Crossword Genius

Economise on protection for soldiers (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

retrench

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

'economise' is the definition.
(retrenching is a kind of economizing)

'protection for soldiers' is the wordplay.
'protection' becomes 'trench' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'for' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other) (I've seen this in other clues).
'soldiers' becomes 're' (Royal Engineers).
'trench' after 're' is 'RETRENCH'.

'on' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for retrench that I've seen before include "Reduce expenses" , "Cut back (on costs)" , "Trim back" , "Cut back during hard times" , "Reduce one's workforce" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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