Cutting papers seized by a military chief (6)

I believe the answer is:

acidic

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'cutting' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'papers seized by a military chief' is the wordplay.
'papers' becomes 'ID' (identification papers).
'seized by' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'military chief' becomes 'cic' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'a'+'cic'='acic'
'id' inserted within 'acic' is 'ACIDIC'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for acidic that I've seen before include "that leaves a bitter taste" , "Sour; bitter" , "Sharp-tasting, sour" , "Cutting" , "scathing?" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.

Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.