12 June 1928 - The death of the Manchurian warlord Zhang Zuolin has set off a chaotic drive to see who would succeed him as leader.Zhang, former Grand Marshal of China, had seen his power shattered by Chiang Kai-shek whose military offensive forced Zhang to retreat to Peking in May. By early June, Zhang had decided to withdraw to Shenyang in order to regroup and prepare further offensives.
Zhang had left Peking for Shenyang on the night of the 3rd of June by train. The train traveled along the Jingfeng Railway. When Zhang's train passed under a bridge at 5:23 a.m. on the 4th, an explosion occured. Several of Zhang's officials, including Wu Junsheng, the governor of Heilongjiang province, and Zhang's own son, Zhang Xueliang, died immediately. Zhang Zuolin was fatally wounded and sent back to his home in Shenyang. He died several hours later.
The location of the explosion has brought accusations of a Japanese assassination plot. The bridge where the explosion occured belonged to the South Manchuria Railway, a Japanese controlled railway.
Yang Yuting, one of Zhang Zuolin's senior generals, said such talk was salacious and served only to strengthen dissidents in Manchuria who wished to drive out the Kwangtung Army and seize Japanese possessions throughout the land.
Minor conflicts have broken out as various factions battle it out to determine who will be the successor. Riots have also flared across Manchuria. Acts of vandalism and destruction of Japanese property in retaliation for perceived involvement in the Huanggutun Incident has forced the Kwantung Army to act, their forces driving through the country to reestablish order.
SOURCE: Time Magazine
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