Pancho Villa Expedition
Encyclopedia
The Pancho Villa Expedition—officially known in the United States as the Mexican Expedition and sometimes colloquially referred to as the Punitive Expedition—was a military operation
Military operation
Military operation is the coordinated military actions of a state in response to a developing situation. These actions are designed as a military plan to resolve the situation in the state's favor. Operations may be of combat or non-combat types, and are referred to by a code name for the purpose...

 conducted by the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 against the paramilitary forces of Mexican
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 insurgent
Insurgent
Insurgent, insurgents or insurgency can refer to:* The act of insurgency-Specific insurgencies:* Iraqi insurgency, uprising in Iraq* Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir, uprising in India* Insurgency in North-East India...

 Francisco "Pancho" Villa
Pancho Villa
José Doroteo Arango Arámbula – better known by his pseudonym Francisco Villa or its hypocorism Pancho Villa – was one of the most prominent Mexican Revolutionary generals....

 from 1916 to 1917 during the Mexican Revolution
Mexican Revolution
The Mexican Revolution was a major armed struggle that started in 1910, with an uprising led by Francisco I. Madero against longtime autocrat Porfirio Díaz. The Revolution was characterized by several socialist, liberal, anarchist, populist, and agrarianist movements. Over time the Revolution...

. The expedition was launched in retaliation for Villa's attack
Battle of Columbus (1916)
The Battle of Columbus, the Burning of Columbus or the Columbus Raid began as a raid conducted by Pancho Villa's Division of the North on the small United States border town of Columbus, New Mexico in March 1916. The raid escalated into a full scale battle between Villistas and the United States Army...

 on the town of Columbus
Columbus, New Mexico
Columbus is a village in Luna County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 1,765 at the 2000 census. The town is named after 15th century explorer Christopher Columbus.-History:...

, New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...

 and was the most remembered event of the Border War. The expeditions had one objective, to capture Villa dead or alive and put a stop to any future forays by his paramilitary forces on American soil. The official beginning and ending dates of the Mexican Expedition are March 14, 1916 and February 7, 1917.

Background

Trouble between the United States and Pancho Villa had been growing since 1915, when the United States government disappointed Villa by siding with and giving its official recognition to Venustiano Carranza
Venustiano Carranza
Venustiano Carranza de la Garza, was one of the leaders of the Mexican Revolution. He ultimately became President of Mexico following the overthrow of the dictatorial Huerta regime in the summer of 1914 and during his administration the current constitution of Mexico was drafted...

's national government. Feeling betrayed, Villa began attacking American property and citizens in northern Mexico. The most serious incident occurred in January 1916, when sixteen American employees of the ASARCO
ASARCO
ASARCO LLC is a mining, smelting, and refining company based in Tucson, Arizona that mines and processes primarily copper. The company, a subsidiary of Grupo México, is currently in Chapter 11 bankruptcy...

 company were removed from a train near Santa Isabel
Santa Isabel, Chihuahua
Santa Isabel is a small town in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. It serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding municipality of Santa Isabel.As of 2005, Santa Isabel had a total population of 1412....

, Chihuahua and summarily stripped and executed. Villa kept his men south of the border to avoid a direct confrontation with the United States Army forces which were being deployed to protect the border.

At approximately 4:17 am on March 9, 1916, Villa's troops attacked Columbus, New Mexico and its local detachment of the 13th Cavalry Regiment
13th Cavalry Regiment (United States)
The 13th Cavalry Regiment is a unit of the United States Army. The 1st and 2nd Squadrons are currently stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas as part of the 1st Armored Division.-Service History:...

, killing ten civilians and eight soldiers, and wounding two civilians and six soldiers. The raiders also burned the town, took many horses and mules and seized available machine gun
Machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....

s, ammunition and merchandise, before being pursued back into Mexico. However, Villa's troops suffered considerable losses, with at least sixty-seven dead and dozens more wounded. About thirteen of the wounded would later die of their wounds and five Villistas were taken prisoner by the Americans and later executed. The battle may have been spurred by an American merchant in Columbus who supplied Villa with weapons and ammunition. After Villa paid several thousand dollars in cash in advance, the merchant decided to stop supplying him with weapons and demanded payment in gold.

Expedition

On March 15, on orders from President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

 Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...

, Major General
Major general (United States)
In the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, and United States Air Force, major general is a two-star general-officer rank, with the pay grade of O-8. Major general ranks above brigadier general and below lieutenant general...

 John J. Pershing
John J. Pershing
John Joseph "Black Jack" Pershing, GCB , was a general officer in the United States Army who led the American Expeditionary Forces in World War I...

 led an expeditionary force of 4,800 men into Mexico to capture Villa, who had already had more than a week to disperse and conceal his forces before the expedition tried to seek them out in unmapped terrain. Beginning March 19, the newly-adopted Curtiss JN-4
Curtiss JN-4
The Curtiss JN-4 "Jenny" was one of a series of "JN" biplanes built by the Curtiss Aeroplane Company of Hammondsport, New York, later the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company. Although the Curtiss JN series was originally produced as a training aircraft for the U.S...

 airplane
Fixed-wing aircraft
A fixed-wing aircraft is an aircraft capable of flight using wings that generate lift due to the vehicle's forward airspeed. Fixed-wing aircraft are distinct from rotary-wing aircraft in which wings rotate about a fixed mast and ornithopters in which lift is generated by flapping wings.A powered...

 was used by the 1st Provisional Aero Squadron
1st Reconnaissance Squadron
The 1st Reconnaissance Squadron is a United States Air Force reconnaissance training unit based at Beale Air Force Base, near Marysville, California. It is the oldest squadron in the Air Force, and the first organization to be established as a U.S. military flying unit...

 to conduct aerial reconnaissance. Pershing divided his force into two "flying columns" to seek out Villa, and made his main base encampment at Casas Grandes, Chihuahua. Due to disputes with the Carranza administration over the use of the Mexico North Western Railway
Mexico North Western Railway
The Mexico North-Western Railway or Compañía del Ferrocarril Nor-Oeste de México was a railroad that operated in Mexico between Ciudad Juárez and Chihuahua, via Nuevo Casas Grandes in the western portion of the state of Chihuahua. Prior to 1909, it was known as the Rio Grande, Sierra Madre &...

 to supply his troops, the United States Army employed a truck-train system to convoy supplies to the encampment and the Signal Corps
United States Army Signal Corps
The United States Army Signal Corps develops, tests, provides, and manages communications and information systems support for the command and control of combined arms forces. It was established in 1860, the brainchild of United States Army Major Albert J. Myer, and has had an important role from...

 set up wireless telegraph service from the border to Pershing's headquarters.

The first battle
Battle of Guerrero
The Battle of Guerrero, or the Battle of San Geronimo, in March 1916, was the first military engagement between the rebels of Pancho Villa and the United States during the Mexican Expedition. After a long ride, elements of the American 7th Cavalry Regiment encountered a large force of Villistas at...

 between the Villistas and the expedition occurred on March 29, 1916, at San Geronimo Ranch, near the town of Guerrero
Vicente Guerrero
Vicente Ramón Guerrero Saldaña was one of the leading revolutionary generals of the Mexican War of Independence, who fought against Spain for independence in the early 19th century, and served briefly as President of Mexico...

. After a long march through the Sierra Madre
Sierra Madre Occidental
The Sierra Madre Occidental is a mountain range in western Mexico.-Setting:The range runs north to south, from just south of the Sonora–Arizona border southeast through eastern Sonora, western Chihuahua, Sinaloa, Durango, Zacatecas, Nayarit, Jalisco, Aguascalientes to Guanajuato, where it joins...

, Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...

 George A. Dodd
George A. Dodd
Brigadier General George Allan Dodd was an officer in the United States military. He was known for his victory over the Villistas in 1916 at the Battle of Guerrero, Mexico, during the Pancho Villa Expedition.-Biography:...

 and his command of 370 men, from the 7th Cavalry, launched what was called the "last true cavalry charge" in history. During the five hour battle, Pancho Villa lost over seventy-five of his men killed or wounded and he was forced to retreat into the mountains. Only five of the Americans were hurt, none of them fatally. The battle is considered the single most successful engagement of the expedition and it was the closest Pershing's men came to capturing Villa.

On April 12, 1916, about 100 men of the 13th Cavalry were attacked
Battle of Parral
The Battle of Parral, on April 12, 1916, was the first battle between soldiers of Venustiano Carranza, known as Carrancistas, and the United States military during the Mexican Expedition...

 by an estimated 500 Mexican troops as they were leaving the town of Parral
Parral, Chihuahua
Hidalgo del Parral, is a city and seat of the municipality of Hidalgo del Parral in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. It is located in the southern part of the state, 220 km from the state capital, the city of Chihuahua, Chih....

. The American commander, Colonel Frank Tompkins
Frank Tompkins
Colonel Frank Tompkins was an American officer in the United States Army and Medal of Honor recipient for his leadership in the 1916 Battle of Columbus, New Mexico, during the conflict on the Mexican-American border.-Biography:...

, knew he could not win a conventional engagement, so in a running battle he and his men were able to retreat to a fortified village nearby while repulsing Mexican cavalry charges at the same time. Two Americans were killed in the fight and another six were wounded, the Mexicans lost between fourteen and seventy men according to conflicting accounts.

Colonel Dodd and the 7th Cavalry fought another engagement on April 22 with about 200 Villistas, under Candelaro Cervantes, at small village of Tomochic. As the Americans entered the village, fighting broke out when the Mexicans opened fire from the surrounding hills. Dodd first sent patrols out to engage the Villistas' rear guard
Rear guard
A rear guard or rearguard is that part of a military force that protects it from attack from the rear, either during an advance or withdrawal...

, to the east of Tomochic, and after they were "scattered" the main body was located on a plain, to the north of town, and brought into action. Skirmishing continued for some time but when it became night the Villistas retreated and the Americans assembled in Tomochic. The 7th Cavalry lost two men killed and four wounded. Colonel Dodd reported that his men killed at least thirty rebels.

The next battle was fought at a ranch near Ojos Azules on May 5. In another charge, six troops of the 11th Cavalry and a detachment of Apache Scouts
Apache scouts
The Apache Scouts were part of the United States Army Indian Scouts, most of their service was during the Apache Wars up to 1886 though the last scout retired in 1947. The Apache scouts were the eyes and ears of the United States military and sometimes the cultural translators for the various...

 routed Julio Acosta and his band of about 100 rebels during what Friedrich Katz
Friedrich Katz
C. Friedrich Katz was an Austrian-born anthropologist and historian specialized in 19th and 20th century history of Latin America; particularly, in the Mexican Revolution...

 called the "greatest victory that the Punitive Expedition would achieve." Without a single casualty, the Americans killed forty-one Villistas and wounded many more. The survivors, including Acosta, were dispersed but they later regrouped to continue fighting the Carrancistas.

While the 11th Cavalry was engaged at Ojos Azules, dozens of Mexican raiders, under the command of a Villista officer, attacked
Glenn Springs Raid
The Glenn Springs Raid occurred in May of 1916 when Mexican Villistas and Carrancistas attacked the towns of Boquillas and Glenn Springs, Texas. In Glenn Spings the raiders burned several buildings and fought a three hour battle with a small force of American soldiers who were stationed there...

 the towns of Boquillas
Boquillas, Texas
Boquillas was a small settlement in Texas, located on the northern banks of the Rio Grande. It was located within Brewster County, five miles northeast of San Vicente, Texas. The place existed to service the mining operations at Boquillas del Carmen, Mexico, just across the Rio Grande.Boquillas,...

 and Glenn Springs, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

. At Glenn Springs the Mexicans won a small battle against a squad of nine 14th Cavalry soldiers and at Boquillas they robbed the place and took two captives. When the United States Army learned of the incident a "little punitive expedition" was sent into Coahuila
Coahuila
Coahuila, formally Coahuila de Zaragoza , officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Coahuila de Zaragoza is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico...

 to return the captives and the stolen property. On May 12, Colonel George T. Langhorne and two troops from the 8th Cavalry rescued the two prisoners at El Pino without a fight and on May 15 a small detachment of cavalrymen encountered some of the raiders at Castillon. During the "brief firefight" that ensued, five of the Mexicans were killed and two were wounded while the Americans had no casualties.

On May 14, Lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...

 George S. Patton
George S. Patton
George Smith Patton, Jr. was a United States Army officer best known for his leadership while commanding corps and armies as a general during World War II. He was also well known for his eccentricity and controversial outspokenness.Patton was commissioned in the U.S. Army after his graduation from...

, 8th Cavalry, raided the San Miguelito Ranch, near Rubio, Chihuahua. Patton, a future World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 general, was out looking to buy some corn from the Mexicans when he came across the ranch of Julio Cárdenas
Julio Cardenas
Julio Cárdenas was a Captain in Pancho Villa's Villista military organization. He was second-in-command to Villa and the head of his personal bodyguard. The Battle of Columbus, New Mexico, in which 18 Americans were killed, sparked the campaign, led by 'Black Jack' Pershing, to eradicate the...

, an important leader in the Villista military organization. With fifteen men and three Dodge
Dodge
Dodge is a United States-based brand of automobiles, minivans, and sport utility vehicles, manufactured and marketed by Chrysler Group LLC in more than 60 different countries and territories worldwide....

 armored cars, Patton led America's first armored vehicle attack and personally shot Cardenas and two other men. The young lieutenant then had the three Mexicans strapped to the hood of the cars and driven back to General Pershing's headquarters at Colonia Dublan
Colonia Dublan
Colonia Dublán began as a Mormon colony, located in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico. It is now a part of Nuevo Casas Grandes. It is one of the few surviving Mormon colonies in Mexico .-History:...

. Patton is said to have carved three notches into the twin Colt Peacemaker
Colt Single Action Army handgun
The Colt Single Action Army is a single action revolver with a revolving cylinder holding six metallic cartridges. It was designed for the U.S...

s he carried, representing the men he killed that day. General Pershing nicknamed him the "Bandito".
The Villistas launched an attack of their own on May 25. This time a small force of ten men from the 7th Cavalry were out looking for stray cattle
Cattle
Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...

 and correcting maps when they were ambushed by twenty rebels just south of Cruces. One American corporal
Corporal
Corporal is a rank in use in some form by most militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. It is usually equivalent to NATO Rank Code OR-4....

 was killed and two other men were wounded though they killed two of the "bandit leaders" and drove the rest off.

On June 2, Lieutenant James A. Shannon and twenty Apache scouts fought a small skirmish with some of Candelaro Cervantes' men after they stole a few horses from the 5th Cavalry. Shannon and the Apaches found the rebels' trail, which was a week old by then, and followed it for some time until finally catching up with the Mexicans near Las Varas Pass, about forty miles south of Namiquipa
Namiquipa
Namiquipa is a town in the Mexican state of Chihuahua.It serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding municipality of Namiquipa.In the 2005 INEGI Census, the municipality reported a total population of 20,314, of whom 1,718 lived in the municipal seat....

. Using the cover of darkness, Shannon and his scouts attacked the Villistas hideout, killing one of them and wounding another without losses to themselves. The one rebel who died was thought to be the the leader as he carried a sword during the fight.

Another skirmish was fought on June 9, north of Pershing's headquarters and the city of Chihuahua. Twenty men from the 13th Cavalry encountered an equally small force of Villistas and chased them through Santa Clara Canyon. Three of the Mexicans were killed and the rest escaped. There were no American casualties.

The last engagement of the Mexican Expedition was fought on June 21 when American forces, including elements of the 7th Cavalry and the African-American 10th Cavalry, were defeated by Carrancista soldiers at the Battle of Carrizal. Captain Charles T. Boyd was killed and ten of his men were killed while another twenty-four were taken prisoner. The Mexicans didn't do much better though. They reported the loss of twenty-four men killed and forty-three wounded, including their commander, General Felix Gomez. When General Pershing learned of the battle he was furious and asked for permission to attack the Carrancista garrison of Chihuahua. President Wilson refused, knowing that it would certainly start a war.

While the expedition did make contact with Villista formations, killing two of his generals and about 160 of his men, it failed in its major objectives, neither stopping border raids — which continued while the expedition was in Mexico, nor capturing Villa. However, between the date of the American withdrawal and Villa's retirement in 1920, Villa's troops were no longer an effective fighting force, being hemmed in by American and Mexican federal troops and money and arms blockades on both sides of the border.

National Guard service

National Guard
United States National Guard
The National Guard of the United States is a reserve military force composed of state National Guard militia members or units under federally recognized active or inactive armed force service for the United States. Militia members are citizen soldiers, meaning they work part time for the National...

 units from Texas, Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...

, and New Mexico were called into service on May 8, 1916. With congressional approval of the National Defense Act on June 3, 1916, Guard units from the remainder of the states, and the District of Columbia, were also called for duty on the border. In mid-June, President Wilson called out 110,000 National Guard for border service but only one regiment of the National Guard, the 2nd Massachusetts Infantry, served in Mexico with Pershing's Expedition. The bulk of of the National Guard troops would cross the border into Mexico but were used instead as a show of force. They spent most of their time training.

Nonetheless, activities on the border were far from dull. The troops had to be on constant alert as border raids were still an occasional nuisance. The Mexican Expedition proved to be an excellent training environment for the officers and men of the National Guard, who would be recalled to Federal Service later that same year of 1917 for duty in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. Many National Guard leaders in both World Wars traced their first federal service to the Mexican Expedition.

Aftermath

The bulk of American forces were withdrawn in January 1917. Pershing publicly claimed the expedition was a success, although he complained privately to his family that President Wilson had imposed too many restrictions, which made it impossible for him to fulfill his mission. He admitted to having been "outwitted and out-bluffed at every turn" and wrote that "when the true history is written, it will not be a very inspiring chapter for school children, or even grownups to contemplate. Having dashed into Mexico with the intention of eating the Mexicans raw, we turned back at the first repulse and are now sneaking home under cover, like a whipped curr with its tail between its legs."

General Pershing was permitted to bring into New Mexico 527 Chinese refugees who had assisted him during the expedition, despite the ban on Chinese immigration at that time due to the Chinese Exclusion Act. The Chinese refugees, known as "Pershing's Chinese", were allowed to remain in the U.S. if they worked under the supervision of the military as cooks and servants on bases. In 1921, Congress passed Public Resolution 29, which allowed them to remain in the country permanently under the conditions of the 1892 Geary Act
Geary Act
The Geary Act was a United States law passed in 1892 written by California Congressman Thomas J. Geary. It extended the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 by adding onerous new requirements....

. Most of them settled in San Antonio.

Soldiers who took part in the Villa campaign were awarded the Mexican Service Medal
Mexican Service Medal
The Mexican Service Medal is an award of the United States military which was established by General Orders of the United States War Department on December 12, 1917...

.

Order of Battle

United States Army:

  • 5th Cavalry Regiment
  • 7th Cavalry Regiment
  • 10th Cavalry Regiment (Buffalo Soldier
    Buffalo Soldier
    Buffalo Soldiers originally were members of the U.S. 10th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army, formed on September 21, 1866 at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas....

    s)
  • 11th Cavalry Regiment
  • 12th Cavalry Regiment
  • 13th Cavalry Regiment
    13th Cavalry Regiment (United States)
    The 13th Cavalry Regiment is a unit of the United States Army. The 1st and 2nd Squadrons are currently stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas as part of the 1st Armored Division.-Service History:...

  • 6th Infantry Regiment

  • 16th Infantry Regiment
    16th Infantry Regiment (United States)
    The 16th Infantry Regiment is a regiment in the United States Army.-Formation:The 34th Infantry Regiment and 11th Infantry Regiment consolidated into the 16th Infantry Regiment on 3 March 1869. The 11th Infantry's history prior to the consolidation is normally included with the 16th's.-U.S...

  • 17th Infantry Regiment
    17th Infantry Regiment (United States)
    The 17th Infantry Regiment is a United States Army infantry regiment. While the 17th Infantry Regiment was organized on January 11, 1812, it was consolidated with the 3rd Infantry due to extremely heavy losses at Frenchtown, and lost its identity two years later until May 3, 1861, when it was...

  • 24th Infantry Regiment
    24th Infantry Regiment (United States)
    The 24th Infantry Regiment was a unit of the United States Army, active from 1869 until 1951, and again from 1995 until 2006. The regiment is notable for having a colorfully checkered history, with a record of mostly meritorious service and valorous combat performance interspersed with episodes of...

     (Buffalo Soldier
    Buffalo Soldier
    Buffalo Soldiers originally were members of the U.S. 10th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army, formed on September 21, 1866 at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas....

    s)
  • 2nd Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment
  • 6th Field Artillery
    6th Field Artillery Regiment (United States)
    The 6th Field Artillery Regiment is an Field Artillery regiment of the United States Army first formed in 1907-History:The 6th Field Artillery Regiment was first activated in 1907 from numbered companies of artillery...

  • United States Army Signal Corps
    United States Army Signal Corps
    The United States Army Signal Corps develops, tests, provides, and manages communications and information systems support for the command and control of combined arms forces. It was established in 1860, the brainchild of United States Army Major Albert J. Myer, and has had an important role from...

  • 1st Aero Squadron
    1st Reconnaissance Squadron
    The 1st Reconnaissance Squadron is a United States Air Force reconnaissance training unit based at Beale Air Force Base, near Marysville, California. It is the oldest squadron in the Air Force, and the first organization to be established as a U.S. military flying unit...

  • Apache Scouts
    Apache scouts
    The Apache Scouts were part of the United States Army Indian Scouts, most of their service was during the Apache Wars up to 1886 though the last scout retired in 1947. The Apache scouts were the eyes and ears of the United States military and sometimes the cultural translators for the various...

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