Crossword Genius

Sam, who belted any number of army officers! (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

browne

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

'of army officers' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.

'sam who belted any number' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'number' could be 'e' (e is a kind of number) and 'e' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'brown' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for browne that I've seen before include "Sam ---, military belt" , "Physician and author" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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