In the end, it's going to be way less effort to replace the drywall and the results will be better.

Shellac is not among the acceptable answers. Skimcoating with drywall mud would work, but it would be very difficult because of paper shreds. As others have said, replace the drywall below the line that was the wainscoting.

Attach a straightedge to the wall to make the cut, so the new/old joint will be easier to match.

I've done this and it sucked. Just replace the drywall

Yep, it's a total replacement of the drywall... really it's the easiest and best way to go.

If you want an idea of what replacing just some of the drywall would look like and how to do it, look up "repairing flood cut drywall" on Youtube. That process is exactly what you'd need to do to remove and replace the lower section of drywall.

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