Southern confederate to launch an attack (5)
I believe the answer is:
sally
'an attack' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'southern confederate' is the wordplay.
'southern' becomes 's' (abbreviation).
'confederate' becomes 'ally' (synonyms).
's'+'ally'='SALLY'
'to launch' acts as a link.
This may not be right. Some or all of it may be part of another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for sally that I've seen before include "one in 3 the 12 30 [DROP the DEAD DONKEY]" , "Sortie; quip" , "Go out" , "Retort - Gracie Fields song" , "trip" .)