in which the bombing was recorded. In mind I always think that is the so-called geographical “anchoring” in narratology. A post-modern Avant-Garde writer like Kurt Vonnegut， wouldn't concern a little on whether anchoring is true or not， on the contrary， anchoring would even be a mocked object. Scenes in his novel could leap from Dresden to another star---Tralfamadore， and even 2000 years later in which there were 5 genders.

Mentioning Dresden， Europeans gave it an honorary name---“Florence of Eastern Europe”. It was the capital of the oldest Saxon State among all the Germanic states. Alstadt which was built along the banks of Elbe River boasted its combination of palaces， mansions， gardens museums， and art galleries which were filled with relievo and sculptures of Greek and Roman times. In this ancient capital of Saxon State the famous “Japanese Palace” treasures a large number of manual script， ancient books and maps. Zwinger， a “prison” with a bell tower which sounds strange was originally an execution place and was later remodeled into an art gallery.

Dresden was a blissful place of German music： the eldest son of Bach became a royal organist of Saxon， which was the proudest thing of the senior Bach； Wagner who was impoverished in Paris went to Dresden to perform his musical dramas Rienzi and The Flying Dutchman， which brought him an immediate prominence. The old conservatory nourished the pickiness in appreciating music of local nobles. Successful performance in Dresden became a lifetime pride of many musicians.

TWO

“You know what I say to people when I hear theyre writing anti-war books？” A friend of Vonnegut said to him， “Why dont you write an anti-glacier book instead？”

The Royal Air Force who bombed Hamburg in 1942 was the first observer of the spectacle view which was later called “fire-storm”： the big fire formed into a great mass in no time and an air mass with high-temperature of over thousand centigrade swirled into a screaming tornado hung over the city. It inhaled air around， swallowed all people， vehicles and buildings. On the way of the fire storm， everything turned into ashes.

There has to be several conditions for appearance of a fire storm： a colossal amount of firebombs， high-explosive bombs thrown away by bombers in short time， and dense high-rise buildings in the target area.

For forming a fire storm， the old central part of Dresden Alstadt with intensive churches and castles would be the optimal choice. In the bombing， firebombs covered a big percentage with the very purpose to create a fire storm. The temperature of Dresden fire storm was said to be as high as 3000℃ while sandstones of the castles began to melt at 1200℃， the beautiful copper roof of churches melt at 1083℃ and was gasificated at 2595℃.

In memoires of many fliers Dresden was a spectacle. In birds eyes view four miles high above it was a sort of shocking beauty---a huge volcanic cloud.

If not dwarfed by the mushroom cloud of A-bomb in Hiroshima and Nagasaki the fire storm would become the most magnificent image in the World War II and the most frightening Ghost of Mars.

THREE

The train wound along Elbe---the river famous for Elbe Day on 25th， April 1945 which once appeared in many films with flames and smoke of war. The sceneries on banks of Elbe were striking and picturesque， which was really out of my expectation. Europe is known for beautiful rivers but Rhine and Danube are not as pretty as Elbe： cliffs stretch hundreds of miles， standing gracefully on riversides. While down the cliffs the sand beach expands vast and flat with green slopes behind. The train twisted on the mountainside. In the green shade down the mountain were groups of beautiful villas and the crystal clear river， now and then there was one or two swimmers in sight. On the white beach were some colorful deck-chairs and tents， as well as sun-tanned bodies. I saw a place of a nudist camp where German people like to be pioneers.

“Camera， camera！” I said， “Hurry！ Hurry！”

“Why？ Didnt you see things like this before？”

“Used as binocular！” I uttered anxiously， “Its long focus lens can see the distance！”

“While you are observing them， look， they are observing us too！”

True！ Some nudes were standing on a huge rock， and they were observing us with their binoculars. It seems that the winding train on mountainside along the river is really a scene of Elbe. The train made a curve. We thought of our funny behavior and burst into laughter.

The train slowed down. From distance Dresden rose to our sight from the horizon. The towering Frauenkirche with only several beams on the round roof stood like a tall woman whose eyes were big empty holes and bodies of her kids scattered around. Words failed us all of a sudden.

We were really in Dresden？

FOUR

On calendar， the day of 13th February， 1945 was the Fasching of Germany： children dressed beautifully， and adults were on their festive vacation. But that year was different： the First Ukrainian Front led by Marshal Konev broke the German Armys defense， attacked into Germany from Carpathians. Four million refugees tied with children blocked ways. The population of Dresden sharply rose from 600，000 to 1million. The streets were filled with refugees and their heavy dragging packages.

Thus after the bombing even a rough estimate of casualties failed to be made.

On that Tuesday evening， however， there were still some adults and children in strange dresses possibly for fancy dress party. In Germany there was a joke： “enjoy the wartime， peace might be worse.”

This sounded so optimistic. They didn't expect this war also brought some unexpected “joy” for Dresden people.

In Alstadt of Dresden there was a huge slaughterhouse in which hundreds of American war prisoners were there doing hard work. Vonnegut was among them. In the bombing， some of them happened to run into the strong underground store. The explosion created by 4 tons of huge bombs sounded like rumbling steps of a ghost. When they stepped out of the Slaughterhouse Five， in morning light what they saw were lunar sceneries. A big city disappeared completely.“If someone survived， there must have been a problem with the great planning.”

German guards escorted the prisoners into four lines to dig the ruins， “resembled a quartet in silent films”.

The streets were completely blocked by broken walls and no more available for walking at all. Just then American warplanes came to strafe， so the crashed walls and buildings helped. Those warplanes surely didn't recognize their fellows but they did recognize that they were rescuers.

Vonnegut said there were two themes in his writing： first， do good； second， God never care whether you do good or not.

Looking back， it must have been political to choose such a light-industry city like Dresden to bomb： at the end of 1944 the defeat of Germany seemed to be sure and each allied country was anxious to turn the victory to its own. UK and US were anxious to hold the Big Three Meeting： UK was hurry to “save” the eastern Europe； US was hasty to get promise from Russia to declare war against Japan while Stalin dragged his feet on purpose till the end of January in 1945 when the Red Army of Soviet Union swept the eastern Europe. Then after they entered into Germany， Stalin agreed to hold Yalta Conference on the first half of February. Hardly soon than the end of the conference， on 13th and 14th of February， the ally of UK and US bombed Dresden.

“The purpose to attack Dresden was to hurt the tender spot of the enemy. The attacking target was behind the partly down-fall line thus the city couldn't be used as a military basis by the backward German Army. By the way we could show the Russian what the Air Command could do.” （Adapted from RAF Inner Report）

Not long ago the US Army who was planning to drive into Rhine area was counter attacked by three panzer corps of Hitler in the Arden Mountain area along the border of Belgium. The US Army was forced to very tight corner. That was also the proper time to show Stalin the powerful muscle of UK and US armies---only one bombing would laid waste such a big city.

Churchill repeated his maxim at the beginning of each volume of Memoirs of the Second World War：

In war： resolution；

In defeat： defiance；

In victory： magnanimity；

In peace： good will.

The problem is that the four periods could not be separated distinctively. Even in wartime， “magnanimity” and “good will” were not as unnecessary as they were. Chinese ancient people once talked about it clearly： “Weapons are dangerous； those wise people will not use it until it is extremely necessary.”

FIVE

The railway station was not far from the downtown. After getting off， I was surprised another time. Dresden was still extraordinarily beautiful： the riversides of Elbe were packed with tourists； in restoration part the streets and river beaches were paved neatly and filled with aroma of coffee. It was easy to see that tourists were mostly local. If you were to ask directions， you would accomplish nothing. It wasnt like in Berlin or Munich where you could see people of different colors and English was used widely. It appeared that Dresden hadn't resumed to be a tourist resort. We walked along streets loosely in such a holiday and thought this city was too new till we turned a corner and walked into a vast expansion of ruins all of a sudden.

“I would hate to tell you what this lousy little book cost me in money and anxiety and time.” Vonnegut wrote this. Till 1965 he had been thinking over his experiences for 25 years， and this book had been his sixth novel. It ended up to be the wildest and the most fantastic work of his.

“Short， messy and noisy---as for the slaughter， nothing reasonable to be told.”

After the slaughter the world would be in silence. Indeed it was in silence， except for several birds. What could a bird say？ Regarding the slaughter， they could only say： “Poo-tee-wee.”

Most of air raid shelters in Dresden were transformed and strengthened on the basis of original building cellars. Broken walls fell down on these shelters and easily blocked the way out. And the fire storm consumed a large quantity of oxygen in short time which caused people crowded in cellars to die of suffocation. “Like on street buses in rush hours， everyone seemed to be hit by heart attack abruptly.” There were some strong people who could cut the door open with an axe and struggled to crawl out to the street， then happened to fall in the fire storm or hit by the wave from huge bombs. They either died of broken stomach or even were burnt to death by the melting metal from building roofs.

The only way to survive was running to the wild open in countryside and there， would be bombed on the second day by US Army， but it was better that people wouldnt be burnt to death.

The death toll in Dresden bombing was estimated minimally as 8200， and the maximum number was 250，000. The difference reached as even 30 times. The number depended on the identity of the statistician who was Anglophile or pro-American， Germanophile or pro-Soviet. Also it depended on when and what they said. During the Cold War Dresden slaughter was a powerful weapon for Soviet Unionspropagation. In the writing of awkward British or American writers， Dresden was described as an overdone event with carelessness. Why it would have been overdone was usually ignored by historians.

Vonnegut preferred to believe the middle number---death toll was 135，000. So he believed this was the most serious “one-off” slaughter in human history. “On this globe only one benefited from Dresden bombing. The bombing raid didnt shorten the wartime even half second， didn't weaken German Armys defense， didnt hasten the victory for any side and didnt rescue even one person from the concentration camp. Nobody but me got benefit. That was me， Vonnegut！ I got 3 dollars for each persons death. Surprise？”

After WWII， waste of millions of tons was cleaned up. At that time engineers from the East Germany thought Dresden was irreparable but to be rebuilt.

Indeed the whole residential area was rebuilt completely. New style buildings could be seen everywhere well planned and in good order， but no character. Dresden restored its population to 500，000.

The beautiful castle area along Elbe was paved into squares and riverside avenues.

What we saw then was the semi-restored castle area. The “prison” bell tower was rebuilt and collected some artistic treasures returned by Soviet Union who would like to show brotherly friendship； the melt sculpture of Luther was recast against the scenes of broken walls and waste rubbles； Baroque style royal palace was half rebuilt and extended into ruins； the relief wall was erected again and those Roman images looked refreshed in bright colors； the Rococo-style portico of the royal palace was repaired for one section which was carved with flowers and leaves； the rich decoration reminded people of the luxury days of Augusto royal family but just steps forward were the vast shocking burning scars on the wounded columns.

I dont know the designersintention whether these ruins were conserved on purpose to remind German of the Allys evil. The present scenes struck us into mute astonishment： half repaired ruins alternated between glory and desolation， brilliance and decay.

If there is a sort of beauty in ruins， Dresden has contoured it in a marvelous way.

SIX

Vonnegut said： “I went to the public library searching for Indianapolis newspapers. There was only one piece of news with half inch long： ‘Our Army bombed Dresden， two planes lost. It appeared to be the most insignificant thing in the war.”

“After being discharged from the army in 1954， I went home and started to write this event， just this event， this one. Twenty five years later what was written in this thin book turned out to be how to write such an event.”

“How to write such an event”， indeed it needs a genuine like Vonnegut to make it clear.

The Air Chief Marshal and RAF Bomber Command Sir Arthur Harris narrated Dresden bombing as a medical history in his memoirs Bomber Offensive. The published memoirs or historic books thereafter had to mention Dresden bombing seriously. In a great work The Second World War published in 1989， he mentioned that in a camp not far from Dresden a Jewish was in a frenzy of excitement at the sight of fire on the skyline.

Maybe only these “messy” post-modern legends by Vonnegut could shock the western readers awake.

“Why didnt I write in a realistic way？ I just couldnt， because this book had actually been there in my mind. I just took it out. It was also strange about the fire-bombing of Dresden that my memory was empty， nothing left. I found several of old refugees. They couldnt remember anything， and hate to talk anything. Numerous materials had been published already about this event， but my memory was truly empty. Thus the core part of this story was drawn away.”

The U.S. Air Force was not good at night raid， so on the night of 13th， 805 British bombers commenced the attack. Night bombing of British Army obeyed a set of rules， very orderly： at first a squad of planes flew above the city and continually threw flares， then eight de Havilland Mosquitoes dived to low sky to target and throw red flares as marks. The bombing command was in a Mosquito， hovering around. Crew member of bombers always “worked for government at first， and then tried to save his own skin”. Under threat of heavy fire， early bomb dropping would be out of sub-conscious so there must be a supervision team to watch them.

The meteorologists of air force predicted precisely， it would be clear at 10pm. As expected at 10：05pm， signals were sent out. Hardly soon after the siren， almost 300 bombers dived out of cloud to conduct the first bombing. While the second bombing tasked with 529 bombers was delayed to 1：30 so as to “mess up the ground rescue to the full”. In daytime a constant bombing by 400 US bombers was on going， which completely prevented the daytime recue---once burn， burn everything down. Tactically， fire-bombing of Dresden could be “perfect”， as precisely as in a drill.

The whole city soon became a big torch.

After three bombings Dresden was even of no symbolic meaning to be a bombing target. This city could finally deal with its bodies by itself. Prisoners of war from many lands came together in Dresden that morning. It had been decreed that here was where the digging for bodies was to begin. Though it was in winter， there were too many bodies， alive or dead， then the bodies rotted and liquefied， and the flies was attracted by the stink to hatch grubs， which instead guided the digging people. So a new technique was devised. Bodies weren't brought up any more. They were cremated by soldiers with flamethrowers right where they were. The soldiers stood outside the shelters， simply sent the fire in.

The German SS showed its efficiency： anyone who was heard to curse Hitler bringing misery and calamity or who thought Germany failed would be shot or hung to death without any exception. Somewhere an American war prisoner was caught with a colorful Dresden teapot which was surely broken. He had taken it from the catacombs. He was arrested for technically plundering instead of recuing. The military tribunal was high efficient while the firing squad was not so well trained. He was marked on the chest to be a target for being aimed.

“Anyway I should have died there， being numbered in the death toll. More death， revenge would be more reasonable.”

At the end of March， 1945， Churchill finally ordered to stop any terrorist bombing on German cities “for whatever excuse”. His reason was simple： “Or， we will occupy nothing but ruins. There would be no place for our military camp.”

Of course in wartime Churchill couldnt make any moral introspection. But in his Nobel-prize awarding book Memoirs of the Second World War， there was not even one word mentioning the fire-bombing of Dresden at all. In the last volume there was a chapter about “purposeless bombing” referred to German V-1 and V-2 bombs.

Maybe the moral problem from the fire storm of Dresden had already been clouded by the same-tactic， same-purpose （but with higher efficiency） atomic bomb.

Moral problem， in the victim Germany， hadn't been introspected. After Dresden was bombed， Germany operated all propaganda machines swearing at “aerial pirate”， “kids killer”. Goebbels for the first time invited the neutral countries Sweden and Swiss media to report the war crimes of UK and US.

On the 18th， March， Hitler held High Command Conference in his basement. The wartime Minister of Armaments Speer proposed to Hitler a report which said the German economy would collapse within four to eight weeks， meaning the best way was to stop the war. But the meeting decided to implement the suicidal scorched earth policy. After the meeting， Hitler called in Speer and lectured him：

If the war is lost， the nation will also perish. This fate is inevitable. There is no necessity to take into consideration the basis on which the people will need to continue even a most primitive existence. On the contrary， it will be better to destroy these things ourselves， because this nation will have proved to be the weaker one and the future will belong solely to the stronger eastern nation. Besides， those who will remain after the battle are only the inferior ones， for the good ones have all been killed.

The frank words from Hitler were his consistent style--- no logic， messy wording， and right down to the point： The war failed because the people let him down. Such people should be dead and unworthy to save.

Russia was admired by Hitler as “strong nation” and it deserved. In March， the Soviet Army entered into Dresden. They didnt seem to care about the power of air forces showed by the Ally or congratulate on what they did. The disciplines of the Soviet Army （which would be tasted by Chinese people half year later in the northeast of China） forced the left residents to join into the refugee flow toward west.

In 20th century were all “peoples war”. Long ago only the noble and career soldiers were involved in peoples battling each other. Later all adult male of “the right age” would be in part of wars and the left old， weak， infant and female would have nothing to do but to weep and survive. Maybe it was the result of industrialization of war that in 20th century once wars broke， they would become all peoples war. The organization of force logistics supply would be more important than the planning of front generals. Thus in lots of situations it was the whole people that involved in wars. Since wars became national， the task of air force reasonably changed to bomb bridges， munitions factories， then the whole city.

During the Second World War there was an argument among the allies which was insisted by Air Chief Marshal Harris of Britain： Strategic bombing only， especially “area bomb” would be enough to collapse Germany and win. Normandy Landing needed the full support from bomber team. Harris thought it was unnecessary disturbance and was unhappy about it. Harris was accused to be silly， which was unnecessarily so： the best reason of the atom bombing wasnt to substitute the US Army to land on Japan？

Since it was peoples war， “bombing all” was out of some reasons.

“I planned to write a war novel to present some Hollywood western movie stars on stage. At last a little girl said to me： in your place you are just some kids and it was wrong that if you would pretend to be super stars. She enlightened me greatly...at that time we were at the age of 20 around， with childlike face.

Therefore the subtitle of the Slaughterhouse Five was Children Crusade. Vonnegut said this bombing was a kid game. Wasnt it like a crowd of medieval religion fanatic inciting children into attacking Jerusalem？ Or once human beings started a war， wouldnt they be like children？

SEVEN

Lingering with enjoyment in Alstadt of Dresden， I was thinking， even in such modern peoples war， wasnt there any limit to morality， or， game rules？ Some rules should be there. Even the opponent was Fascist or other reactionaries； there should be at least a reciprocity consideration.

For example at the beginning of the war the UK and Germany covenanted that Germany should not bomb Oxford and Cambridge， and UK should not bomb Heidelberg and Tuebingen. Both sides abided by this. Till now still some Germen misunderstood that the US Army didnt bomb Heidelberg because they would reserve it to be a headquarter. This misunderstanding was for some reason if you read the letter from Churchill. Only later American found that they took the advantages of this decent agreement.

Another example was that all hospitals marked with Red Cross should not be attacked. This is an understandable feeling shared by both sides. There were several big hospitals in Dresden with whole roof painted into Red Cross against white field. In the fire storm even a bigger mark wouldnt have worked.

It surely wasnt hard to arbitrate who once broke more rules， Nazi Germany or the Ally， or the World War Two couldnt be judged with good or bad， justice or evil. But what we usually see is that people took the other sides brutality as an excuse to avoid humanistic introspection.