 Zhang left Beijing to go to Shenyang by train on the night of 3 June 1928.The train traveled along the Jingfeng Railway, a route that was heavily patrolled by his own troops.The only location along the railway that was not under Zhang's control was a bridge several kilometres east of Huanggutun Railway Station on the outskirts of Shenyang, where the South Manchuria Railway crossed the Jingfeng Railway on the bridge.