Sub Demo()
Application.ScreenUpdating = False
Dim i As Long
With ActiveDocument.Range
  With .Find
    .ClearFormatting
    .Replacement.ClearFormatting
    .Text = "\<value\>*\</value\>"
    .Replacement.Text = ""
    .Forward = True
    .Wrap = wdFindStop
    .Format = False
    .MatchWildcards = True
    .Execute
  End With
  Do While .Find.Found
    i = i + 1 + UBound(Split(.Text, " "))
    .Collapse wdCollapseEnd
    .Find.Execute
  Loop
End With
Application.ScreenUpdating = True
MsgBox i & " words between <value> & </value> found."
End Sub