"Fighting generals" refers to one-on-one combat with the enemy on the battlefield under relatively fair conditions. Records achieved by using auxiliary means such as bows and arrows and meteor hammers in the course of combat are not counted in the category of "fair fighters", and are usually not considered as valid records in the martial arts evaluation.
Although this kind of so-called "fighting general" is quite rare on the real battlefield, it is undeniable that because of its enthusiasm and excitement, it has been greatly filled into literary works by novelists, thus attracting a large number of readers, and even once made many people think that this is what the real battlefield looks like.
When we do the martial arts review of romance novels, the most important basis is the fighting general's record, but there is such a small number of people in "Water Margin", they do not have any outstanding fighting generals' achievements, but they are still generally regarded as powerful generals.
Wang Jin
The head of the 800,000 forbidden army in Bianliang, Tokyo, and the son of the famous martial artist Wang Sheng. Because Wang Sheng had taught Gao Yu a lesson that was a splash, Gao Yu played a game of "repayment of father's debts and sons" after serving as a lieutenant, and Wang Jin was forced to escape from Bianjing with his mother.
Anyone who has read "Water Margin", when discussing the first-class generals in the book, at least eight adults will mention Wang Jin, thinking that his martial arts are enough to compete with Lin Chong, one of the five tigers of Liangshan, who is also the head of the forbidden army. Even Yu Wanchun's "Dangkou Zhi", which specifically belittled the heroes of Liangshan, also wrote Wang Jin as a first-class general with Lin Chong's general skills.
One of the biggest reasons is that it only took him half a year to train Shi Jin, who could only embroider his legs, so that Shi Jin advanced by leaps and bounds, and later became one of the eight hussars of Liangshan and became the backbone of Shuibo Liangshan.
But when it comes to the record of fighting generals, Wang Jin really has nothing to do, and the only kung fu show is only to knock him over with Shi Jin. However, being able to transform Shi Jin in such a short period of time is enough to see Wang Jin's extraordinary.
Glaucous
The commander of the Great Liao Capital is a frequent visitor to the top ten in the ranking of various martial arts in "Water Margin", and it is said in the book that he has the courage of ten thousand people. His situation is different from Wang Jin, and many people think that he not only has a record, but also quite good, but I have a different opinion on this.
Wu Yanguang's so-called outstanding record is nothing more than the last battle of his life. In the eyes of many people, he was killed by the strength of Guan Sheng, Hua Rong, and Zhang Qing, and he was naturally very strong. This is an important reason why he is highly regarded, but the actual situation is not a pair of three that many people understand. At that time, when Guan Sheng and Wu Yanguang did not fight much, Zhang Qing used flying stones to beat the deputy general next to Wu Yanguang and ran away, Wu Yanguang did not dare to fight, turned around and left, Hua Rong saw this and shot an arrow, right in the heart goggle, Guan Sheng caught up with a knife and cut down, but was blocked by the triple armor on Wu Yanguang's body. The two fought again, Hua Rong released the arrow again but was dodged, at this time Zhang Qing arrived, a flying stone hit Wu Yanguang in the face, and was finally killed by Guan Sheng.
It seems that it did take a lot of effort to kill him Liang Shan, but this has little to do with martial arts, mainly because Wu Yanguang's equipment is too good, the heart goggles can block Hua Rong's divine shot, and the triple armor can block Guan Sheng's Qinglong Yanyue Knife. Therefore, Wu Yanguang actually lacks a record record.
Of course, he seems to be a figure who can reasonably be called a master despite his lack of achievements, because the author directly named Wu Yanguang as "the first general of Liao" in the narration, which is not much to say.
Takematsu
In addition to the most famous "miraculous achievements" to fight the tiger, there are many familiar episodes such as the lion tower killing Ximen Qing, drunken beating Jiang Menshen, and the bloody battle of Feiyunpu, so he has become a unique hero in the hearts of many people. So there is no doubt about his great strength.
But when it comes to fighting on the battlefield, Wu Song seems to be really lacking in this regard. Many people criticize Wu Song for this and question his strength, but in fact, in my opinion, this seems to be the author's deliberate purpose, the purpose is to make Wu Song a different hero.
In fact, attentive friends may find that Wu Song's martial arts path is very different from most people, and the name of the trick "Yuhuan Bu Mandarin Duck Legs" is quite rare in the book, but it is very similar to the "Pingsha Falling Geese" and "Kanglong Regrets" in today's martial arts novels. At the same time, Wu Song's nickname and weapons seem to come very casually, although the pair of ring knives is screaming night and night, it is really not suitable for fighting with enemy generals on the battlefield, but it is very suitable for walking the rivers and lakes.
Therefore, Wu Song is undoubtedly a master, but he is not a general, but a martial artist, and it is difficult to make an intuitive comparison between the two, and it is easy to understand that there are few generals.
Mt. Okadake
Many friends think that Qiu Yue is a parallel import, but I think he is just unlucky. As the head of the 800,000 forbidden army, Qiu Yue and Zhou Ang, the deputy head of the sect, are known as "accumulating miraculous achievements, famous overseas, deeply versed in martial arts, and Weizhen Jingshi". Although there are many officers and generals in the book who are not worthy of the name, from the fact that Zhou Angneng and Lu Junyi fought for twenty battles without winning or losing, and Qiu Yue was faintly above Zhou Ang, he should not be a vain person.
Qiu Yue's record is indeed not good, but there are certain objective factors, first against Zhang Qing, was seriously injured by flying stones, and returned defeated, for which he was furious, and vowed to set foot on Liangshan, but unfortunately not only failed to get what he wanted, but finally was killed by Yang Lin in the water battle because he was caught off guard.
Zhang Qing's marksmanship is ordinary compared to the other seven of the eight hussars, but his flying stone skills are unparalleled in the world, and he has beaten more than ten generals in Liangshan without moving his shadow for a day, and it is not surprising that Qiu Yue was defeated under Zhang Qing's flying stones. Although he was killed by Yang Lin, he was not familiar with water warfare and did not understand water, and his death in battle was completely due to Gao Yu's improper assignment of tasks, and his strength should not be underestimated.
So in general, Qiu Yue's strength should not be weak, or even strong, otherwise Zhou Ang, who is good at martial arts, will not be willing to live under him.
Li Cheng, Wen Da
Li Cheng and Wen Da were the two highest-ranking generals under the command of Liang Zhongshu of the Daimyo Mansion, and they were the eunuchs of soldiers and horses. Of course, it does not mean that the high official position and martial arts must be outstanding, for example, the Zhang Dujian who made Wu Song cut down like a chicken is a typical war scum. But Li Cheng is different from Wenda, the northern town of the Daimyo's Mansion is also an important hub for the imperial court to guard against Daliao, even if the emperor is mediocre, he will not joke about Jiangshan Sheji, so theoretically, the military attache here should have a certain strength. Moreover, Liang Zhongshu is Cai Jing's son-in-law, for the safety of his son-in-law, I believe that Cai Jing will not allow two indiscriminate guards around him.
Another point, when Suo Chao was fighting against Yang Zhi, Li Cheng once lent his war horse to Suo Chao, hoping that he would fight for the generals of the Daimyo Mansion, and this horse was called "accustomed to the battlefield", which means that Li Cheng is a military attache with real battlefield experience.
When Liangshan attacked the Daimyo's Mansion, Suo Chao had fought against Guan Sheng, and after more than ten battles, Li Cheng saw that Suo Chao was cowardly and Pegasus helped in the battle. Axe cowardice does not mean defeat, I am afraid that I may not be able to see it if I don't have some vision, which can be regarded as proving Li Cheng's martial arts from the side. In addition, in the face of Liang Shan's army and several generals, Li Cheng and Wen Da were able to keep Liang Zhongshu, who was powerless, to break through, which is enough to prove that the two are still quite powerful.
So even if they don't have a fighting record, Li Cheng and Wenda are still regarded as masters by many friends, and from all aspects, they should also deserve such praise.
Luan Tingyu
Many people regard Luan Tingyu as a master at the level of eight hussars and even five tiger generals, but in fact, except for the battle with Qin Ming, Luan Tingyu has no other fighting records. And although this battle ended with Qin Ming being captured, it was not determined by the level of martial arts. Luan Tingyu has only fought with Qin Ming for more than ten years, so if this battle can prove Luan Tingyu's strength, it is somewhat unconvincing.
In fact, more people are optimistic about Luan Tingyu's strength, and there is another reason - he is the senior brother of the sick lieutenant Chi Sun Li, and Sun Li at least has the strength to replace Mu Hong as one of the eight hussars. At the same time, judging from Luan Tingyu's status in Zhujiazhuang, he seems to be worthy of a higher position, after all, the three heroes of the Zhu family are notoriously unruly, and there is no lack of achievements. Luan Tingyu can suppress them, which makes the third son admire, plus he is Sun Li's senior brother, it is not an exaggeration to call him a "master".
Suding
Su Ding doesn't have much pen and ink, and his popularity is not high, but from the perspective of his status, he also deserves the name of "general".
As the deputy teacher of Zengtou City, Su Ding does not have a brilliant record of defeating Qin Ming like the teacher Shi Wengong, but it is already a rare thing to be able to be Shi Wengong's deputy without being disliked. And don't forget, the five tigers of the Zeng family can be described as all strong: fighting alone against Lu Fang Guo Sheng teamed up to gain the upper hand, and fought with Lin Chong for thirty battles, but the enemy was not expected...... The apprentice is still like this, not to mention Su Ding, the "second master".
It is foreseeable that although Su Ding is the least outstanding of the family in Zengtou City, his martial arts must be good, and he foolishly thinks that he is enough to compete with Luan Tingyu we just mentioned, otherwise neither Shi Wengong nor the Five Tigers of the Zeng family will accept him.
Shi-hsiu
As one of the thirty-six Tiangang of Liangshanbo, most people think that Shi Xiu's strength is stronger than that of his brother-in-law Yang Xiong, and even more think that Yang Xiong's ability to rank in Tiangang is due to Shi Xiu's blessing.
Yang Xiong's strength is not within the scope of our discussion, but Shi Xiu's martial arts are strong and contemptible people are recognized, although he is more often just involved in melees, and finally fights with others or plays "tricks" with Sun Li, but the book gives Shi Xiu a high evaluation - not inferior to Sun Li. This shows that in terms of the ability of hand-to-hand martial arts, Shi Xiu and Sun Li are between them. Therefore, despite the lack of fighting records, the recognition of Shi Xiu's kung fu can be regarded as traceable, and it is not groundless.
Yan Qing
Yan Qing's kung fu path is relatively close to Wu Song, and even more suitable for walking rivers and lakes than Wu Song, but Yan Qing has a bright spot, that is, the crossbow arrows are shot very accurately, which can be of great use on the battlefield.
Although it is the same number of rivers and lakes, there is still a difference between Yan Qing and Wu Song. Wu Song's skills are not bad, and his divine power is rare in the world, while Yan Qing focuses on a flexible, extremely skillful and powerful force. So we saw that Li Kui, who was strong and strong, was subdued by Yan Qing.
All in all, Yan Qing's good skills can be regarded as a consensus, but if you talk about the kind of fighting generals on the battlefield, it seems that there is nothing else except to kill the generals with a sword.
The above are the top ten characters in "Water Margin" who lack combat achievements but are still generally recognized as masters.