国民党反动统治崩溃的速度，比人们预料的要快。
#§The reactionary Kuomintang rule is collapsing more rapidly than was expected.
现在距离解放军攻克济南只有四个多月，距离攻克沈阳只有三个多月，但是国民党在军事上、政治上、经济上、文化宣传上的一切残余力量，却已经陷于不可挽救的四分五裂、土崩瓦解的状态。
#§ It is only a little over four months since the People's Liberation Army captured Tsinan and only a little over three months since it captured Shenyang, but all the remnant forces of the Kuomintang in the military, political, economic, cultural and propaganda fields are already hopelessly split and disintegrated.
国民党统治的总崩溃开始于北线的辽沈战役、平津战役和南线的淮海战役期间，这三个战役使国民党在去年十月初至今年一月底的不足四个月中丧失约一百五十四万多人，包括国民党正规军一百四十四个整师。
# §The general collapse of Kuomintang rule began with the Liaohsi-Shenyang and Peiping-Tientsin campaigns on the northern front and the Huai-Hai campaign on the southern front. #§ In less than four months, from early October last year to the end of January this year, these three campaigns cost the Kuomintang a total of more than 1,540,000 men, including 144 entire divisions of its regular army.
国民党统治总崩溃是中国人民解放战争和中国人民革命运动伟大胜利的必然结果，但是国民党及其美国主人的“和平”叫嚣，对于促进国民党崩溃一事，也起了相当的作用。
#§ The general collapse of Kuomintang rule is the inevitable outcome of the great victories of the Chinese People's War of Liberation and of the revolutionary movement of the Chinese people, but the clamour for "peace" by the Kuomintang and its U.S. masters has played a considerable part in hastening this collapse.
国民党反动派从今年一月一日开始搬起的一块名叫“和平攻势”的石头，原想用来打击中国人民的，现在是打在他们自己的脚上了。
# §On January 1 of this year, the Kuomintang reactionaries began to lift a rock called the "peace offensive"; they intended to hurl it at the Chinese people, but now it has dropped on their own feet.
或者说得正确些，是把国民党自己从头到脚都打烂了。
# §To be more exact, the rock has smashed the Kuomintang to pieces.
除了傅作义将军协助人民解放军已经和平地解决了北平问题以外，各地希望和平解决的还大有人在。
#§ Besides General Fu Tso-yi, who has helped the People's Liberation Army to achieve a peaceful settlement of the Peiping question, there are plenty of people everywhere who hope for a peaceful settlement.
美国人站在一旁发干急，深恨其儿子们不争气。
#§ The Americans are looking on in impotent fury because their brats have failed them.
其实，和平攻势这个法宝出产于美国工厂，还在大半年以前就由美国人送给了国民党。
# §In fact, this magic weapon, the peace offensive, was made in U.S. factories and was delivered to the Kuomintang more than half a year ago.
司徒雷登本人曾经泄露了这个秘密。
#§ It was Leighton Stuart himself who let out the secret.
他在蒋介石发出所谓元旦文告以后，曾告中央社记者说，这是“我过去所一直亲自努力以求的东西”。
# §After Chiang Kai-shek issued his so-called New Year's Day message, Stuart told a correspondent of the Central News Agency that this was "what I myself have consistently worked for".
据美国通讯社称，该记者因发表了这段“不得发表”的话而丢了饭碗。
#§ According to U.S. news agencies, that correspondent lost his rice bowl for publishing this "off the record" remark.
蒋介石集团长期地不敢接受美国人的这个命令，其理由，在国民党中央宣传部去年十二月二十七日的一项指示中说得很明白：“我如不能战，即亦不能和。
# § The reason the Chiang Kai-shek clique did not dare to obey this American order for quite a long time was clearly explained in a directive issued by the Propaganda Department of the Kuomintang Central Executive Committee on December 27, 1948: #§If we cannot fight, we cannot make peace.
我如能战，则言和又徒使士气人心解体。
# § If we can fight, then to talk about peace will only demoralize the troops and the people.
故无论我能战与否，言和皆有百害而无一利。”
# §Hence, whether we can fight or not, we have everything to lose and nothing to gain by talking about peace.
国民党当时发出这个指示，是因为国民党的其它派别已经在主张言和了。
#§The Kuomintang issued this directive at that time because some Kuomintang factions other than Chiang's were already advocating peace talks.
去年十二月二十五日，白崇禧及其指导下的湖北省参议会向蒋介石提出了“和平解决”的问题，迫使蒋介石不得不在今年一月一日发布在五个条件下进行和谈的声明。
#§ Last December 25, Pai Chung-hsi and the Hupeh Provincial Council under his direction raised the question of a "peaceful settlement"with Chiang Kai-shek, who was compelled to issue a statement on January 1 about holding peace negotiations on the basis of his five terms.
蒋介石希望从白崇禧手里夺回和平攻势的发明权，并在新的商标下继续其旧的统治。
# §He hoped to snatch the patent for inventing the peace offensive from Pai Chung-hsi and to continue his old rule under a new trade mark.
蒋介石于一月八日派张群到汉口去要求白崇禧的支持，同日向美英法苏四国政府要求干涉中国的内战。
# §On January 8 he sent Chang Chun to Hankow to enlist the support of Pai Chung-hsi and on the same day he asked the governments of the United States, Britain, France and the Soviet Union to intervene in China's civil war.
但是这些步骤全都失败了。
#§ But all these moves failed completely.
中国共产党毛泽东主席在一月十四日的声明，致命地击破了蒋介石的假和平阴谋，使蒋介石在一个星期以后不得不“引退”到幕后去。
#§ The statement by Chairman Mao Tse-tung of the Communist Party of China on January 14 dealt a fatal blow to Chiang Kai-shek's plot for a sham peace and compelled him to "retire" backstage a week later.
虽然蒋介石、李宗仁和美国人对于这一手曾经作过各种布置，希望合演一出比较可看的双簧，但是结果却和他们的预期相反，不但台下的观众愈走愈稀，连台上的演员也陆续失踪。
#§ Although Chiang Kai-shek and Li Tsung-jen and the Americans had made all kinds of arrangements for this plot and hoped to put on a fairly good puppet show, the result was contrary to their expectations; not only did the audience dwindle, but even the actors themselves vanished from the stage one after another.
孙科的“行政院”自动宣布“迁政府于广州”，它一面脱离了它的“总统”“代总统”，另一面也脱离了它的“立法院”“监察院”。
#§ On its own initiative, Sun Fo's "Executive Yuan" has proclaimed "the moving of the Government to Canton"; it has broken away not only from the "president" and "acting president" of the government but also from the "Legislative Yuan" and "Control Yuan".
孙科的“行政院”号召战争，但是进行战争的“国防部”却既不在广州，也不在南京，人们只知道它的发言人在上海。
# §Sun Fo's "Executive Yuan" calls for war, but the "Ministry of National Defence", which is charged with conducting the war, is neither in Canton nor in Nanking, and the only thing that is known of it is that its spokesman is in Shanghai.