Battle of Otium Aqua Sea
| Battle of The Otuim Aqua Sea | ||
|---|---|---|
| Location: Otuim Aqua Sea- Western Stevidian Straights | ||
| ||
| Outcome: Stevidian/Independent Hitmen Strategic Victory | ||
| Combatants | ||
| The Empire of the Golden Throne | Stevid | Independent Hitmen |
| Strength | ||
| The Empire | Royal Navy | The IH Navy |
| 4 Super/Dreadnoughts 6 Battleships 7 Aircraft Carriers 21 Cruisers 224 Assorted Ships |
3 Super/Dreadnoughts 3 Battleships 6 Aircraft Carriers 64 Cruisers 86 Assorted Ships |
0 Super/Dreadnoughts 4 Battleships 19 Aircraft Carriers 4 Cruisers 147 Assorted Ships |
| Approximate Casualties | ||
| The Empire | Royal Navy | The IH Navy |
| 21 ships destroyed Numerous Damaged Ships 7000+ Lives Lost or Unaccounted for |
29 ships destroyed Numerous Damaged Ships 8000+ Lives Lost or Unaccounted for |
32 ships destroyed Numerous Damaged Ships 8000+ Lives Lost or Unaccounted for |
The battle of Otium Aqua was the second sea battle fort during the War of succession on the Stevidian front. Party nations belonging to Independent Hitmen, Stevid and Guffingford first fought in the Otium Aqua Sea early in the war when Guffingfordii naval vessels attacked oilrigs in the southern regions of Otium Aqua. Before Guffingford’s withdrawal from the war, it became a battle of wits, stupidity and powerful technology with loses on both sides. Had Guffingford not pulled out, the Royal Navy would surely have fallen to the might of the Guffingfordii navy. With the “defeat” of the Guffingfordii Navy, the Shores of Stevid and Rubet Island were again safe from the torment of international pressure. Even Stevid had gotten herself into the war, both Her and Independent Hitmen were confident of victory in the West without having to suffer the possibility of defeat so close to home by the shores of Stevid. They were soon to be proved wrong again when the enemy they set out to destroy came again in the form of a more beatable, but none the less formidable foe. The battle in South Otium Aqua was not one of great significance, the real battle was about to begin, and fighting an enemy that was the cause of the war would not back down as Guffingford did. The Macabees had a fleet twice the size of the nearest one Stevid could put to sail and had the pride and joy of the fleet. The [I]Feathermore[/I], a huge Super Dreadnought that dwarfed the only other opposing side’s SDN, the Stevidian Catholic Class.
The real battle of Otium Aqua would take place in Stevid Waters just to the East of an International Waters plot, to the West of Rubet Island. It was were the titanic battle of the Sea would begin.
Contents
Background
The reasons the Otium Aqua Sea is so important to everyone involved is that it is the key terminal for sea-lanes stretching out across the local Imperial Armies region. A direct passage from the island nation of Stevid straight to the Western Continent of Imperial Armies. The fact that Stevid controls the seas en-route to the Western Continent means that strategically Stevid can see convoys and protect (or in the case of war, destroy) the convoys. Also the Southern reaches are rich with oil fields that have been contested regions for the past five years. It was over those oil fields that the first battle of Otium Aqua erupted marking the first sea battle Guffingford, Stevid and Independent Hitmen got involved in during the War of Golden Succession. Tensions between Stevid and Guffingford over the oil fields had been on the rise for months while relations between Guffingford and Zarbia became dramatically worse. When war was declared, both Stevid and Guffingford went on the offensive. Guffingford fleets met the Royal Navy in battle thus sparking the first of two very long battles in Otium Aqua theatre of war.
The second battle of Otium Aqua led from the first battle with The Macabees intending to send the Royal Navy packing back to port. The intensions being to prevent Stevid and her allies send ground troops and armour to help reinforce the Havenic Forces on the Havenic/Macabee border. With The Macabees making an attempt to attack and possibly destroy a wounded and demoralized Royal Navy and an IH fleet spread thin, the second battle was to swiftly begin in the Northern approaches of Otium Aqua.
Assault Strike Battle Group ‘Caretian’ (The Macabees)
Strike Force Caretian was The Macabees answer to both the Stevidian and IH hostility towards the Macabees. The Otium Aqua Sea was under direct Royal Navy control and was held with an iron grip. It would need something as equally powerful to loosen Stevid’s grip on the corridor of water between Stevid and the former Guffingford. Caretian was one of the largest battle group The Macabees had at their disposal containing the brand new HES Feathermore Super Dreadnought, the pride and joy of the fleet and proved to be the centrepiece of Caretian. Flanking her were two other Super Dreadnoughts acting as protection for the Feathermore that would undoubtedly draw an extremely large amount of firepower from the Royal Navy and the IH naval task force. The Macabees, following traditional task force composition, contained a generous amount of aircraft carriers, battleships and cruisers. Following up from those vessels came the outer protection circle of frigates and finally destroyers providing a wall of anti-air cover for task force Caretian.
The task force was led by Admiral Caretian himself and was tasked with using the Caretian Fleet denying Stevid her essential fields of black gold. The Admiral held an illustrious career that he hoped that his experience in battle could win the day. The military commanders feared that if Stevid and Independent Hitmen could combine their fleets together, Task Force Caretian would fail in it’s mission and would either be forced to disengage or be destroyed. The Tactic being to deny the Royal Navy access to her allies while destroying the IH fleet while wounding the Royal Navy to such a degree that they couldn’t possibly fight back.
Task Force Caretian totals to 263 Ships with approximately 116, 932 crewmember
Initial routine spy satellite sweeps over Stevid led Naval Intelligence to believe that the Otium Aqua Sea was venerable to attack despite the fact that The Macabees was on the other side of the region. The first three sweeps showed a very large naval force with huge capital ships that were obviously Super Dreadnoughts. Satellites visually identified one as the HES Feathermore and so it was confirmed that the Macabees were going to try and take control of the sea. The Royal Navy has the First Fleet stationed at Conberth Harbour, since the Fifth Fleet had suffered at the hands of the Guffingford Navy and that Rubet Island was the nearest mainland with a fleet in harbour to the sea, it was them that would intercept the enemy. The fleet had only seen a real engagement during the Holy Panooly campaign and had under taken anti-terror missions in the Sudan and Somalia. It was also highly skilled and drilled in close quarter engagements with naval gunnery. Stevid is one of very few nations in the world that have experienced enough crews that have sail a Super Dreadnought close to the combat to well within cannon range and let loose salvos at deadly range. Even at long-range, Stevid guns are deadly due to constant gunnery and evasive manoeuvre drills in both calm and poor waters. It was with these skills and experiences that the Admiral of the Fleet, Admiral Farthing, would use to attack the Macabee fleet approaching from the North Otium Aqua. It was a tactic that couldn’t fail; the gunnery of the First Fleet was known to be first class excellence both at long and short-range. Using the Ace he had, Farthing intended to use the First Fleet to hold the line of defence in the sea while he awaited reinforcements in the air from Stevid and the, hopefully, timely arrival of the Hitmen naval forces to finally push back the Macabee navy. The Admiral trusted MI5 and Naval Intelligence implicitly and understood the devastating potential of the Feathermore SDN, weakening it to such a degree that it would rather not engage would be the first step, along with assaulting the carrier and capital ship force. The other ace in the hole Stevid and Independent Hitmen had was that Stevid owned Rubet Island was the nearest land mass in Otium Aqua to the engagement. Stevid had the ability to throw a large amount of air units at the enemy fleet without worrying back losing too many carriers to missile attack. The “Hold Until Relieved” strategy that was to be used until IH force arrived was to be used. If it alone worked, it would be the biggest victory the Royal Navy would ever have seen.
Royal Navy First Fleet totals to 162 Ships with approximately 103,859 crewmembers
Only recently involved in the War of Golden Succession on the Stevidian front, it was a welcome scene when IH capital ships entered down the River Hanover in Stevid Capita to the cheers of the population. IH is known throughout the world to navy a well-respected naval force, one not to be under-estimated by any nation, to have them on Stevid’s side. The Hitmen forces were scattered all over Stevid waters providing an extra boost to the local patrol sectors on the western fringes of home waters. The IH fleet in Stevid had just got back together after the conflict that ensued in South Otium Aqua. Hitmen Naval Forces could easily converge to together under one admiral’s control and this admiral, Admiral McWalter, would have the control of the fleets IH would send into battle. Many ships were battle hardened and ready for action after action in the Southern reaches of the Sea, many were green but none the less formidable and willing to take the fight to the enemy this time round. Admiral McWalter’s tactic was to follow up Stevid’s plan. Stevid was going to try and hold the line long enough to give Independent Hitmen to get the fleet to merge and move on the Macabee fleet. The First Fleet would be nearer so sailing at flank would give the fleet a short time to arrive at Stevid. The plan was to again, merge the First Fleet with the Hitmen fleets to make an almost invincible force of aircraft and missiles to use against The Macabees. In short, to meet up with Stevid the hot zone, and clean up what Stevid had managed to do to the enemy.
IH Fleet totals to 173 Ships with approximately 115,986 crewmembers
First Engagement
The engagement of the day was started by Task Force Caretian of the Imperial Navy; their target was the First Fleet of the Royal Navy. Weather conditions had so far been threatening the Task Forces and meant that a close engagement would be very unlikely and not in Admiral Caretian’s best wishes. The violent seas of Otium Aqua were where the Royal Navy excelled and mirrored what the Imperial Navy wanted. The Royal Navy intended to get in close and personal to the enemy and bring the huge 25” guns on the Super Dreadnoughts to bear against the Imperials. Both had their strategies but one couldn’t ignore the electrical storm moving in quickly from the West towards Rubet Island, both fleets would rather better weather to fight a close cannon on cannon battle. The weapons of war in this case would be like Midway- Carriers and fighter jets.
The Macabees didn’t hesitate to make the first move, they didn’t want to stay long and they were a long way from a friend harbour. It was supposed to be a quick battle with a quick victory for Admiral Caretian and his fleet. Immediately, as the rain started to gently fall, Imperial Flacon Anti-ship fighters took off from their carriers and made speed towards the First Fleet. Sending in such venerable planes would be suicide and so top cover was provided by allied fighters from other carriers in the fleet. Caretian fighters had superior range on their missiles over the Stevidian missiles and so stood a very good chance of not being shot down on this sortie. The Falcons were carrying a complement of Sledgehammer anti-ship missiles (A co-operative design between Guffingford and Macabees military industries). It wasn’t long before the short trek was over and the sledgehammers were in range of the Royal Navy’s fleet, over a hundred and fifty missiles were launched in total at the fleet before the planes tucked the tails between their legs and made for the safety of their AA defence grid of Caretian.
The Royal Navy were not oblivious to the danger of the Sledgehammers. The commanders had learnt from their mistakes in South Otium Aqua when Guffingford used Sledgehammers against a Catholic Super Dreadnought. The effects had been catastrophic and they had been lucky to save the ship. The Royal Navy were not so ignorant of the threat posed by the missiles. AWACS belonging to Independent Hitmen had shown approaching aircraft long ago. Despite the competence of the IH plane, it took time to scramble all available aircraft from the carriers. It didn’t take a genius to figure that the capital ships were targets for the sledgehammers, carriers included. All carriers and SDNs launched what aircraft into the air to save them and prepare themselves to counter attack.
The sledgehammers meet fierce resistance from the naval gunnery with ILMS and CIWS cannons opening up before the 40mms fired. Before some of the sledgehammers rocketed up into the air, there was a series of explosions as the frighteningly fast sledgehammers gained up on the First Fleet. The missiles then shot up air into the air right over the First Fleet, some exploding as the AA fire of rounds from the cannons followed the sledgehammers. This was where the fleet became some what helpless. The missiles were too high for the capital ships to attack seeing as they were almost directly over the fleet. Cruiser, frigate and destroyer escorts kept up the rate of fire with AA missiles and cannons to destroy the now free falling missiles. Explosions in the air could still be seen as the missiles careered down towards the fleet. The capital ships opened up the chaff launchers in a last ditch effort to divert the missiles and used the combined might of ECCM jammers in the SAMPSON RADAR domes within the fleet to try and confuse the missiles. The missiles then injected the last bit of hydrogen/ethanol fuel into the Ramjet engine and the missiles gained a massive amount of speed with little time to use it. Some diverted towards the sea due to the chaff, some fell out of the sky missing there target due to the ECCM and a few more exploded from the AA fire. 67% of the missiles found their targets on the First Fleet, utterly destroying a Domination Class Battleship and eliminating all but four carriers in the fleet while crippling two of the remaining four. One Super Dreadnought was struck and one month worth of damage was sustained from six missiles. Rescue craft from the shore were called in to help back to port.
The damage was done and the Royal navy tasted the bitterness of the Sledgehammer missiles striking the hulls of their ships once again. Revenge couldn’t be as effective as the attack they had suffered from however revenge could be swift and sweet. Harriers and Sea Tornadoes made off and attacked the fleeing Flacons while the other fighters such as Sea Typhoons and F-35’s attacked the escorts flying top cover. A third of the Falcons were destroyed while the other air battle has unconfirmed amounts of casualties but at least over a half of the counter attack Stevidian fighters were shot down by enemy missiles. It was soon clear to Stevid Air Command that Task Force Caretian had this one vital weakness, air power. Although Task Fore Caretian had superior aircraft, Stevid had numbers, lots of air force base on the mainland of Rubet Island. Immediately, 50 F-22a Raptors took off and started the hour long journey to the war zone while another air force base launched a number of various bomber aircraft.
Independent Hitmen naval forces had been scattered around the Southern Stevid Isles since the engagement against Guffingford in South Otium Aqua. Vast quantities of carriers and aircraft were present in the whole of the Independent Hitmen Navy. Though sparsely scattered, they regrouped and formed the three task forces- Task Forces New Hampshire, Fearless and London. The mainstay of these combined fleets was Hampshire with the vessel IHS New Hampshire, the Flagships of the IH Navy.
The fleets merged together and set sail with haste to where the Stevidian First Fleet was stationed. Despite the atrocious weather conditions, the fleet managed to arrive on time and had only missed a half hour’s worth of action before they took up combat positions. The main tactics of the IH fleet was to indeed met up with the First Fleet of the Royal Navy and make a really deadly combination of offence and defence. Weather conditions had given The Macabees the advantage and so both the IH and Stevid Fleets were separate from each other and would need a couple more hours for them to come together. This gave the Imperial Fleet the key opportunity to keep the two fleets apart and win the day in Otium Aqua. Although the IH fleet had arrived and somewhat equalled the odds, the battle was far from won but also meant Stevid no longer needed to retreat back to the mainland. The Royal Navy’s objective was to hold the line, they had succeeded. Now the combined Stevid and Hitmen fleets had to try and stave off a war machine of a fleet.
Second Engagement
The attack on the First Fleet had dealt a decisive blow against Stevid and had left many ships’ crew reeling in the renewed horror of the Sledgehammer missile. While the Falcon that had fired the missiles were almost slaughtered the damage had indeed been done to the First Fleet. Retaliation from both Stevid and Independent Hitmen would be judgmental but only to a degree to the damage sustained by the Royal Navy. Stevid took to the air side of warfare and began a massive air assault that would hopefully bog down most enemy aircraft to try and save both allied fleets; Independent Hitmen took to the air as well but closed in towards Task Fore Caretian to be able to fire their own anti-ship missiles at the Golden Throne’s finest. The Second Engagement had begun with an Offensive from the Hanvenic Pact.
Stevid, still using the more aged designs of aircraft, took to the skies with JSFs, Sea Typhoons, Sea Tornadoes and Harriers that were accompanied by land based F-22a Raptors and F3 Tornadoes. Stevid had the asset of being so close to home and could utilise as much land based air support as it needed. Independent Hitmen also benefited from this since they had been leased over fifty different airbases on Rubet Island alone and so sent in their own aircraft from these airbases including a large contingent of B2 Spirit stealth bombers that would target the Feathermoore SDN.
The Royal Navy opened up again with intensely accurate gunnery and the damage was taking its toll on Task Force Caretian, 25” shells landed all over shipping in the Macabain fleet and cause minor damage to the Feathermoore while sinking a further six escort ships and a few cruisers. The Royal Navy fired a fair amount of missiles at the Macabain fleet but to discernable avail since the missiles were sea skimming and easy prey to the more impressive CIWS capability Caretian had to his disposal. The majority of missiles were shot while those that got through caused minor damage to the AA shield of shipping and sunk less than five frigates and/or destroyers. Independent Hitmen struck home as well and fired overwhelming amounts of missiles at the Golden Throne’s task force, lots were shot down but the weight in numbers counted against Task Force Caretian and a Super Dreadnought was sunk with cannon aid from the Royal Navy and multiple shipping including carriers and cruisers were almost to the missile attack.
It didn’t take long for Admiral Caretian to respond to this attack and order a retaliatory strike against the IH Task Force. Ship launched Sledgehammer missiles attacked the IH fleet that had now strayed dangerously close to the Macabee missile cruisers and frigates. The losses were terrifying and well over one hundred thousand tons of shipping in total were lost to the missile strike. While the majority of the IH had survived, the flames of the wreck could be seen for miles away from both the allied Stevidian Fleet and Task Force Caretian. Independent Hitmen was yet to finish and a daring long-range air-to-surface missile attack was launched by any surviving aircraft against the Macabee Carriers scoring one killed and minor damage on a further two. The B2 Spirits were tasked with the removal of one of the most dangerous ships, the Feathermoore. Cruise missiles were launched but the B2’s had to enter the AA protection of Task Force Caretian, the majority of the B2’s were shot down in the attack but only after the missiles had been launched. News reached quickly about the devastating attack on the Feathermoore that was now left limping in the battle and prone to real attack that could end her short life.
Caretian felt that his job was done, huge losses in both lives and tonnage had been inflicted on the Havenite allies although loss on Caretian forces, while not quite so high, were still large by comparison. The First Fleet had been made example of, while their gunnery air attacks aided in IH’s successful missile attack, one of their SDN’s had been crippled to almost frightful state and bore the scars of a horrifying conflict. The IH fleet had suffered greatly at the hands of the Sledgehammer AS Missile and the cost in lives was more painful than it was in loss of naval units. Morale was not at all good but the fact remained- although huge damage had been inflicted, the Golden Throne had not succeed in taking the Otium Aqua from Haven Pact hands.
Withdrawal
Admiral Caretian decided on a tactical withdrawal from the Otium Aqua, the damage on Stevid and Independent Hitmen had been done but to continue the fight was just asking for a victory to the Royal navy and the Hitmen Navy that had scored a number of successes in the closing stages of the Second Engagement. With the Feathermoore damaged, IH missiles coming to bear, the Royal Navy’s guns crawling ever closer, it was time to leave. Task Force Caretian left with their heads held high and although the seizure of the Otium Aqua had been a complete failure, the power that the Golden Throne possessed and the damage so little of it cause would be remembered for a long time.
IH and Stevid naval commanders now had a choice. In their eyes the day was won, Stevid safe, the sea secure and the enemy was retreating form battle now the option of pursuit or withdrawal were on the agenda. To pursue was to invite total victory to the defending forces but also to invite considerable and unacceptable losses for the fleets involved or even defeat if Caretian counter-attacked. To withdraw would be to hand a result to Caretian although maintaining the glory that they had stood up to some of the best ships and minds in the Golden Throne. The risk to pursue was too large and the losses would actually limit both nations’ ability to defend the sea in the future. Both fleets had been hit very hard but still had a sizeable proportion of their fleets still intact that could be used in more attacks- the option to withdraw to port was made. Stevid bombers were called back as to were IH bombers and both sides retreated to friendly ports.
Aftermath
The result in the Otium Aqua was a shared one, damage on Stevid and Independent Hitmen forces were visually notable and the conflict had scared the minds of all those involved, while the Golden Throne had to face the mild humiliation of not being able to exploit their more superior technology to their advantage. Both Stevid and IH Governments sought on the propaganda that their fleets had repulsed a superior enemy fleet, while true, they failed to mention the losses involved and talk about that was kept to a minimum.
The Golden Throne were not at all happy at the attitude of the Stevid government or population, they were constantly exploiting Caretian’s failures and inability to destroy the invincible Royal Navy- it was a notion they could not tolerate any more and something had to be done immediately to crush citizen morale. Stevidian resolve and morale at home had always proven to be traditionally high and hard to break and so something big had to be done to even dent their pride. It was then that Stevid was first to suffer from the aftermath effects of the battle in the Otium Aqua. Portsmouth Harbour, the largest naval base in Stevid and home to the largest and most powerful fleet in the Navy, the 5th Fleet. The 5th had seen action in South Otium Aqua against Guffingford where it had suffered extremely bad losses. She lay in port licking her healing wounds when the Golden Throne attacked; a huge stealth bomber dropped three mini submarines in the ocean and mad for Portsmouth harbour, they then avoided detection by ASW ships and ASW netting before firing their deadly payload. Each was armed with a nuclear tipped torpedo that ripped through the port and tore over three quarters of the fleet apart. Another torpedo destroyed the sea wall and foundations stopping ships from entering or leaving. The quayside was a mess and even a Catholic Class SDN was beached on the quayside, her back broken by the destruction. Experts are still pondering on the effectiveness of the mini-submarines on evading ASW searches. The harbour has undergone extensive repair and most of the quayside is operational at a medium level, however the 5th Fleet will remain at anchor indefinitely until over five hundred ships can be spared to rearm the fleet.
Independent Hitmen struck to final blow against the Golden Throne by removing the Feathermoore SDN. Crippled and extensively damaged she was a prime target and had to be removed because of the threat she still posed. A sizable task force consisting of only Hitmen vessels sailed the long voyage to west Macabees so that they could attack and sink the Feathermoore. The carriers in the fleet launched aircraft that launched anti-ship missiles that had recently been acquired into the IH aviation inventory and fired that at the wounded ship. The Golden Throne responded with hapless AA fire and down several aircraft but could not prevent the missiles from striking the doomed ship. The Pride and joy of the Golden Throne’s navy sank to the bottom of the harbour and there she would stay. Both sides suffered from the aftermath and both struck a decisive blow- The Haven Pact with a morale crusher while the Throne with both a morale crusher and a successful attack on the largest fleet in Stevid.
Now with the arrival of Questers in the Otium Aqua, it seemed that the sea was now firmly under the control of the Royal Navy and her allies. However a renewed offensive by the Golden Throne on the ground has also prompted a possible naval move by the Throne to make a third attempt to take the Otium Aqua. The Royal Navy and the Independent Hitmen Navy are now veterans of the Otium Aqua Sea, the Royal saw of Guffingford and did so again with the aid of IH against the Macabees. With aid from Questers they present a powerful force. However it is assumed that a huge bulk of the Golden Throne’s navy will attack the Otium Aqua in an attempt to keep Stevidian ground forces from reaching Safehaven and preventing further attempts to take the resources in the sea and use it as a strategic battle ground.
The Third Battle for the Otium Aqua will present similar pros and cons for both sides. Stevid, IH and possibly Questers will benefit from large air and naval support from the Stevidian mainland and Rubet Island, while the Macabees will make use of their new, improved and larger Sledgehammer MkII. The Third and probably final battle will be decisive and will prove who really does control the Otium Aqua. Victory for the Golden Throne will eliminate the need to constantly attack enemy shipping and will finally be able to sail through the Otium Aqua without attack, whereas victory for the Haven Pact will destroy another huge contingent of the Macabee navy and will guarantee the Otium Aqua to Havenite forces including the oil and strategic values.
Both sides will of course implement their new technologies. The Macabees with their new and improved AS missiles and Stevid and IH with their updated navies and aircraft. Both Stevid and Independent Hitmen have received the Renown and Prince of Wales Class SDNs to their navies while Stevid in particular have produce four three different classes of Command Battleships to stand up to even the super dreadnought of today. If the Third Battle of Otium Aqua were to ever erupt, it would be one of such titanic proportions that in the end their would probably be no real winner in terms of loss to shipping and amounts of human casualties.
Second Battle of the Otium Aqua Sea
| Second Battle of The Otuim Aqua Sea | ||
|---|---|---|
| Location: Otuim Aqua Sea- Western Stevidian Straights | ||
| ||
| Outcome: Stevidian/Independent Hitmen Strategic Victory | ||
| Combatants | ||
| The Empire of the Golden Throne | Stevid | Independent Hitmen |
| Strength | ||
| The Empire | Royal Navy | The IH Navy |
| ? Super/Dreadnoughts ? Battleships ? Aircraft Carriers ?? Cruisers ?? Assorted Ships |
? Super/Dreadnoughts ? Battleships ? Aircraft Carriers ?? Cruisers ? Assorted Ships |
? Super/Dreadnoughts ? Battleships ?? Aircraft Carriers ? Cruisers ?? Assorted Ships |
| Approximate Casualties | ||
| The Empire | Royal Navy | The IH Navy |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
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