Hmm so the logo + progressbar works for me. However, the logo takes almost as long to load as the progress bar. I can see that the game ends up loading so quick that the logo just doesn't load in time. The logo is just a png with the same resolution as the original loading logo.
Though I'd assume that this should also mean that the C3 splash doesn't load quick enough but it does, so it's probably loaded differently or is significantly smaller in filesize. I don't think it's replaceable, maybe with a hacky way (you can unzip .apk afterall)
Why not use loader layouts with the "Nothing" option for the initial loader? (Yes I know you didn't want to hesr that :P) It should load really quick into the loader layout anyway and it does offer some extra benefits.
Also cordova does support actual splashscreens but not sure if one could easily implement that as of now. IOS also shows actual splashscreens before transitioning into the app.