Crossword Genius

Figure the soldier was caught in retreat (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

eight

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'figure' is the definition.
(eight is a number)

'soldier was caught in retreat' is the wordplay.
'soldier' becomes 'GI' (term for US soldier).
'was caught' becomes 'the' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'retreat' is a reversal indicator.
'gi' going within 'the' is 'thgie'.
'thgie' written backwards gives 'EIGHT'.

'the' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for eight that I've seen before include "Several in a row" , "VIII" , "Cube root of five hundred and twelve" , "Oxygen's atomic number" , "Cube of two" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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