Zhang's son Zhang Xueliang, the 'Young Marshal', succeeded him without incident while Tokyo refused to send additional troops to Manchuria. Given that the Kwantung Army had assassinated his father, the "Young Marshal"--who unlike his father was a Chinese nationalist--had strong reasons to dislike Japan's privileged position in Manchuria. Marshal Zhang knew his forces were too weak to expel the Kwantung Army, but his relations with the Japanese were unfriendly right from the start.

After the Mukden incident