爱沙尼亚举行大规模军演

For more than a week now, the birch forests and heaths across Estonia have echoed with gunfire, explosions and the heavy crump of artillery.

逾一个星期以来，整个爱沙尼亚的桦树林和荒野上，回荡着枪声、爆炸声和大炮的轰鸣声。

The tiny Baltic state, sandwiched between Russia and the sea, is holding the largest war games of its independent history and one of the biggest held by Nato since the end of the cold war.

这个夹在俄罗斯和波罗的海之间的小国，正在举行独立以来的最大规模军演，这也是冷战结束以来北约(Nato)国家举办的最大规模军演之一。

Eight Nato states, including the US, UK, Poland and Germany, are participating and have sent weaponry ranging from advanced anti-aircraft systems to A10 “Warthog” ground-attack planes and Abrams battle tanks.

包括美国、英国、波兰和德国在内的8个北约国家参加了这次军演，武器系统涵盖范围从高级防空系统到A10“疣猪”(A10 Warthog)对地攻击机和艾布拉姆斯(Abrams)主战坦克。

But the drills are really Estonia’s affair. It has deployed 13,000 troops in the live-fire exercises, of which 7,000 have been conscripted out of ordinary civilian jobs as part of the country’s national reserve. In striking contrast to the populations of other Nato countries, there is huge public support for these exercises. A year-long national TV advertising campaign has urged businesses and employers to take part. One reservist paid 1,700 of his money to fly back from Australia to take part.

不过，这次演习其实是爱沙尼亚本国的一次行动。该国在这次实弹演习中动用了1.3万人的部队，其中7000人是从作为爱沙尼亚国家后备力量的普通文职岗位征召的。与其他北约国家民众形成鲜明对比的是，这次演习获得了公众的巨大支持。在此之前，爱沙尼亚出现了持续一年之久的全国性电视广告宣传攻势，督促各商家和雇主参与这次演习活动。有一名预备役军人甚至自费1700欧元，从澳大利亚飞回爱沙尼亚参加此次军演。