Victor is leading soldiers — his face showing through this? (5)
I believe the answer is:
visor
'face showing through this?' is the definition.
'victor is leading soldiers' is the wordplay.
'victor' becomes 'v' (phonetic alphabet: alpha, bravo, charlie etc.).
'leading' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'soldiers' becomes 'or' (Other Rank**).
'v'+'is'+'or'='VISOR'
'his' is the link.
This may not be right. It may be part of another bit of the clue.
(Other definitions for visor that I've seen before include "Front piece of a helmet" , "Helmet's face-cover" , "Moveable piece of helmet" , "Sunshade" , "Eye shield" .)