Zhang Zuolin seems to have had a good chance — I believe he blew it when he failed to crush the Zhili Clique in 1922. Even though he won in the second 1924 war, he was out of time and his economy was faltering. By that point, the KMT/CCP combo was being formed for the Northern Expedition, and the Japanese, who controlled territory in Zhang's powerbase and wanted it as a colony for themselves, became wary of his intent to control all of China and not just act as their toady. Zhang Zuolin started out in Manchuria but he needed to use the region's resources to consolidate Beijing and the rest of North China quickly to avoid the forces rising to force him out. IOTL he just wasn't quick enough.
When the KMT marched into Beijing, Zhang pretty much gave up without a fight. The Japanese thought that it was just a matter of time before Zhang would capitulate to the Nationalists, so they decided to kill him before he had a chance to do that.