The modification of the Fuso mainly focuses on the armor-piercing shells of naval guns, watertight compartments against torpedoes, ammunition storage and transportation, and key protection modifications.

In addition, a complete overhaul will be carried out in terms of power, and it is expected that the speed of the Fuso will be increased from 21 knots to 25 knots, the armor protection capacity will be increased by 50 percent, and the degree of armor protection will be increased by more than 200 percent in some parts that need to be protected. The fuse of the armor-piercing shell will also be improved, allowing it to explode after penetrating enemy ships.

There were also some problems with the layout of the Fuso, as it was the first battleship to be built in-house, so there was some lack of experience, such as the smoke from the chimney would pour back, and it also needed to be rectified.

As for the Hiei, the top speed will be increased from the current 27.5 knots to a minimum of 31 knots after the modification, and the Hiei is a battle cruiser that is relatively fragile in terms of armor.

The theory of the appearance of such battle cruisers was that they took the route of extremism by sacrificing armor for speed and firepower. This type of warship has much faster speed than battleships, but has firepower not inferior to that of battleships, and is mainly used for pursuit. Because the armor was too poor, it did not survive without fighting, and its survivability in naval battles was not high, so it could not replace the battleships of the main force.

Now countries around the world are still making this kind of thing, but next year, when the Battle of Teland breaks out, this kind of thing is not so popular.

The modification of the East China Navy is mainly used to be responsible for maritime reconnaissance, escort and other tasks, but it is also one of the main forces, after all, this is a big guy of 27,000 tons, and the displacement can be increased to nearly 30,000 tons after the modification.

…… In early November, the navy submitted to Xia Jun a 'plan for the rise of the navy,' in which it envisaged that in the next five years, it would build seven 'Huadong-class battleships,' seven 'Haidun 2-class battlecruisers,' three new-type aircraft carriers, 20 'Reaper-class submarines,' and 120 'Zhendong 3-class destroyers.'

The East China class battleship is the name of the super dreadnought battleship planned to be built by the East China Navy, and the Haidun 2 class battlecruiser is a new type of battle cruiser planned to be built, which is more powerful than the King Kong-class battlecruiser in this book.

Xia Jun read the navy's plan and calculated the total tonnage, and the tonnage of seven battleships alone reached 245,000 tons. Together with seven 30,000-ton battle cruisers, the total tonnage will reach 455,000 tons.

In the Washington Naval Treaty, the naval tonnage of the United States and Britain was only about 500,000 tons. Obviously, if the warships are built according to this plan, then some warships will have to be dismantled in the future.

Of course it can't be!

What Washington naval treaty, when the time comes, it is not to participate. If the East China Autonomous Axe does not participate, it will certainly not participate in this political axe, and the United States will not participate either, and Britain will certainly not participate.

As for whether the navy's plan is feasible, Xia Jun has no opinion, with the growth of China's overseas trade, it is already urgent to have a strong navy, but I don't know if other departments have any opinions.

The 15-year budget is about to begin, and all departments are making preparations at this time, and this year's budget is bound to be different from previous years, and all departments have long been aware of this.

At this time, the East China Autonomous Government was facing war, and its finances would inevitably be tilted toward armaments.

However, this year's fiscal revenue is very sufficient, and there are 2.1 billion yuan in the passbook of the Ministry of Finance, and the East China Group's profit this year has reached a terrifying 1.3 billion yuan.

A large amount of gold and silver has flowed into China, and this year's trade balance has reached 4.3 billion yuan, with nearly 2,000 tons of gold and more than 5,500 tons of silver flowing into China.

These trade balances do not mean profits, but also workers' incomes. For example, if a commodity is sold abroad at a price of 10 yuan and the company earns 2 yuan, then the remaining 8 yuan also belongs to the trade balance, and the 8 yuan belongs to the cost, or the cost of raw materials, or labor.

The total output value of agriculture in China has exceeded 30 billion yuan this year, and agriculture is the main force behind the creation of the trade balance.

The industrial output value exceeded 15 billion yuan for the first time this year, entering a new stage.

The East China Group can make a profit of 1.3 billion yuan this year, mainly because there are too many enterprises in which the East China Group has sole shares and shares, and basically most of the major large enterprises have shares in the East China Group, some more and some less.

In terms of personal income tax, only 50 million yuan has been collected this year, and the main collection will have to wait until next year.

This year's main tax revenue is agriculture, industry, and turnover tax, and the tariff has exceeded 800 million yuan for the first time, and this money has to be invested in education.

...... "This year's fiscal revenue is 2.1 billion yuan, plus the 600 million yuan taken out by the East China Group and the 400 million yuan that can be used by the customs, and the budget for next year is 2.7 billion yuan." Xu Shuguo, Minister of Finance, first made a report on the budget amount at the budget meeting.

The East China Autonomous Axe has never run any fiscal deficits, and generally how much money it collects this year will come in and how much money it spends next year.

This kind of system is not good, and the speed of development is not as fast as deficits. But it's better to be safe! If there is any crisis, there is a reserve to use.

The first to budget was the navy, and Xie Baozhang took out the 'Navy Rise Plan' and read out the navy's plan in public.

However, everyone is concerned about the cost of construction.

"Colleagues, the total construction cost of the naval ships planned in this plan is expected to be 1.5 billion Fuxing coins, and the construction is expected to be completed in five years, in three batches, and 300 million yuan will be spent on construction every year." Xie Baozhang said loudly, "At present, China is facing severe maritime challenges, our foreign trade quota is increasing every year, and the speed of naval construction has been seriously out of touch. In addition, the navy needs to compete with the navy and achieve the status of the world's maritime power, so the navy must carry out the construction plan in this plan. ”

"What do you think?" Xia Jun asked everyone.

"My subordinates believe that the construction of the navy is extremely necessary, otherwise the security of overseas trade will not be guaranteed." Chen Jiayi, who had just returned to China to report on his work, said, "Not only to ensure trade, but also to ensure the safety of our overseas Chinese in terms of personal and property safety." ”

"The subordinates have no opinion." On the army side, Chen Xuanyu and others did not express their opinions, which is tantamount to agreeing to the navy's plan.

Other departments have expressed their stance one after another, and none of them oppose the Navy's plan.

This year's budget is very sufficient, this is a budget of 2.7 billion! That's more than £200 million. Such a budget may not be a big deal for the UK, and a war would be tens of billions of pounds of spending, but for China, it would be a huge amount of money.

"The navy's plan is still lacking, and the navy not only needs to ensure the struggle for sea supremacy, but also needs to transport the army to Taiwan and even beyond." Xia Jun said to Xie Baozhang on the spot: "You missed the troop carrier, right?" ”

When the people present heard Xia Jun's words, they all understood what the chairman was going to do, and they were obviously preparing to recover Taiwan after seizing sea supremacy.

"It's the negligence of the subordinates, and the navy will improve this aspect after the meeting." Xie Baozhang said, but he was very excited in his heart, the navy's plan was obviously passed.

The Navy's request for the construction of battleships was not approved at the budget meeting last year, and it was also not approved last year, but this year's budget meeting finally has the conditions. At this time, there was no shortage of money in finance, and there was no problem in terms of technology, and Germany's technology, coupled with its own research technology, could completely make advanced battleships.

Coupled with changes in the general environment, the war with China, the increase in trade quotas, and the acceleration of overseas immigration, all contributed to the adoption of this plan.

"In addition, the Navy needs to refit the Fuso and Hiei this year, and the refit of the two aircraft carriers has also entered the final stage, and the Navy needs at least 100 million yuan in military spending next year." Xie Baozhang continued, "The total is 400 million yuan in military spending. ”

Obviously, 400 million yuan is still acceptable, after all, there is a budget of 2.7 billion yuan this year, and the East China Group has taken out 600 million yuan of profits to budget for the political axe, and it is obvious that the chairman of the committee is blocking the mouths of other departments.

The navy's budget was quickly approved, and the 400 million yuan in military support has already doubled the navy's military expenditure.

This time the Navy's plan is completely to burn money, after all, the era of battleships will be replaced by aircraft carriers in the future, but after all, there is no replacement for the time being, plus this year's finances are very abundant, it doesn't matter if you burn some money, it's a big deal to sell these warships in the future, the market is definitely there.

In addition, the creation of super-dreadnought battleships now is also a preparation for the construction of super-battleships in the future, which can not only bring experience in battleship construction, but also allow the navy to gain experience.

As for aircraft carriers, two more second-generation aircraft carriers will be built within five years, and the name of the class has not yet been decided. In addition, the technical aspects of the Grim Reaper have not been fully understood, which also requires Xia Jun to exchange the technology.

The Navy burns not only money, but also points.

In the next five years, Xia Jun will have to devote half of his points to the navy every month.

Next is the army's military budget, the army's military budget is not much, only 200 million yuan, you must know that the army has more money than the navy to fight.

However, the army has strong self-confidence in the war with Yueben, and the 200 million yuan is only the investment needed in terms of military salaries, equipment, and arms reserves, and the army is confident that it will be able to wipe out the Shandong army within half a month when the war begins in December next year.

The Air Force needs to assist the army and navy in operations, and this year it has also received 100 million yuan in military spending, mainly for the manufacture of aircraft, the training of pilots, and the construction of airfields.

In terms of military expenditures for the army, navy, and air force, the total budget for next year will reach 700 million yuan, which greatly exceeds the proportion of the military budget in previous years' overall finance.

Next year, it is destined to have a huge war with Yuben.

(To be continued)