Fuchida
Posts: 69
Joined: 5/16/2002
From: Stevenage, England
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Firstly, I know Fuchida is a strange name for an American Admiral but its a long story...
This AAR covers the first thirteen days and I am afraid is very long because I just can't stop typing when I get going :)
However, it might be useful to those who expressed concern over the complexity of the campaign scenario because I wrote of lot of the preparation section to aid my own understanding of the situation on 1st May.
This is Scenario 17.
Diary of Vice Admiral Walmsley, SOPAC.
Editors Note. It assumed the reader has a reasonable geographical knowledge of the South Pacific area and therefore no attempt is made to explain the geographical relationship of different locations except in the most general terms.
Preparations
Admiral Nimitz has passed on recent intelligence which suggests the Japanese are planning an offensive against Port Moresby or the Solomon Islands or possibly both. There are also believed to be at least two Japanese carriers in the area. My orders are to use the meagre forces at my disposal to defeat any such offensive and, when sufficient reinforcements have been made available, to launch my own offensive at a time of my choosing.
The situation in New Guinea is fairly grim. At Port Moresby, our only significant base on New Guinea, is a single Australian infantry brigade supported by a combat engineer battalion and two anti-aircraft artillery battalions, all of which are under the command of Major General Morris. Two additional infantry brigades, which comprise the rest of Major General Morris's division, known as the 'New Guinea Force', are still in Australia (see below). Port Moresby also has an airbase with sixteen Hudson bombers, two dozen Airacobras, a pair of P-40 Kittyhawks and an understrength squadron of Dauntless dive-bombers. Not exactly a formidable force. The airbase has its own engineers carrying out construction work plus the usual aviation support personnel.
Almost two hundred miles north of Port Moresby is a cluster of Japanese bases centered around Lae. A single, under-supplied Australian battalion, commanded by Major Fleay, is positioned at Wau, thirty miles south of the nearest enemy base and directly in the middle of one of only two passes through the mountain range which runs along the spine of New Guinea. The other pass lies north-east of Port Moresby on the trail to Buna and is currently undefended.
The Japanese appear to have three options for an offensive against Port Moresby. Firstly, they can attempt to break through our defences at Wau and travel two hundred miles along a single trail through hostile jungle. Secondly, they could land at Buna, an unoccupied allied base ninety miles north-east of Port Moresby and move through the undefended mountain pass or thirdly they could send a transport fleet around the tip of New Guinea and either land near the base or launch a direct amphibious assault. We must defend against all of these possibilities. Intelligence on the Japanese forces in New Guinea is extremely limited. At least two infantry battalions and some coastal defences are believed to be at Lae but no information is available on the other six Japanese bases on New Guinea. Reconnaissance of these bases is a top priority.
There are six bases on the North-eastern Australian coast, each of which has an airfield and the necessary aviation support personnel. The two northernmost bases, Cooktown and Cairns, each have an infantry brigade from the New Guinea Force plus a combat engineer unit. As noted previously, the third brigade of the New Guinea Force, along with the division commander, is in Port Moresby. In addition, Cooktown has a construction engineer regiment and Cairns has an anti-aircraft artillery battalion. An infantry brigade and a combat engineer battalion will be shipped or airlifted over to Port Moresby as soon as possible. An infantry brigade and a combat engineer battalion will also be transported to Gili-Gili at the south-eastern tip of New Guinea with orders to establish a port and airbase. A base support force will be freed up from one of the other Australian bases to provide aviation support for this new base. The base will serve both as a backup to Port Moresby and as a point from which to project airpower into the Solomon Sea. The fleet assets required for the bulk of this transfer are currently in Brisbane so there will be a delay before the transport operation can begin.
The ground defence of Australia itself falls to Northern Command under Brigadier General Astin. Northern Command is a reinforced division-sized formation which comprises two infantry brigades, a motorized brigade, two coastal defence regiments and two anti-aircraft artillery regiments. The two infantry brigades are based in Townsville and Rockhampton with the motorized brigade in Brisbane. The coastal defence regiments and the AAA regiments are deployed in Townsville and Brisbane. The anti-aircraft artillery units are actually SWPAC units but for the moment are assigned to General Astin. The primary offensive formation in the south-western theatre is the 7th Australian infantry division under Major General Allen, which comprises three infantry brigades and an attached combat engineer battalion, all of which are based in Brisbane. Ideally this force could secure Buna, protecting the north-western flank of Port Moresby or reinforce the battalion situated south of the Japanese bases around Lae with the aim of a ground offensive against those bases. This division will not be deployed into combat though until we have a better idea of enemy dispositions. However, in the meantime it will do no harm to move it closer to the likely area of operations. As the transports currently sitting in Brisbane harbour need to move up to Cairns and Cooktown to pick up the units destined for New Guinea, they may as well take the 7th Division with them.
The transport assets currently available in Brisbane comprise eleven troop transports and a dozen cargo ships of varying capabilities. Escort assets include three cruisers, two destroyers, two gunboats, and nine minesweepers. There are also six small sub chasers in Brisbane but their endurance is very limited and they are suitable only for defensive operations. A convoy is assembled under the command of Rear Admiral Fechteler which consists of the eleven troop transports plus the heavy cruisers Chicago and Australia, the light cruiser Hobart and the destroyers Walke and Farragut. The transports immediately begin loading. A second convoy comprising the twelve cargo ships, the two gunboats and four of the nine minesweepers is also dispatched to Cairns. This convoy will carry supplies to Cairns and the ships will then begin running supplies from Cairns to Port Moresby to ensure our troops in New Guinea are fully supported. Three of the sub chasers and the remaining five minesweepers are left to conduct operations off the coast of Brisbane while the other three sub chasers begin the first leg of a journey up the coast to provide a limited ASW capability with which to protect the northern ports.
Air assets in Australia are varied and split between five of the six bases. The airbase at Cooktown is currently unoccupied but this will soon change. The only squadron based at Cairns consists of seven operational Catalina naval search aircraft with five more Catalinas in varying states of repair. The twin bases of Townsville and Charter Towers have most of the Australia-based aircraft with thirteen different squadrons comprising eight more Catalinas, twenty-eight B-26B Marauders, sixteen B-25D Mitchells, nine A-20B Havocs, twelve P-40E Kittyhawks, a dozen P-400 Airacobras, eight F-5A Lightnings and forty-one C-47 Dakotas. The Marauders, Mitchells and Havocs are all medium bombers, the P-40E and P-400 are fighters, although both can carry light bombs loads if necessary, the Lightnings are reconnaissance aircraft and the Dakotas are transports. All of the squadrons have additional damaged aircraft which are currently under repair. Rockhampton has four B-17E heavy bomber squadrons with a total of nineteen operational aircraft and eight more under repair. Considering the squadrons each have a designated strength of twelve aircraft, they are seriously understrength. Finally, Brisbane has eight more C-47 Dakotas and fifteen Wirraway fighter-bombers.
Although there are a significant number of aircraft available, they are not very efficiently deployed. Some re-organization is therefore in order. The B-17E heavy bomber squadrons are moved to Cooktown, the northernmost base on the Australian coast from where they can hit all four of the Japanese bases near Lae with their full bomb load. The Havoc bombers at Charter Towers, along with the F-5A reconnaissance aircraft from Townsville, are ordered to Port Moresby in order to strengthen the base's strike power and provide some intelligence on enemy dispositions. The Mitchells from Charter Towers are sent to Cooktown and the Marauders from Townsville are sent to Cairns. Although it would have been preferable to send the Mitchells and Marauders to Port Moresby too, the available aviation support limits Port Moresby to ninety aircraft. At least in Cooktown and Cairns the medium bombers can attack any Japanese naval forces off the south New Guinea coast. Once more aviation support is available in New Guinea, they will be moved to more forward bases. The P-40s and Airacobras are also moved to Cooktown and Cairns respectively.
The transfers mean that both Rockhampton and Charter Towers are now empty of aircraft, except for a few damaged bombers, so their base forces are effectively freed up. When the damaged aircraft have been repaired, both base forces will be ordered to move to Townsville by road. Once they arrive, the four Dakota squadrons will airlift the two base forces to New Guinea. One will be sent to Port Moresby and the other to Gili-Gili, assuming that ground forces successfully occupy the latter and construct a small airstrip. It will take several days for the base forces to arrive so in the meantime, all the Dakotas are sent to Cooktown to begin airlifting combat engineers into Port Moresby
The weather is very bad at the moment so no offensive air operations are likely until it clears. However, the commander of the B-17s at Cooktown is ordered to strike at Lae if there is a break in the thunderstorms. The recon aircraft now at Port Moresby are ordered to use the cover of the raid to carry out a photo recon mission. All other strike aircraft in the area are ordered to attack any naval targets of opportunity as they arise.
We are even more understrength in the South Pacific and Solomons theatre than we are in New Guinea and Australia. Only three bases are available, at Luganville, Efate Port Vila (hereafter known as Vila) and Noumea, all of which are in the New Hebrides. Luganville, the northernmost of the bases, is unoccupied except for a base support force. Vila has its own base support force and a flight of five Catalinas, two of which are under repair. Noumea, situated on the island of new Caledonia and the location of my own headquarters, has a large base support force and an anti-aircraft artillery regiment plus three regimental combat teams and a combat engineer battalion from the Americal Division. The HQ for the division is scheduled to arrive in Noumea in about four weeks. Nine Catalinas and ten Airacobras are the only aircraft at the base. Two construction engineer units are building additional bases on New Caledonia.
In port at Noumea is a strong carrier task force, the primary offensive naval force in the South Pacific. The fleet comprises the carriers Lexington and Yorktown, five heavy cruisers, eight destroyers and one hundred and thirty-six aircraft and will be vital to the success of our operations in this theatre. Also at Noumea are the Oiler Neosho and her attendant destroyer Sims, plus four destroyer minesweepers, four high speed transports, three gunboats and six small sub chasers.
The intended target of the Japanese offensive is not yet known we cannot commit the carriers until we have better intelligence. Therefore the task force is ordered to sail to a point in the southern Solomon Sea from where it can react westward to attack any Japanese transports attempting to round the south-eastern tip of New Guinea or north-eastward to intercept any landing operations in the Solomons. Although this is a defensive position, until we have some idea of the enemy forces, it would be extremely risky moving any closer to known Japanese bases.
The main problem with our bases in the New Hebrides is that they are a long way from the Solomons and, except for heavy bombers, are unable to provide land-based air cover for operations in that area. Therefore we either need to provide air cover from carriers or we need land bases either in the Solomons or close by. There are two completely undefended minor ports at Tulagi and Lunga near the southern end of the Solomons chain but these are a long way from our existing bases and an attempt to occupy would place our forces very much out on a limb. If we manage to sink or disable any Japanese carriers in the near future then we may be able to use our own carriers to support landings at Lunga and Tulagi. In the meantime however, we must assume that will not be the case. Therefore we will attempt to build a base in the Santa Cruz islands to provide air support for a move against the Solomons. The four high speed transports in Noumea harbour will transport the combat engineer battalion from the Americal Division to the westernmost island in the Santa Cruz group. This will be a difficult task as the engineers lack a full complement of support troops and will be building in hostile jungle.
I have instructed the commander of our submarine arm to deploy his boats near Truk and Rabaul, in the channel between New Britain and New Guinea and in the channel between Gili-Gili and the nearby coral reefs. I also asked for the deployment of a single boat in the narrow stretch of water between Santa Isabel and New Georgia, more commonly known as The Slot. He kept complaining about shallow water but I informed him that if he insists in serving in such an underhanded form of naval warfare, he must accept the risks inherent in that choice.
1st May 1942
Despite the atrocious weather in both Australia and New Guinea, the four Dakota squadrons manage to transport the entire 43rd combat engineer regiment from Cooktown to Port Moresby in a single day, although tragically two aircraft crashed on landing at Cooktown. Given their excellent performance, the Dakotas are now ordered to transport the 14th Australian Brigade, part of Major General Morris's New Guinea Force, to Port Moresby. The brigade's twelve 25pdr howitzers will have to follow later by sea because they are too heavy to be carried in the aircraft. A pair of F-5A Lightning recon aircraft carry out a pass over Lae, revealing an estimated 2000 Japanese troops, including infantry, coastal defence, engineers and anti-aircraft. All offensive bombing mission are canceled due to the weather.
A coastwatcher on Bougainville reports three Japanese high speed transports near the Shortland Islands, which could be the first sign of an enemy move against the Solomons.
2nd May 1942
The weather improves a little. It's still raining but at least the thunderstorms have stopped. A trio of B-17Es carries out a raid on Lae, scoring two runaway hits but all three aircraft are damaged.
A Coastwatcher sights a Jap heavy cruiser south of Choiseul in the Solomons. A definite sign that the enemy is up to no good in that area. A Catalina reports sighting a lone heavy cruiser in the Coral Sea, about seven hundred miles west of Townsville and south of the path of TF201, the carrier task force with the Yorktown and the Lexington. I do not want to divert the carriers for the sake of one cruiser so they continue on course for the moment.
3rd May 1942
The Japanese raid Port Moresby with a strike of 15 G3M Nells and 17 A6M2 Zeroes. Six Airacobras and three Kittyhawks manage to intercept and Squadron Leader Turnbull, flying a P-40E Kittyhawk of the 75th Royal Australian Air Force squadron, shoots down two Nells in air to air combat. Three more Nells are damaged by flak but the survivors bomb Port Moresby, hitting the runway and one of the hangars. A Hudson bomber is destroyed on the ground and two more are damaged. All nine members of the CAP are unscathed.
Japanese transports are sighted off Guadalcanal, confirming that the island is being invaded by the enemy. I think it is time to send the carriers to go and see exactly what the Japs are up to over there. A Catalina reports a Jap carrier in the Coral Sea south of TF201. Assuming that is an accurate report, I am more than happy to let the enemy stooge around in the open sea while I go and trash their transports.
4th May 1942
The move of TF201 towards the Solomons bears fruit. Amid many reports of Japanese transports, destroyers, cruisers and even battleships in the waters around Guadalcanal, the Lexington and Yorktown move one hundred and fifty miles south of Guadalcanal and carry out their own search operations. Several ships are spotted and two raids are launched. Although the first raid fails to find its target, thirty-nine Dauntless dive bombers surprise the Japanese heavy cruisers Furutaka and Kako. Kako is hit by two 1000lb bombs and Furutaka suffers four hits. Both cruisers are on fire.
There is another sighting of a Japanese carrier to the east of TF201 but there is no confirmation. If all the carrier sightings are to be believed, the Japs have either lots of carriers or very fast ones. The search aircraft from the carriers also report enemy infantry in strength on both Guadalcanal and Tulagi and a number of destroyers between the two islands.
5th May 1942
Japanese ground forces occupy both Tulagi and Lunga, the base on Guadalcanal. If I am to dislodge them I will need to bring up significant ground forces and at the moment, no transports are available. For the moment I will just have too keep them occupied enough to slow down the building of an airbase.
The Japanese shipping near Guadalcanal appears to have been scared away by the recent air-strike by TF201. Although the weather is rainy and I am probably risking a counter-attack by the Japanese carriers, wherever they really are, I order TF201 to move south of San Cristobal and try to pick off some more Japanese warships. I also split off three heavy cruisers and four destroyers and order them to move to Tulagi for a bombardment attack. If the Japanese surface combatants really are absent I might as well lob a few shells at their troops. It's even possible I could surprise a few transports.
The C-47 Dakotas have completed the transfer of the 14th Australian Brigade to Port Moresby so they are transferred to Townsville to link up with the base force which has arrived from Charter Towers. Their mission is now to move this base force to Port Moresby so that more aircraft can use that base.
A recon mission from Port Moresby gets a look at Rabaul and reports over 150 aircraft, substantial ground forces and a number of ships in the harbour.
6th May 1942
A very busy day. The cruisers and destroyers detached from TF201 approach Tulagi at night and surprise a small Japanese force of a destroyer, a troop transport and a minesweeper. The destroyer is sunk by a hail of eight inch shells from the Portland and the Astoria and the other two enemy ships turn to flee. Minneapolis hits the transport nine times, leaving it burning and heavily damaged, but the minesweeper escapes. The allied ships suffer a total of five hits from 5" shells but no significant damage is inflicted. The cruisers then bombard Tulagi, damaging the port and no doubt killing a number of Japanese ground troops. Unfortunately dawn brings rain and the carriers are unable to finish off the enemy ships. In the afternoon, the weather clears and a squadron of dauntless dive bombers are dispatched in response to the report of a lone enemy vessel near Santa Isabel. They soon find a minesweeper and score two hits with 1000lb bombs. The minesweeper is left aflame from stem to stern.
Sixteen B-17E Flying Fortresses stage a raid on Lae, scoring seventeen hits on the runway and damaging a number of service buildings. No B-17s are lost but six suffer varying degrees of damage. A small raid of three Japanese Betty bombers manages to evade the CAP over Port Moresby but fails to hit its target.
The hardworking Dakotas move the bulk of the 114th Base Force to Port Moresby, more than doubling the available aviation support. Thirty-five B-26B Marauders, twenty-five B-25D Mitchells and fifteen P-40E Kittyhawks are transferred from Australia to Port Moresby, bringing them into the fight at last.
TF203, which includes three cruisers, two destroyers, eleven transports and the 7th Australian Division, arrives at Cairns. As the Japanese seem focused on the Solomons, this might be the time to try something a little daring. The task force is left intact and given a new destination of Gili-Gil. If the force arrives unmolested, it will then be re-directed to Buna and if still unmolested, it will be sent to launch an assault on Lae. Although this is not a well protected convoy, it should be possible to mount a long range cap from Port Moresby for most of the final run to Lae. Let us hope fortune favours the brave (or possibly stupid).
7th May 1942
TF201 reverses course and moves back to a position south of Guadalcanal in an attempt to throw off any enemy attempt to locate the task force. Unfortunately, this course change takes the carriers straight towards two Japanese subs. Both attack the screen but without success. The destroyer Morris retaliates and sinks one of the attacking submarines. Search planes from the carriers then detect a Japanese convoy in the slot and launch sixty Dauntless dive-bombers at maximum range. The dive-bombers find their target and wreak havoc. By the time they pull away, three troop transports and two destroyers are heavily damaged and on fire after suffering a total of thirteen hits with 1000lb bombs.
The surface force of three cruisers and four destroyers makes another sweep near Tulagi but does not turn up any targets. They do not bombard the port as my operations officer forgot to issue the necessary bombardment orders. He is on his way back to Pearl. You just can't get good help these days. As the ships are low on fuel and suffering from a number of system failures, I order them to return to Noumea for repair and replenishment. TF201 will remain in the area a little longer to see if it can pot a few more hapless Jap transports. The big question is, where are the Jap carriers?
Another B-17 raid on Lae inflicts further damage on the airbase but the Japs finally manage a successful raid on Port Moresby. Six Betty bombers escorted by twenty-seven zeroes blast through the CAP, shooting down two allied fighters and damaging a third. The bombs from the Bettys damage the runway, destroy a Hudson bomber and damage a second.
8th May 1942
TF201 moves back toward San Cristobal and launches a strike at a lone minesweeper near Guadalcanal, scoring a single bomb hit. A full strike of sixty Dauntless dive-bombers pounds enemy troop concentrations on Tulagi, inflicting heavy casualties. A Coastwatcher reports seeing a destroyer and a transport sinking near The Slot. These are presumably from the convoy savaged yesterday by Dauntlesses.
The Japanese launch another heavily escorted raid on Port Moresby but the CAP has been beefed up and the battle is more even. Two Zeroes and a Nell are shot down in exchange for a Kittyhawk and Airacobra in their air and a Hudson on the ground.
TF217, the cargo convoy from Brisbane, arrives in Cairns. It is loaded with supplies and sent to Port Moresby.
The C-47 Dakotas are doing a sterling job but are paying for it with operational casualties. Therefore they will be given a rest while the pilots rest and recuperate.
9th May 1942
TF201 will soon have to retire for resupply. In an attempt to find a few more targets, the task force moves into the narrow gap between Malaita and San Cristobal. Once again, scout planes spot a convoy in the Slot, this time with one destroyer and seven troop transports. Several ships appear to have existing battle damage and may have been part of the convoy hit three days ago. Two separate strikes, each of thirty dive-bombers, both find the convoy and pound it mercilessly. The destroyer and one of the transports is sunk and every other transport is hit at least once. When the last plane pulls away, five of the six surviving transports are ablaze.
The elation at the successful strike is short-lived as once again Jap submarines find the task force. This time our luck finally runs out. The heavy cruiser New Orleans takes two torpedoes and is reduced to a crawl. She has a serious list to port and numerous fires are burning throughout the ship. With great regret she is detached from the task force and ordered to try and make it back to Noumea. The two carriers are now down to one cruiser and four destroyers as their escort. The destroyer Morris damages one of the attacking subs but is unable to confirm a kill.
I probably should order TF201 to withdraw while we are ahead but if the task force can finish off the damaged Japanese transports it will seriously hinder the Japanese attempts to reinforce or supply their garrisons on Tulagi and Guadalcanal. Therefore, TF201 moves north, along the eastern coast of Malaita, trying to outrun the subs and move into a new position from which to detect and attack the convoy.
B-17s hit Lae again, ensuring the runway stays badly cratered. So far, there has been no sign of any Japanese aircraft based in New Guinea and it would be ideal if it stayed that way. However, the B-17 crews have been worked hard over the last few days so they are ordered to stand down for a rest.
10th May 1942
The convoy is located just off the west coast of Guadalcanal. A series of three strikes, spread throughout the day and comprising fifty-eight Dauntlesses and twenty-four Devastators, pound the helpless transports. Another one is sunk and the rest are heavily damaged. TF201 detaches the heavy cruiser Chester and the destroyers Anderson and Hammann with orders to make a night run into the waters off the north coast of Guadalcanal and bombard the Jap base at Lunda, as well as possibly intercepting the damaged Jap transports if they head for Lunda too. The two carriers, now with an escort of just two destroyers, move to a position 100 miles off the east coast of Malaita, leaving them within Dauntless range of both Lunda and Tulagi but hopefully away from any subs or the hitherto unseen Jap carriers.
New Orleans continues her struggle toward home. The fires are being brought under control but the list is increasing and the pumps cannot cope with the water leaking through the patched up holes below the waterline.
A large raid of Nells and Zeroes is spotted heading for Port Moresby. Fighters scramble and intercept the raid short of its target. Four enemy aircraft are shot down for no loss. Some of the bombers break through but damage on the ground is minimal.
The C-47s have had a couple of days of rest so it is time for them to earn their keep once more. They are ordered to move the 7th Australian Infantry Brigade, part of the New Guinea Force, from Cairns to Buna. Although Buna has only a small airstrip, it should be enough for the Dakotas. If the brigade can establish itself in Buna, it will protect the North-eastern flank of Port Moresby and also permit the improvement of the airbase. Originally the plan was to sealift this brigade to Gili-Gili but the ships are not yet available and the C-47s have proved invaluable, Gili-Gili lacks an airfield so Buna is the obvious replacement for the brigade's destination.
11th May 1942
The battered Japanese convoy turns back instead of carrying on towards Guadalcanal, placing it outside the range of carrier-based aircraft, so the Lexington and the Yorktown launch another major attack on Tulagi, pounding the Japanese ground troops. The Chester and her two escorting destroyers lob a few shells at the Japanese on Guadalcanal then, low on fuel, head south towards Noumea. The carriers only have two destroyers for escort and are running low on both fuel and ordnance for their aircraft so I order them to withdraw and head back to Noumea as well. Assuming they get back to base safely, it has been a very satisfactory first cruise for TF201.
The fires aboard New Orleans are almost out but the list continues to increase. I doubt she will make it back to a safe port.
The leading elements of the 7th Australian Brigade arrive safely in Buna. Unfortunately, due to a problem with the loading of TF203, it is forced to run back from its trip to Gili-Gili. Most of the intended combat units have been left behind in Cairns so the dock-master is sent to Pearl to join my ex-operations officer. If zis vas Drang Nacht Osten, I vud haf them shot at dawn!! (oops! Sorry about that)
12th May 1942
During the night, the submarine S-46 locates one of the damaged Japanese transports and surfaces to finish it off with gunfire. Also we have a report that the Japanese cruiser Furataka, hit eight days ago by carrier aircraft, sank on its way to Truk.
A large raid of twenty-one Betty bombers escorted by twenty-two Zeroes, hits Port Moresby. A strong CAP meets the raid and shoots down three bombers and two Zeroes without loss. Two Hudsons are destroyed on the ground and the runway takes several hits.
13th May 1942
A very quiet day except for the usual Japanese air raid on Port Moresby. One Nell and one Airacobra are shot down. Damage to the base is light.
The fires aboard New Orleans are finally out but the flotation damage is crippling. She is still almost three hundred miles from Luganville, the nearest port, and making barely thirty miles a day.
to be continued (if you can bear it) :)
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