Crossword Genius

He started deadly combat with the sacrifice of many victims (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

hecatomb

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

'sacrifice of many victims' is the definition.
'hecatomb' can be an answer for 'sacrifice' (hecatomb is a kind of sacrifice). I am unsure of the 'of many victims' bit.

'he started deadly combat' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'he' could be 'tom' and 'tom' is present in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'with the' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for hecatomb that I've seen before include "Large-scale sacrifice" , "major sacrifice" , "great public sacrifice" , "mass slaughter" , "sacrifice victims" .)

I've seen this clue in The Hindu.
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