54 The Code Talkers

Many people enjoy secret codes. The harder the code, the more some people will try to figure it out. In wartime, codes are especially important. They help armies send news about battles and the size of enemy forces. Neither side wants its code broken by the other.

One very important code was never broken. It was used during World War II by the Americans. It was a spoken code, never written down. And it was developed and used by Navajo Indians. They were called the “Navajo Code Talkers.”

The Navajos created the code in their own language. Navajo is hard to learn, and only a few people know it. So it was pretty certain that the enemy would not be able to understand the Code Talkers. In addition, the Talkers used code words. They called a submarine an “iron fish” and a grenade a “potato.” If they wanted to spell something, they used code words for letters of the alphabet. For instance, the letter a was “ant” or “apple” or “axe.”

The Code Talkers worked mostly in the islands in the Pacific. One or two would be assigned to a battalion of soldiers. They would send messages by field telephone to the Code Talker in the next battalion. And he would relay the information to his commander.

The Code Talkers played an important part in several battles. They helped troops coordinate their movements and attacks. After the war, the U.S. government honored them for what they had accomplished. Theirs was the most successful wartime code ever used.

# 54 密码通讯员

许多人喜欢密码。密码越难，就越会有人想要破解它。在战时，密码尤为重要。它们帮助军队传递关于战役和敌军规模的消息。双方都不希望自己的密码被对方破解。

有一套非常重要的密码从未被破解过。它在二战期间被美国人使用，是一套口头密码，从未被记录下来。这套密码由纳瓦霍印第安人研发并使用，他们被称为“纳瓦霍密码通讯员”。

纳瓦霍人用自己的语言创建了这套密码。纳瓦霍语很难学，只有少数人掌握它。因此可以确定，敌人无法听懂密码通讯员的话。此外，通讯员们会使用密码词汇：他们把潜艇称为“铁鱼”，把手榴弹称为“土豆”。如果要拼写某个词，他们会用对应字母的密码词汇，比如字母a对应的词汇是“蚂蚁”“苹果”或“斧头”。

密码通讯员主要在太平洋的岛屿上执行任务。每个士兵营会分配一到两名通讯员，他们通过野战电话将消息发送给下一个营的密码通讯员，再由对方将信息转达给指挥官。

密码通讯员在多场战役中发挥了重要作用，他们帮助部队协调行动与进攻。战后，美国政府为他们的功绩授予了荣誉，他们的密码是有史以来最成功的战时密码。