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Well at least now we know where your talent for making this AAR with all those incredible pictures came from... If your father has the patience to do that, you only need a quarter of his patience to find the right photos for us :)

The fall of Greece is looming, but I guess the Italians could have double the troops in Lybia and still manage to be scared by the Iraqi infantry and the British tankettes
 
Great to hear everything is alright with your father.

I really don't have enough armour to send some of to Afrika. Getting it there, fighting and getting it back is just too hard. I have no transports in the Med as yet, I have no idea how strong the RN is there etc etc. I will play it safe by reducing my losses to about "Nil" for 6 months to allow full builds and upgrades. The experience won't be wasted.

This makes sense, but would you be willing to send over a Fliegerkorps?

Excellent updates as usual!
 
Uriah: ...Surely this means the end of the Catalan threat?

that would be nice ! ! :)

Uriah:
...clouds of carrier based fighters .. the Luftwaffe has decided to try to cure the problem itself.

Yay for the flyboys ! ! :D

Uriah:
...someone in the Foreign Ministry approved the continuation of a trade deal with Chile.

yep, I've done that... :rolleyes:

Uriah:
...The ever-present rain doesn’t help, but progress is steady...

i spent many an hour fighting in the rain (and worse.) it seemed that only the AI had the benefit of endless days of rain "protection". i am sure that is WAD. i consider it senseless and frustrating.

Uriah:
...All Monday the Luftwaffe tried a new tactic. Units were rotated over the airbase and naval facilities of Portsmouth.

that may not help you in the here and now, but it sure will when you have more, and better, aircraft ! ! :D

Uriah:
...I think many of our troops could learn from the dedication of 1a Divisíon de Infanterie.

that is for sure ! ! ;)

Uriah:
...At least our garrison units know what boots are for: 213 Sicherungs-Division has reached Laval and a flurry of shots was all it needed for the rabble to transform into a crowd of civilians hurrying home as fast as possible.

excellent results ! ! :)

magnificent AAR ! !
:cool:
 
Rank and File
A Clerk’s War​


Wednesday 15th to Saturday 18th August 1940

Minister Goebbels started the day with an announcement that we had broken a British spy cell. Not a huge thing you would think, and normally you would be correct. In this case though, most of the important people in Berlin (and quite a few of the unimportant people, including myself) know that for the past few months our research efficiency has been reduced by up to 5%. This has been identified as the result of the activities of English agents, so Goebbels thought he was about to win some important points with the Führer. Unfortunately the British must have been operating two cells in the Reich, as the disruption to our research programmes continued even after the Gestapo raids. Goebbels is fuming – and Minister Göring has let it be known that he is highly amused. There is no love lost between those two.

Unternehmen Stierkampf is drawing to a close, though the British are determined to assist their Spanish allies to the end. Dowding’s bombers hit 1st leichte Panzer Division as it moved from Lora del Río into battle in Alcalá, and Sholto-Douglas tried desperately to prevent 1st Kampffliegerkorps from supporting General Keppler’s attack. It was all in vain, as shortly after daylight Keppler reported that his tanks had broken through the enemy lines and the Anglo-Spanish defending force was fleeing southwards. The fighting must have been brief as total casualties were only 23, 10 of them Keppler’s. It seems that more airmen than infantry were lost on both sides, partly because we continued to harass the retreating troops and the RAF maintained their fighter cover over the battlefield. Sperrle reported six Me 109E fighters and seven Ju 88 bombers did not return, and that he was sure the British lost at least fourteen aircraft.

airalcala10am158final.jpg


Air Battle of Alcalá: 10AM 15th August: even with the enemy in headlong retreat and under attack by the RAF, 1st Kampffliegerkorps kept up its bombing missions.

At sea things were not going our way. Another cargo vessel did not make it back to Lorient after carrying supplies to La Coruña, and this time an escorting Schnell-boot is also missing. The lack of information regarding these losses is proving quite disturbing to the Kriegsmarine, but Großadmiral Raider has promised that the convoys will continue, at least for now.

earlybowsfinal.jpg


A couple of S-boats based at Lorient, similar to the one that is believed to have been sunk by either the RAF or the RN.

To further confirm that while we are dominant on land, Britain still rules the waves, Air Vice-marshal Portal and more than 200 fighters ambushed Geisler and his Dorniers over the Western English Channel. Losses were high before our naval bombers could break free and return to base. Within the hour all naval bombing missions had been cancelled: that brief clash cost 2nd Seefliegerkorps 33 aircraft. While the RAF patrols the Channel, our bombers will keep well away.

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Despite its impressive armament, the Dornier is very vulnerable to concerted attacks by large fighter formations

Portal must have had orders to ensure that our naval bombers were destroyed as a threat, as he chased them back to Nantes, probably hoping to destroy more aircraft as they reduced speed to land. OKL had prepared for just such an eventuality, and Christiansen fought off the fighters while the bombers were at their most vulnerable. Portal saw another twenty of his fighters shot down before lack of fuel forced him to return to England.

airnantes1pm158final.jpg


Air Battle of Nantes

Late in the day another turn of the screw in Spain. Heinemann’s 50.Infanterie marched due south from Valverde del Camino into Lebrija, held tenuously by Rojo Luch. We have 10,000 fresh troops attacking less than 6,000 demoralised, hungry and tired Spanish soldiers, and an easy victory is expected. Several military analysts I heard discussing the situation asked what I thought was a very pertinent question: why did Heinemann strike south, rather than south-west into the undefended province of Huelva? Our political experts predict that the fall of Huelva would signify the end for Spain, yet Rommel has ignored it. (We later found out that Rommel had neglected to alter his orders to his generals: after the fall of Seville the only objective not achieved was Gibraltar and that became the focus for Sud-Frankreich Army. Needless to say, after Heinemann missed his opportunity fresh orders were prepared, emphasising the importance of capturing the Spanish seat of government.)

lebrijafinal.jpg


Battle of Lebrija: we have also received our first reliable information on the garrison of Gibraltar

On the 16th, Minister von Ribbentrop revealed that talks with high ranking Turkish officials have found that our policies are almost identical, and our objectives are very similar. While this led to early hopes that Turkey might join the Axis, after further research our diplomats realised that Turkey’s determination to remain neutral made any overtures pointless. The Foreign Ministry has ordered our Embassy in Ankara to keep Berlin informed.

General Petersen is moving towards the important naval base of Cádiz, but first he must clear Eixea Vilar and 8/4a Divisíon Orgánica from Jerez de la Frontera. This should not take long: the battle-hardened veterans of 22.Infanterie (mot) will have no difficulty routing the 4,400 Spanish.

jerezdelafronterafinal.jpg


Battle of Jerez de la Frontera

The irrepressible General von Boehm-Bezing is at it again. Apparently unable to sit still and prevent access to La Coruña through Villalba, he has ordered 3.Infanterie to attack the Spanish in Melide. According to his memo to Sud-Frankreich Army headquarters, he believed General Ascaso Abadía was about to launch an assault on 2nd Fallschirmjäger. Nobody takes this seriously: Abadía had less than 9,000 soldiers, and these were in no state to attack anyone. The impetuous general just cannot sit still. Regardless of the motivation, within a few hours the Spanish were pulling back to Sarria, having lost 57 men. Von Boehm-Bezing’s aggressiveness cost 3.Infanterie 23 soldiers.

melidefinal.jpg


Battle of Melide

Behind the scenes a lot of work is being done to assist our interceptor pilots. It is not just the quality of the aircraft that can tip the balance in air combat, it is also the support on the ground. The Luftwaffe has now developed an improved training program for fighter ground crew. Early reports indicate a substantial increase in morale in our interceptor and fighter formations, as the pilots realise that that the ground crews are making sure that not only are our aircraft in peak condition, but that turn-around times for refuelling, re-arming and repair have been reduced. Despite Minister Göring’s efforts to retain the research funding for more Luftwaffe projects, Minister von Blomberg has triumphed. With a new front due to open next year, priority is being given to ensuring the Heer is ready. Modifications are to be carried out on our “Spearhead Doctrine” to bring it up to the most modern standards before next spring.

It seems that General Heinemann may be free to swing west into Huelva sooner than expected. 50.Infanterie has been mercilessly efficient in hammering the Spanish into submission. In less than a day it killed 264 enemy while losing only 3 of its own soldiers. Unfortunately for Heinemann, he may be outdone by either Hartmann’s 19.Infanterie or Blaskowitz’s 29.Infanterie (mot), both of which are moving swiftly through Valverde del Camino heading to Huelva.

sdkfz8daimlerfinal.jpg


While the Heinemann’s footsloggers fight their way forward, others are luckier and have motor transport. Some even get to ride in luxury (on the few occasions in Spain when it is not raining) in one of the Daimler Sdkfz 8 halftracks that have been issued to a few fortunate motorised units. There is talk that one day we will have complete divisions equipped in this way.

Not to be outdone, 22.Infanterie (mot) has also inflicted heavy losses on the Spanish in Jerez de la Frontera. 411 men of 8/4a Divisíon Orgánica were killed in the fighting, while Petersen lost 50 soldiers. The increasingly high death toll in recent fighting indicates that the Spanish are near breaking point, unable to even defend themselves. Surely the Spanish government must accept the inevitable and stop the slaughter.

There was a moment of alarm when another message was received from General von Boehm-Bezing, but it was not to notify that he was marching further south. A detachment of Spanish cavalry got caught up in his advance, but was soon driven off. One of our men was shot, but the Cabelleros lost 15 men.

melide2final.jpg


Second Battle of Melide
Saturday brought more good news for our fighter pilots as a new manual setting out interception tactics was issued to all units. This publication represents the distillation of thousands of debriefings and both technical and theoretical studies. This time Göring was successful, with the go-ahead given for an increase of funding for our rocket research site at Peenemünde. Our engineers are to design and construct a completely new rocket engine: our spies tell us we are falling behind researchers in the rest of the world.

he1761final.jpg


Could this be why Göring is pushing so hard for more rocket research: a photograph of a prototype Heinkel rocket aircraft at Peenemünde. Tentatively called the He 176, its rocket engine shows great promise, producing speeds up to 750 kmph.

he1764final.jpg


In a test frame, a rocket engine built by Werner von Braun is put through its paces, using a He 176 fuselage.

The Spanish must be on the verge of collapse, as even the redoubtable Lister Forjan has admitted defeat against the part-time soldiers of Heinrici’s X Armeekorps headquarters in Dom Benito. I don’t doubt the courage of our administrative officers and men, but they should not have been able to defeat the regular troops of 1a Divisíon de Infanterie. The Spanish were either out of ammunition or their morale had completely dissipated. As it was we lost 168 men in defence of the headquarters, while the Spanish lost less than half that, 77 men.

There were a few skirmishes between our interceptors over the Channel, but losses were minimal – just a couple of our aircraft. Needless to say, Gore-Sutherland-Mitchell’s carrier based aircraft suffered not a scratch.

airwec5pm188final.jpg


Air Battle of Western English Channel: 5PM 18th August

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The Warterzimmer in the Reichskanzlei: usually on a Saturday night this is how it appears, but on the night of 16th August 1940 is was standing room only.

I am not sure why, but I lingered very late on Saturday night: I didn’t feel like joining the Wehrmacht officers in their rowdy drinking games and Gisela had a family event that I had no desire to attend. So I was working by myself when I felt something was unusual. I took me a few minutes to realise what it was: instead of footsteps heading towards the street exit, I kept hearing people entering the building and heading to the executive areas near the Reichskanzler’s office. Picking up a bundle of files I strode purposefully towards the centre of activity, looking as though I was on my way to a ministerial office. As soon as I was safely in the waiting area near the Kanzler’s office I slowed to eavesdrop on the conversation. I had barely done so when there was a commotion and I heard several people mention that Minister von Ribbentrop had arrived. He disappeared into the Kanzler’s office, but by then I had worked out what was happening. Unternehemn Stierkampf was over: the Spanish government has not only accepted defeat but has ceased to exist! Our diplomats have insisted on complete unconditional surrender, and we have annexed the whole country! The Reich now stretches to Gibraltar: the last vestige of Allied resistance in the West. How long can that fortress hold out against the might of Rommel’s Army?

gibraltarwwiifinal.jpg


Fortress Gibraltar: the next challenge for the Sud-Frankreich Army. This captured British diagram shows the strategic importance and the magnificent defensive position of the “The Rock”.


Bombing Summary

RAF/RN Fleet Air Arm

Lora del Río: Dowding with No.1 RAF Dive Bomber, No.5 and 1 RAF Tactical Bomber Groups: 115, 194, 146
Alcalá: Dowding with No.1 and 5 Tactical Bomber Groups: 110, 47, 39
Valverde del Camino: Leigh-Mallory with No 1 RAF Dive Bomber Group: 66, 85
Valverde del Camino: Leigh-Mallory with No 1 RAF Dive Bomber and Middle East Group: 37, 31
Valverde del Camino: Dowding with No.1 RAF Dive Bomber, No.5 and 1 RAF Tactical Bomber Groups: 124, 61, 4
Seville: Baldwin with Middle East Group: 14, Nil, 65

Luftwaffe

Alcalá: Sperrle with 1st Kampffliegerkorps (1 x Bf 109E, 2 x Ju 88): 112
Lebrija: Hoffmann von Waldau with 4th Schlachtfliegerkorps (2 x Ju 87B): 49, 146, 120
Jerez de la Frontera: Sperrle with 1st Kampffliegerkorps (1 x Bf 109E, 2 x Ju 88): 132, 244, 267
Jerez de la Frontera: Hoffmann von Waldau with 4th Schlachtfliegerkorps (2 x Ju 87B): 49, 13, 31
Lebrija: Sperrle with 1st Kampffliegerkorps (1 x Bf 109E, 2 x Ju 88):162, 66, 152
Lebrija: Sperrle with 1st Kampffliegerkorps (1 x Bf 109E, 2 x Ju 88) and 4th Schlachtfliegerkorps (2 x Ju 87B): 25


Unterseebootsflotte Activity Report

North Bay of Biscay: 1 transport (New Zealand): Auckland – Dover: Dönitz with 2nd U-flotte
Coast of Cádiz: 1 transport and 1 escort (UK): Bobay – Dover: Wolf with 4th U-flotte
East Biscay Plain: 1 transport (UK): Singapore – Dover: Dönitz with 2nd U-flotte
Western Charcot Seamount: 1 transport and 1 escort (UK): Singapore – Dover: Fricke with 3rd U-flotte
Coast of Cádiz: 2 transports (Greek): Athina – Boston: Wolf with 4th U-flotte



Axis Military Position Maps

greecefinal.jpg


Greece: Italian tanks have lunged towards Athina, but while front-line units have sufficient supply to exploit the breakthrough there is evidence of supply problems in the rear.

libiafinal.jpg


Libia: the enormous numbers of troops in Libia (as shown by General La Ferta’s force in Surt ) have consumed much of the stockpile of supplies that had been built up.

chinafinal.jpg


China: the IJA has finally crossed the Yellow River, taking the province of Dongying on the coast. Our military liaison in Tokyo hopes this is the start of a push along the coast to seize new ports. Logisitics are not a problem at the moment, but more prots will be need if a serious effort is made to crush Chinese resistance.

indochinafinal.jpg


IndoChina: increasing numbers of Guangxi troops are arriving, leading to a halt to the IJA expansion. Supply is plentiful, and a resumption of the IJA drive north is expected soon.


Unternehmen Stierkampf: Success!

spainfinal.jpg


Spain has been incorporated into the Reich, and only a few provinces held by the British are not under our control. Several Spanish units have joined the British army, but these are no threat. Only Gibraltar remains defiant.

gibraltarfinal.jpg


A captured map of Gibraltar showing the airfield and anti-aircraft and gun emplacements. Even with this level of information available, to take the vital port will probably be a long and bloody affair.
 
Gibraltar looms... A well deserved victory for the brave soldiers of the Reich. These dastardly Spaniards even send out their womanfolk to fight. That is one thing the Fuhrer will never allow to happen.

Well, if I can't keep my MP numbers up it I would love it to be an option.

ehm... first of all I must apologise for not being able to spell.. of course I meant my italian hearT...

secondly I now only wish for an epic struggle to capture Gibraltar (I hope the Brits will put up a good fight if only for enabling you to put up your usual great updates ;) )

And as for italians, they usually stop every now and again for a pizza and glass of wine so I think you'll have Vladivostok before they'll get to Suez... if they dont get too drunk before that.

P.S. it's a bold decision to send NAVs against escorted carriers... I usually keep them for convoy raiding. and killing disorganized fleets (mop up) or port strike. But after all .. I kinda asked you to show them carriers :)

It wasn't "heart" that confused me: it was "woeing". Obviously there is an Italian word that doesn't translate exactly. But I get your point now :).

I don't begrudge the Regio Esercito a glass of vino but I think they are having a 5 week festival in NAfrica.

The NAVs were just a try: I didn't think they would work but I had to see. Not too good against the RAF.

Been a while since there has been an update on your overall tech. Are you persuing V1 tech? What level infantry tech do you have? Are jet's on the horizon?

I could have sworn I did one a month or so ago. I will do one soon: now Spain is over I will catch up on a few things. You can see from this update that rockets are a bit behind. Next infantry tech is 1942: probably start all four next year.

Well at least now we know where your talent for making this AAR with all those incredible pictures came from... If your father has the patience to do that, you only need a quarter of his patience to find the right photos for us :)

The fall of Greece is looming, but I guess the Italians could have double the troops in Lybia and still manage to be scared by the Iraqi infantry and the British tankettes

Patience is not the word - over the top enthusiasm is more like it. I remember when I was a boy he got an interest in astronomy. Most people would buy a pair of binoculars and "Guide to the Sky". Within weeks he had joined the Astronomical Society and became editor of their magazine, and started building his own 6inch telescope. Of course the first thing you have to do is build a glass grinding machine so you manufacture your own lenses.

Please don't suggest the Italians double their force in Libia: I don't think they can supply what they have. If they would just put thier vehicles into first gear instead of neutral Iwould be happy.

Great to hear everything is alright with your father.



This makes sense, but would you be willing to send over a Fliegerkorps?


Excellent updates as usual!

I may try a few bombing missions, but I don't think it will help. The Italians have to move rather than just sitting. They must outnumber the Brits at least 5 to 1.

And thanks for the encouragement.

Welcome to the club. Pull up a chair, and join us in watching paint dry.

Yes, Italy is a concern. Even when I give them clear objectives (Benghazi then Alexandria) they can't seem to get going. I am hoping that after Greece falls they will concentrate on Libia.

Uriah: ...Surely this means the end of the Catalan threat?

that would be nice ! ! :)

Uriah:
...clouds of carrier based fighters .. the Luftwaffe has decided to try to cure the problem itself.

Yay for the flyboys ! ! :D

Uriah:
...someone in the Foreign Ministry approved the continuation of a trade deal with Chile.

yep, I've done that... :rolleyes:

Uriah:
...The ever-present rain doesn’t help, but progress is steady...

i spent many an hour fighting in the rain (and worse.) it seemed that only the AI had the benefit of endless days of rain "protection". i am sure that is WAD. i consider it senseless and frustrating.

Uriah:
...All Monday the Luftwaffe tried a new tactic. Units were rotated over the airbase and naval facilities of Portsmouth.

that may not help you in the here and now, but it sure will when you have more, and better, aircraft ! ! :D

Uriah:
...I think many of our troops could learn from the dedication of 1a Divisíon de Infanterie.

that is for sure ! ! ;)

Uriah:
...At least our garrison units know what boots are for: 213 Sicherungs-Division has reached Laval and a flurry of shots was all it needed for the rabble to transform into a crowd of civilians hurrying home as fast as possible.

excellent results ! ! :)

magnificent AAR ! !
:cool:

Thanks Ghostwriter. There is no threat now from either Catalonia or Galicia. And my attempt to hit the carrier planes where it hurts has been a miserable failure. I am pretty sure my aircraft are at elast equal to the Brits, maybe I need to get more advanced tactics.

I have tried to deduce a system to your colour selection but can't: is it random or do you have specific colours for different sorts of comment?

AAAHHHH!! Ghostwriter, those colours make my eyes bleed :(


Have you tried wearing sunglasses when reading this thread?
 
At last! Congratulations on your victory over the Spanish. Great update as always.

On a related note, your AAR inspired me to try a game using army level AI. I found the experience very rewarding as that level seems to prevent most of the inefficiencies of theatre or group AI (constant SRs behind the lines, units shipped to the middle of nowhere, etc) while maintaining the feel of delegating the war to ones commanders in the field. Thanks for that.
 
Congrats on the liberation of Spain.
As you have mentioned, now is the time to build boots and upgrade all. With the AI doing so much (so little) of the fighting, Barbarosa will be epic.
Cheers on such a sustained effort.
 
I don't know if you need more combat troops, but you need a lot of garrisons and MP to free the combat troops in the occupied territories.

Sending long range bombers to help the Italians WILL break the british.
 
Congratulations for your victory.
I'm sure that the Spanish campaign will be a valuable lesson for the German armed forces.
 
I don't know if you need more combat troops, but you need a lot of garrisons and MP to free the combat troops in the occupied territories.

Sending long range bombers to help the Italians WILL break the british.

yes, on the other hand does he really need it? He's about to close half of the Mediterranean sea.

---------------------

Congrats on your new holiday grounds. Now germans won't have to wait another 20 years to colonize Spain in summer.

I'm already drooling at the thought of the epicity of the fight against USSR.

Now break that little rock and send those limeys (no offense please) back home :D
 
While the Heinemann’s footsloggers fight their way forward, others are luckier and have motor transport. Some even get to ride in luxury (on the few occasions in Spain when it is not raining) in one of the Daimler Sdkfz 8 halftracks that have been issued to a few fortunate motorised units. There is talk that one day we will have complete divisions equipped in this way.


Epic Mythbusters reference, I'm happy to be the first one finding it too :cool:
At least I hope it's one otherwise I'll look foolish...

Spain is finally down, maybe the Festivalia Italiana of North Africa will end and the Regio Esercito will start to move again... but I guess they won't move until Athens is captured.
 
If the AI can take out Poland, France, and Spain, surely it can handle
a bunch of mountain camping Brits??? :rolleyes:

At least that is the plan. ;)

Normally, yes. I would not want to trust the Rock to the AI. It will most likely sit around trying to build up giving the Brits time to add more, causing more build up time. I would prefer to narrow the command down to army level and issue the attack orders after attaching all sorts of stuka and med bombers.

Then, again, we MAY be surprised. The way Uriah's Spanish campaign has gone, I wouldn't hold my breath.

Glad you finally got it Uriah. I am amazed it took damn near the whole country to get it done though.
 
... I would prefer to narrow the command down to army level and issue the attack orders after attaching all sorts of stuka and med bombers.

Good point.

From what I have read earlier in the campaign, I believe that Uriah has the AI working
at the Army level with attached air support. Whether he will add additional CAS
elements to the force tasked to actually securing the rock, I do not know. :confused:
 
Congratulations on the Spanish surrender. Which HQ has control over the former Spanish islands? It could be worth assigning them to the HQ which has the subs under it's command. May be reinforce those islands with a marine divison? Just an idea.

Taking Gibraltar will be difficult for the AI, even if you set Rommel's troops to Blitzkrieg mode. The AI is very reculant to take high losses / wear down good defensive positions. It might take a while until the AI moves, even if you assign all the Luftwaffe's bomber assets to the task of reducing the Rock. If the Italians are finally making headway in Greece, the bombers might be available for the rock for a short while, but I sense that you will have to send a group or two of them to aid the Italians sooner or later in North Africa.

With only half a year left before Barbarossa will be launched, I'm still worried about the number of formations available in the theatre. The further the Reich expands, the fewer forces will be available for hot zones. The infantry will have to suffer the most in that operation, so it's even more important to have enough formations to rotate them in and out as needed. It might be worth to consider shortening the military training time. Preparing troops is important, but if you do not have enough boots on the ground, even the most experienced troops can be outmaneuvered and shortening production time by up to 30% is quite a lot of time saved, not only for the infantry but especially for those formations which have a long production time, eg tanks, planes and ships.

The Luftwaffe also needs quite a number of additional squadrons to be able to controll that rather vast area of operation. We have seen what the Luftwaffe can do when not challenged, I'd rather not want to see the same happening to the German forces during Barbarossa.

What is the state of the Kriegsmarine's capital ships? It has been a while since they last saw combat, damages should be pretty much repaired by now and it might be worth considering to move them further south to intercept reinforcements for Gibraltar.

Also, having Barbarossa in mind, it might be worth considering to change the industrial laws from mixed to heavy, simply for the benefit of supply throughput. Am I correct assume that the economic laws have been changed to total war mobilization?
 
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