Time to turn in, the soldier reveals (5)
I believe the answer is:
eight
'time' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I don't see how one could define the other.
I can't explain the rest of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for eight that I've seen before include "No. of stones in cwt." , "23" , "Cube root of five hundred and twelve" , "Oxford crew, perhaps?" , "power of two" .)