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Why did Japanese officers assassinate Zhang Zuolin in 1928?

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Map of eastern Asia highlighting Manchuria in northeastern China, which includes the provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, and part of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The highlighted area borders Russia, Mongolia, and North Korea. — Manchuria The historical region of Manchuria shown with the boundaries of the modern-day Chinese provinces in its place as well as the portion of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region that is often considered part of Manchuria.

In June 1928, Japanese extremists assassinated the Manchurian warlord Zhang Zuolin by bombing his train near Shenyang.12

The primary motivation behind this act was to create a pretext for military intervention. These officers hoped that the resulting instability and the death of the regional leader would provoke the Japanese army into occupying Manchuria, thereby securing and expanding Japan's imperial interests in the region.12

This assassination was an unauthorized act of aggression that was not sanctioned by the Japanese civilian government in Tokyo. It served as an early example of the growing influence of extremist factions within the Japanese military, who frequently acted independently of civilian oversight to further their expansionist goals in East Asia.2