Records of the Three Kingdoms
Huang Gai, courtesy name Gongfu, was from Quanling in Lingling. He rose with Sun Jian and served Sun Ce and Sun Quan. He was an old officer of Jiangdong. During the Red Cliffs standoff he told Zhou Yu that the enemy was many and their own side few, that they could not last, and that fire could be used. Zhou Yu accepted. Huang Gai prepared covered assault ships and drove them into Cao Cao’s line of boats.
The histories do not clearly date his birth or death.
Romance of the Three Kingdoms
The novel adds Zhou Yu’s public beating and Huang Gai’s false surrender, so that the fire ships can come close enough. The histories do not have that punishment.
Proposing the fire and carrying it out remain his. If the novel is read only for the beating, that place is lost.
Reference: Wikipedia · Huang Gai